Cuzman wrote:

1) Integrated amplifier
2) DAB/FM tuner (extra bands welcome)
3) CD player
4) Pair of floor-standing speakers

Go for the Cambridge stuff, it's actually incredible value for money.
And looks good too.

Don't forget - in spite of what some might say on this group - budget
for interconnects and decent speaker cable. Nothing spectacular, but go
for at least Cambridge Atlantic (£10) between the components, and
something like Audio Innovations Silver Bi-Wire speaker cable (£5/metre).

Now on to the speakers. If I look at £200 to £300 for a good pair, what
would you suggest? Bear in mind that the choice constricts itself if I
go for a £750 system. Some inspiration:

Mordaunt-Short Avant 906i (£350). I have a set of 908s (same drivers but
with a 10" sub-bass driver in the side of the cabinet, RRP £500) running
off an Arcam AVR-250/DV-79 with Chord Rumour 4 speaker cable, and
they're certainly good enough to be used with a £1,000 amp and £1,000
DVD player. (Let's just say I paid quite a bit less than £2,000 for
those bits though!)

As an outside thought I'm considering replacing the CD player in my
proposed setup for a hard disk player. There are a few problems with
the ones I know of:

Slim Devices Squeezebox 3. 'Nuff said.

Plug it into the hi-fi and run the software on your PC. Far cheaper
option, and sounds pretty good too.

Oh, and don't get anal about one-make "everything's got to match"
systems. My amp and DVD/CD player match, and the 7.1 speaker setup
matches (although with speakers it's more than cosmetic) but other stuff
is pick & mix. The sound you get from it is far more important.

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation