My very first speaker system?

Its always a good idea to give us budget so we can make the best recommendation based on that.

Stay away from the chain stores as 98% of the speakers and equipment they carry is pretty low end and offer mediocre sound. There are much better choices in speakers and equipment brands that are not sold in the chain stores, but only sold through the independent high end audio video stores. Certainly these high end stores carry some very high end and expensive speakers and gear but also carry some exceptional sounding budget gear. You probably have not heard of many of the higher quality brands so go to a few of your local independent high end dealers and discover the better brands.

The salesmen at these stores also have years of experience, so they will be able to help you design a system that sounds good to your ears and in the room it will be played in.

Once a good pair of music speakers has been chosen then you need to buy a amplifier that powers them properly electrically, and compliments the speakers sonically. Everything has a sonic character or sound, so its combining speakers and equipment that compliment one another so it creates a natural sound. Integrated amplifiers are a very good choice in a music system as they use better parts then receivers, as they have simpler circuit designs, and use much better parts to provide better sound. The more in the signal path the more the sound is degraded.

The choice in source equipment would depend on what format you want to invest in software. Cd's, high definition music downloads, or Vinyl records provide the best sound, so it all depends on what software you feel like investing in. Records sound great, and you can buy allot of used records for the cost of one Cd, "but" a decent turntable is not cheap. There are allot of cheap turntables on the market and honestly most are just not very good. So although the initial cost of a turntable is more than a cd or digital system, you can save on software. It also depends on tavailability of records in your area. I would suggest going and checking out your local record shops and see the prices on records, and see if that is something you want to consider.

So not knowing the budget, I will make my recommendations starting on the least expensive option to a better system.

Least expensive option I would recommend is a pair of powered monitors, at $350 for the pair, and then your source equipment. (Tannoy 501a )

Least expensive turntable system is going to run you around $550 which is the REGA RP-1 $450 with cartridge, a Esoteric reko-kurt phono preamplifier. complete $550

Phono preamplfiers is mandatory for any turntable system as it both amplifies the signal from the cartridge and re-equalizes the signal back to a flat frequency responce. All records are cut with low frequency's reduced and high frequency's boosted, both to get more music onto a record, and to assure the phonocartridge can track it properly.

If your not doing turntable system then a good DAC with your music burned onto the harddrive on a computer is a really good option, as all that is needed to get high quality sound from your computer is a good quality Digital to analog converter, (DAC) and the right music software. This is the way digital music systems are going, and "cd players" are becoming a thing of the past. Good quality DAC's are not cheap though and can range about the same price range as a decent turntable on up.

Next upgrade from the powered speakers, is a pair of passive speakers, and a integrated amplifier.

Speakers like Vandersteen 1c, Magnepan MMG, Offer exceptional performance for the money, and they also make more expensive models as they go up in the line.

Its endless what you can spend on a good system, so go and discover the better brands and find a salesmen that will take the time to play you different systems and learn about the better systems.

Proper setup and calibration are essential to get good sound which your high end dealer will probably even include it in the purchase of the system.

And lastly if your really wanting to learn more about high end audio systems, there is a excellent book that you can learn as much or as little as you want. It is very well written and very informative. Its THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO HIGH END AUDIO by Robert Harley. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn how to achieve high quality sound.

Best of luck

Kevin

40 years high end audio video specialist

Well sine Circuit city is closing given that they are bankrupt look there. Any BOSE method is relatively good. They're slightly extra high priced however they work particularly good. They've powerful sound quality, and last a very long time. You could even order them online. For a excellent speaker approach don't be afraid to spend a couple hundred greenbacks. Cash = pleasant. And certain low-cost could sound higher, however in a couple of years it can ruin down already. I relatively believe you must get a BOSE sound system though. I have one. I've had it for 5 years now, and it nonetheless works like the day i acquired it. I love it. Hope This Helped at the least just a little Bit

First, stay away from Bose.

Second, ignore any wattage rating. Completely. Pretend watts don't exist.

Finally: set a budget.

Let's say you set it at, oh, $500(If you want to listen to music in your room in stereo on a $100-$300 budget, something in one piece, something very basic... disregard my entire answer)

You will want to spend twice as much money on the speakers as you do on the reciever.

And then you will want to spend half the reciever price on a CD player and/or ipod dock etc...

So you would want, approximately, in this situation:

A $140 reciever(remember, you're going stereo, so this should get you there for now).

Let's keep the definition of reciever simple: It's what everything else plugs into and it has a volume knob.

A $280 pair of speakers. Get book-shelf speakers, as you can always add a subwoofer later.

subwoofers do work well for stereo music listening. Plus, you can choose to get stands(with prices all over the place), or(and audio obsessives will hate me for this), actually put them on a table or book-shelf. Just do not put them on the ground.

Spend $70 on a dock for your ipod and/or a basic CD player. You are Golden.

I recommend increasing your budget to $1000, or even higher.

This is enough money to get you a very good stereo set-up, relative to the computer speakers, car stereo, tv sound, or headphones you are using now. Mind-boggling improvement, in fact.

As someone "foreign" to this sort of thing, the only way you can choose a speaker is by listening to it. And if possible, listen to it with the reciever you will be using it with.

Some more points: Keep the speakers as close to ear level as possible. Specifically the top of the speaker.

