Purchasing a new stereo system

[bpward]

I've got around 1000$ that I would like to spend putting together a new, loud stereo for myself. I listen to all kinds of music especially classic rock and rap, so bass is definitely a must.
I try searching through the existing threads for advice, but everything seems to sway according to everyone's personal experiences and some will say 'yes' to one component and others 'no'. What I need to know mostly are companies to stay away from if I go to a retailer. For receivers: It seems a general trend that Yamaha gets bashed... and I was not impressed with my previous roommate's Marantz at all. Denon isn't that high up on my list either. Speakers: I don't know much...

Ideally I would only want to purchase 2 floor speakers and an amp because that is all I need right now for a 12x18 ft room. Personally I like the sound of bass from floorstanders better than a sub, so I would prefer spending more money on just speakers than speakers and a sub. Any ideas?

[spacedeckman]

I've got around 1000$ that I would like to spend putting together a new, loud stereo for myself. I listen to all kinds of music especially classic rock and rap, so bass is definitely a must.
I try searching through the existing threads for advice, but everything seems to sway according to everyone's personal experiences and some will say 'yes' to one component and others 'no'. What I need to know mostly are companies to stay away from if I go to a retailer. For receivers: It seems a general trend that Yamaha gets bashed... and I was not impressed with my previous roommate's Marantz at all. Denon isn't that high up on my list either. Speakers: I don't know much...

Ideally I would only want to purchase 2 floor speakers and an amp because that is all I need right now for a 12x18 ft room. Personally I like the sound of bass from floorstanders better than a sub, so I would prefer spending more money on just speakers than speakers and a sub. Any ideas?

Buy used.

[PAT.P]

Dont know where you see that Yamaha gets bashed .I have a Yamaha receiver and for the price and the least in the repair shop is why I bought it.For the $1000 you want to spend look in the use gear.

[Mr Peabody]

If you do buy used Adcom would give you good bass and play loud enough for you if you get one of their 125 wpc power amps. I have the gfa 5400 on one of my systems and it has a nice little bass hump for rock and pop recordings. A pre and power amp used will run $500 to $600.00 give or take. In receivers I like the slam of Onkyo or HK. Onkyo did have a 100 wpc, stereo only, for around $299.00. Either of these brands used vintage receivers would rock.

I'm not up on entry level speakers but you might give a listen to Klipsch which are very efficient, so they play very loud with little effort. I don't think they have any real bass but others seem to like them. You might also listen to brands like JBL or Cerwin Vega for some bump.

[Feanor]

I've got around 1000$ that I would like to spend putting together a new, loud stereo for myself. I listen to all kinds of music especially classic rock and rap, so bass is definitely a must.
...
Assuming you prefer to buy new rather than used, the following are conventional but reliable choices:

Speakers: Athena F2.2 floorstanders, about US$400
Integrated amp: Cambridge Azur 640A, about $400
CD/DVD-A/SACD player: Pioneer DV-588A-S, about $130

The above keeps you under $1000 including basic speaker cables and interconnects. The order of priority in terms of sound per $$ is speakers, amp, source as listed above. So if you can see your way to do so, you might consider spending more on speakers, say PSB Image T45 or T55; prices would be $600-800.

At this stage of your hi-fi interest, I suggest that a basic, universal player like the pioneer is quite sufficient.

[bpward]

Alright so I was looking on ebay...
There's a few sets of these speakers and they look pretty good, but under the specifications it says power handling: 250 watts per channel. Now does this mean 125 watts per speaker? Or 250 per speaker? What would this mean in terms of what kind of receiver I would need for them? I do not want to fry these guys due to clipping, which is what happened just recently with some B&Ws my roommate had.

There were some sweet looking PSBs on there as well..... :)

[daviethek]

A speaker rated at 250W can handle a lot of power without failure. Concentrate on sound quality and value. Feanor's recommendations are solid. If I were looking for the type of speaker you are, I would definately scarf up the Athenas F2.2. They have gotten incredible press and the Cambridge Integrated he is recommending is 65 watts and high current output to drive almost anything.