"Music-Al" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I have managed to pick up an inexpensive Marantz Cassette Deck (£15)
and a Marantz AV Receiver (£90) from ebay (which leaves me with £395
from my £500 budget for a CD player and speakers).

I thought about using my DVR as a CD player but it is a little slow
starting up and you have to use the OSD to do anything more advanced
than just playing all tracks in sequence. I don't fancy having to put
the telly on to play a CD!

Fair enough. Does your receiver have a digital input? If so, get the
cheapest CD player with a digital output you can find. Spend the rest on
speakers.

Speakers are my main problem now. Whether to get a surround sound
system or just get s stereo pair (and possibly a sub woofer). Would I
be right in guessing that any speakers in the £100 to £150 price
range should give a decent sound but whether you like it or not is down
to personal taste?

Sounds about right. But you've got a lot of choice for that price. You just
need to try them out (preferably with the Marantz), and don't jump to any
conclusions. They all sound "good" at first so don't buy the first pair you
hear - you'll probably find one that sounds much, much better.

Whether to get 2 or 5 speakers is a difficult question. I got 5, and quite
often I only use the front pair when listening to music. You could spend all
the money on a really good front pair from a range that includes approriate
centre and rear speakers, so you can add the rest later. But then, if you
spend £300 on a pair it's going to be much better than your amp deserves...!