A bluetooth device that can plug into a regular receiver is less than ten bucks on ebay, and will allow you to DJ from a phone or tablet. A decent receiver/amp can be found for $50 on FB marketplace all day long. Note that most amps made in the past 30 years lack a "phono" input, and record players produce a tiny signal compared to other devices, so you'll probably need a pre-amp for the record player ($40 and up).
Bluetooth sounds like... something the dog scratched up, processed, and left in the lawn, unless all parts of the chain support more modern codecs, and then still sound marginal. Hardwired inputs are nice, and some of the USB-C DACs can be found cheaply as an input source - the Apple adapter ones (USB-C to 3.5mm, or Lightning to 3.5mm, though I believe those are obsolete now) have amazing performance - and are under $10. They outperform far higher end DACs, especially if you're going into a high impedance input and not driving a set of headphones (though I believe they push a remarkable amount of power for their size too).
The turntable output signal is not only tiny, it's not properly equalized - the phono preamps boost the level, but also apply the RIAA equalization curve to reverse the recording curve. The raw signal, boosted, is very "tinny" sounding - highs are amplified dramatically and lows are cut down when mastering the record, and the preamp reverses this process. But, yes, a good phono preamp is no bit of exotica, and you need not spend insane money on a preamp unless you want to.
Get the biggest speakers your spouse will allow you to fit into the space, and a decent subwoofer too. Position them in the corners, at ear level if possible. A good center channel does wonder for actors who mumble their lines in movies.
I agree, and you mention them later, but modern bookshelf speakers (the larger AudioEngines A5s or such) can sound excellent as well if you don't have access or space for the larger, older style. Those have the advantage of often having an internal amplifier, so you can simply run your line level signals in. I've got several sets of those scattered around, and they're a good option for smaller spaces. But, yes, a subwoofer is worth the money for a rumble - and you should have a separate output signal for it off whatever your amplifier is.
You do lose some resolution when moving sound signals with Bluetooth, especially pre 5.0 standards, so I'm skeptical about what is essentially a daisy chain of connections between speakers using wireless standards. Add to those losses if you're listening to compressed internet radio stations.
Indeed... never learn to hear compression artifacts if you haven't, because you will never learn to unhear them. And they are everywhere. Cymbals should be crisp, not a muddy swirling smorwooshing.
How about Amazon Echo Studio and/or other Echo devices in each room?
"Please, sir, may I buy more surveillance technology for my house so you can properly market to me at all hours of the day?"
The sound quality is atrocious, but even if they were full high end audio gear for $50, the vile concept of those means one ought never have one.
We ended up buying a pair of the Ikea-branded Sonos speakers, and with one evening of use so far we're very happy with them. We'll probably grow the setup in the future.
Congratulations on your future ewaste. Your parents old audio system will well outlast your new app-based atrocity, but at least they have the deliberate bricking "recycle mode" feature to ensure that nobody can repurpose them!
