Richard Blackwood wrote:

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This is of course looking at the low end of hi-fi. If you stated your
budget levels it would help more.

Thanks Andy,

I am not quite sure what will be 'enough' for me. I think £150 as a start
point, which would get me the Goodmans for example - 130watts, MP3, 5
speakers, 5.1 dolby digital decoder....I had considered that this might be
alright but would consider up to £400 if pushed.

There is so much info to wade through before making a decision!

There is indeed, and you'll get a lot of conflicting advice, and some
personal opinions.

Personally, I'd stick with the Aiwa rather than waste your money on the
Goodmans kit, it really is cheap and nasty stuff.

Maybet have a look on eBay for some second hand proper hi-fi. You'll
find loads of NAD amplifiers cheap, which would make a very good
starting point.

Go to www.richersounds.co.uk. On the first page of bargains you can make
a pretty good system for £260 - there's a Sony AV receiver, a Marantz CD
player and a pair of Mission speakers. Hard to go wrong there really.

There's a full Cambridge starter system for £200, and a Sony home cinema
system for £280 in their prepackaged systems.

Have a good browse around in each sub-section too. There's lots of
choice there, good brand names - a Denon Amplifer at £99, a Cambridge CD
player for £70, and Mordaunt-Short speakers at £100.

All of this stuff is considered hi-fi, and will get you a good leg up in
the hi-fi market.

I'd go to a store though and have a good talk to the staff, I always
found them helpful and knowledgeable. They won't try to flog you what
you don't need either.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic 16v: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://www.thehewitts.plus.com - now online