Would Appreciate Advice Before I Buy

Any box speaker distorts sound.  Try out the least expensive Magnepan speakers before writing a check.

Cheers.

Add a REL sub and don’t look back!

Buying hi fi equipment always entails some risk. Even if you audition items, speakers in particular are going to sound different at home.
Most of us who have been at this for 50+ years have purchased equipment we regretted. Eventually, you learn what you like and hopefully why, but early on it is not quite a crap shoot, but close.

Much good advice here, most of it skirting the personal preference trap. Best if you can audition what you think you'll like in your own listening environment before you commit.

I have one bone to pick, however. The Pro-Ject turntable did get lots of rave reviews, but none of them mention the problems I experienced. I owned a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon turntable and sold it within two months for reasons that don't depend on personal taste. The suspension system that was intended to isolate drive motor vibrations from the plinth was, frankly, stupidly designed. The motor "floated" free of the plinth (good idea...), but as a result, the drive belt tension tended to lean the motor capstan toward the platter, which affected the accuracy of the rotation speed. So Pro-Ject just bolted the floating motor assembly to the plinth at three points, insulating each with simple rubber washers. That solved the lean problem, but obviously defeated the vibration isolation of the floating motor! The damn thing made a hum I was never able to completely eliminate. And I tried the many suggestions I found online from frustrated owners who had the very same problem. Maybe Pro-Ject has changed this design with the "EVO," I don't know, but that they would ever have marketed such a self-defeating strategy for vibration isolation is worrisome. And that was not the only design flaw. I'll mention just two others. The tonearm stand was clunky and too high, so that one had to move the tonearm not just laterally but also vertically in order to return it to rest. And the cue lever was extremely inaccurate; raising or lowering the tonearm always moved it away from the target groove.

I've owned Thorens, Linn, AR, Lenco, Gerrard and Pro-Ject turntables, all of them manual. But I replaced the idiotic Pro-Ject with an old Dennon automatic turntable (DP-37F) that is a thing of beauty. Besides tracking flawlessly, it mates well with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, looks great, and plays vinyl with Red Book-beating clarity, dimension, and even grace. And I got it (used) for less than the Pro-Ject costs new.

Technics w best Ortofon you can afford