Stick with book-shelf speakers and if they leave you with more money for that part of your budget, enhance them with a sub-woofer. This is probably 40% cheaper than buying the floor-standing equivalent of the bookshelf speakers.

With the $1000 budget, I highly recommend an ipod dock with a digital connector. They are much better.

For speakers, I recommend, based on value, Paradigms. Especially if you can find a pair used.

They make very good bookshelf speakers.

Best Budget:

60% speakers

20% reciever

20% playback devices

Roughly...

Go used on everything you can! Especially at the $500 budget, new components may not fit into it.

Finally: Ignore things like 'HDMI' and 'surround sound'. If you want music, go stereo.

It can cost very little (and sound like crap) or cost as much as you care to spend.

There are some things to consider before deciding what equipment to buy, and this involves evaluating your needs, not just now, but in the near future. You say you want to listen to music only. What will you use as sources? Your computer? MP3 player? CD player? Tuner (for picking up FM radio broadcasts)? Turntable (for playing vinyl records)? Or some other sources? How loud do you need it play -- anything from low level background music, to crank it up and rattle the walls? How big is the room? How is the room furnished (are there lots of hard surfaces or are there sound absorbing materials such as carpeting, upholstered furniture like a couch, heavy drapes on the windows, etc.).

Will you want to immediately or in the future want to integrate it with video. Perhaps at a minimum add a TV and have the TV program material's sound play through your sound system rather than the TV's built in speakers. Maybe also add a DVD or blu-ray player (these are also able to play CDs, so if you now only want to play CDs but think in the future you'll want to integrate video, then it would make sense to get a DVD or blu-ray player now rather than just a CD player).

For music only, you'll be most satisfied if you buy a stereo receiver and a pair of speakers. A stereo receiver is a unit that incorporates three components: a preamplifier which has switches/controls for selecting different sources and adjusting tone and volume, a power amplifier which amplifies the signals enough to drive the speakers loud enough levels, and an AM/FM tuner which would be one of the sources the preamp could select. If you would plan to later integrate video, you would probably want to eventually upgrade to surround sound. That would involve adding more speakers (at least a center channel speaker and two rear speakers, giving you 5.0) and a surround capable receiver. In that case, it might make sense to start off with a surround receiver and only two speakers (the front left and right speakers for stereo). Then as your budget allows, gradually add more components (TV and additional speakers).

The job of speakers is to move air. The larger your room and the louder you want to be able to play, the more air you need to move. This means larger speakers and more powerful amplifier. However, for modest systems, you don't need to be concerned about amplifier power too much, although when all else is equal, more power is generally better.

There are different styles of speakers. So called bookshelf speakers, which you need to place on some type of furniture, whether it be an actual bookshelf or dedicated speaker stands (an additional expense), or whatever is suitable and available. Speaker placement in your room can very significantly affect the quality of what you hear. Floorstanding speakers do not need a stand. As their name implies you just set them on the floor. They are typically in the 3 to 4 foot height range. Whatever your budget, do not skimp on the speakers. You will also need to buy speaker wire separately, but don't get suckered into buying the premium priced stuff. Just buy basic 16 gauge speaker wire. Here's an introductory tutorial article:

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/ho...

You can explore that site as well as others such as amazon.com and others to read customer reviews of products you're considering, and then when you think you've narrowed it down to a few selections, google to find professional reviews of the components and also download the owners manual from the manufacturers website.

Now if you don't think you want to go that route, an alternative would be to buy powered speakers. That means the power amplifier is built in to the speakers. All you need to do is connect your source to it (mp3 or CD player, computer, etc.). This could be anything from the cheapest computer speakers to something more satisfying such as this well reviewed pair:

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-1088-audioengine-a5-b...

But if you were wanting to eventually integrate with video and upgrade to surround sound, I would not recommend getting powered speakers. Get a separate receiver and nonpowerered speakers (the receiver has the power amplifier, so you don't need a power amplifier built into the speakers).

Logitech, Klipsch, Creative, Corsair, Altec Lansing all make "Computer Speaker Systems." Pick one of these up for basic plug and play audio listening.

Based on your listening needs you could spend anywhere from $20 US to $200 US. You can convert these prices to your countries money system if your not in the US.

Systems are based on speaker channels and subwoofer(s).

2.1 Meaning two speakers producing stereo sound and a subwoofer.

4.2 Making 4 speakers producing mid-surround sound and 2 subwoofers to balance bass output.

5.1 Meaning 5 speakers producing surround sound and a subwoofer.

7.1 Meaning 7 speakers producing 360 degree true surround sound and a usual, powerful subwoofer outputting powerful bass matched to all channels.

Logitech z506 5.1 - $49.99

Logitech z623 2.1 - $149.99

Logitech x280 4.2 - $99.99

Klipsch Media Pro 2.1 - $59.99

Klipsch Media Pro 5.1 - $129.99

Klipsch Media Pro 2.2 - $79.99

Corsair Gaming SP2200 2.1 - $89.99

Corsair Gaming SP2500 2.1 - $189.99

Creative labs and Altec Lansing are good brands. Try www.ebay.com for speakers.

How much are you willing to spend on them ? KEF Uni-Q are my favourite speakers.

i got one speaker dat is only 20 bucks and it is hella good( find one at target/officedepot/bestbuy)