nalyr14

hey - would love to know your take on the OMD5s. I'm trying to decide between them and some RB-41s (maybe). Cheers!

Thanks for all the patient replies, folks - you chaps really know how to make a complete newbie feel welcome! Time for me to dive in and do a whole bunch of research on a few things mentioned so far. One question for now though, wrt what tagger said; if I got a DAC (emotiva/grant fidelity) - would I be able to connect a sub to it as well? Or just two speakers?

Thanks so much for all the great advice guys; I'm pretty decided on Klipsch (unless availability becomes a problem). And I'm quite okay with buying used, and probably will do so. I'll be based in London, so there's not exactly a vibrant trade in used Klipsch goodies, but I've been told patience yields great dividends. Music is definitely a priority over movies, so will probably end up getting myself two bookshelf speakers for now. Further questions: 1)What sort of a receiver should I be looking at? How big of a difference would receiver quality make to overall sound quality? 2)@cornfedksboy: Where would you suggest I look for a sub? 3) What particular lines/models should I be looking at for a decent pair of bookshelf speakers? The Reference series seems to be floorstanding towers (and a bit expensive). 4) What purpose does a center speaker serve? Would I need one to begin with, or would the pair of bookshelf speakers work well to start with? Thanks again! PS: Also, a silly question - but how do I get these posts to format as paragraphs?

Greetings folk, To begin with, I apologise if this has been addressed in other threads, but I've done a quick search of the boards, and haven't really been able to find answers in an easy to consume form. I'm very new to audiophile equipment (my crowning achievement to far has been getting myself a set of Sennheiser 595s instead of getting something like Bose), but I'm largely clueless, and to be honest, a bit intimidated with the amount of varying information available and need some help in wading through all the noise to find the signal. My requirements: I'm just starting out with work after my masters, so I have a fairly constrained budget. I'm looking at something in the $500 - $700 range. My primary mode of entertainment consumption is my laptop (Dell XPS 1530) which is equipped with a dedicated PCMCIA sound card (can provide specs if required). Will be used primarily for listening to music (classical rock, jazz, classical, some house and I love my crisp basslines), watching movies and some (minimal) gaming. I'm moving to a new place, so can't give you exact room specifications, but its likely to be a space about 200sq ft big. Would like the speakers to be as inconspicuous as possible, taking up minimal space, but I am not rigid here. I would like to have the option to expand/upgrade my set-up as and when future finances permit me to do so, but again, this is not a must. Given the above, what direction would you suggest I go in? Any pointers or advice would be greatly appreciated. Do let me know if any further details are required. Thanks! EDIT: Apologies for the monolithic block of text, but the forum seems to completely disregard my beautifully formatted paragraphs