"Hi-Fi" gear is extremely daunting and confusing for beginners…
What's classified as "audiophile," "high quality," and "cheap" varies hugely from person to person, budget to budget, and manufacturer to manufacturer.
Everyone that gets 'too into audio' will give you conflicting information and recommend a different setup - however, the majority of people getting into vinyl just want a reasonably-priced system that sounds great. Fortunately for you, there's never been a better time to get fantastic sounding Hi-Fi equipment at a reasonable price!
Fun fact: the term “Hi-Fi” is a shortened version of "High Fidelity", which was the phrase that a lot of marketing around audio equipment used to be based around. That soon became slang for your 'sound system' or 'stereo,’ which is also an old slang term for a 'fancy' system that had two audio channels (left and right).
I believe that for almost every single person starting their Hi-Fi journey, a basic TURNTABLE + ACIVE SPEAKERS setup would knock your socks off.
Budget-wise, I'd recommend spending at least £300 for your 'starter' setup: you could go cheaper, but if you get even remotely serious about listening to records in the longer-term you will immediately want to re-buy a better turntable and better speakers - the old "buy cheap buy twice" mantra!
I’m lucky enough to have two different Hi-Fi setups: a full 'separates' Hi-Fi in my Living Room, and a 'lean' Hi-Fi in my office/study. Prices listed below are from summer 2025.
"Separates" £1,080
Turntable: Audio Technica AT-LP3
Speakers (Passive): Dali SPEKTOR 2
Amplifier: Onkyo A9010
CD Player: Onkyo C7030 CD
Radio/Bluetooth/Spotify: Majority Fitzwilliam Internet Radio
None of these components are considered "audiophile", but they all sound fantastic.
The term 'separates' refers to a Hi-Fi that is bought in individual components that each perform a single. The opposite of a separates system would be an integrated or all-in-one, that combines everything into a single unit.
"Lean" £395
Turntable: AT-LP120xUSB
Speakers (Active): Edifier R1280DB
CD Player: Majority Multi-region DVD player
While both setups sound huge and more than meet my requirements. The 'Separates' system is better, but it's not 2.7 times better as the cost difference would suggest - and the majority of people that heard both systems side by side would struggle to notice a difference. Once you pass 'good quality' in audio equipment the amount of additional money you have to pour in for small gains quality quickly becomes silly.
It's also worth noting that the only difference in functionality between those two setups is that the "Separates" system has internet radio. Other than that, they both play records, CDs, and link to Bluetooth.
If I was starting from scratch again tomorrow, I would skip the ‘separates’ for now and go straight into the ‘Lean’ setup, potentially spending a bit more for better speakers.
Resources
There aren’t many places you can go for entry/budget/beginner audio advice. Most websites are trying to sell you stuff, and opening up a discussion somewhere like reddit will get a hundred conflicting replies.
Do as much research up front as you can, check the tech specs and reviews of any pieces of gear that catch your eye.
Richer Sounds - I bought most of my ‘separates’ HiFi from here. They only stock decent equipment, so anything filter price low-to-high and work up from there.
What HiFi - is a great resource and site for browsing audio gear - however, it currently lists their best "budget" active speakers as a £699 pair of 'Triangle AIO Twin'. "great-sounding streaming active speakers for not much money." If that's what YOU consider cheap, you're reading the wrong website!!!