Advice for seting up first system please

[worf]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I feel a little more confident now. My budget is around $US1500.

For my system I'm thinking of an integrated amp and a pair of floorstanding speakers. I live in Hong Kong so there's not too much equipment to choose from and not really many places where I can test equipment. (I'm hoping to get second hand gear)

The room where the system will be is rectangular, concrete walls and has a tiled floor.(around 4 metres by 10 metres It's the main living area so I wont have much room to play with. (I guess a more social set up would be realistic, although I do enjoy listening to my music and take it seiously)

Speakers I've been looking into are B&W and KEF but am open to any brand. Not even began to look at integrated amps yet.

Musical tastes are indi, rock, jazz

Most of my music is on an MP3 player (I try to use a higher bit rate 192 - 320) Would this make a significant difference in sound quality compared to CD's?

So with all this in mind, what type/style of speakers (should i biwire) and amp should I be looking out for and what would you recommend?
Thanks (sorry for the long post, I'm a newbie and feel out of my depth setting up my first system)

 

[Shock]

Since you're living in Hong Kong you might want to take a look at HiVi's Swan Speakers. They are absolutely fantastic speakers with excellent esthetic appeal.

As for a receiver you might want to wait until April when Pioneer releases their new line, which is going to be amazing.

As for the MP3 versus CD debate, it can be debated until everyones blue in the face. Me personally would just stick with the MP3's since that's what you have. If you have an iPod (ewww apple), most manufacturers have a dock option for their receivers. If not, a Y-cable is just as good.

Biwiring is useless and not needed.

There we go I think I answered all your questions.

 

[dronezero]

I've heard that Usher speakers are much cheaper in HK than over here in the US. If so you may be able to get a pair of Usher Be-718 in your budget. They are not floor standers, but they are excellent speakers that are very good with pop music.

 

[JCW]

If you don't mind me stepping in on a slightly different subject, I think you are probably not going to be real pleased with the sound with concrete walls and tile floors, regardless of the equipment you buy. You will probably want to put down a big rug and maybe put some nice rugs on the wall or something to absorb the bouncing sound. Cloth or fabric furniture helps a lot as well. Hard surfaces and rectangles are very rough on sound, especially if you want a tight and warm full bass sound and nice balance from the speakers.

Sorry for sidetracking your main question, but I think this was worth mentioning as well.

Best of luck with your new stereo.