hi topaz,
your requirements in audio system are exactly the same as mine... even budget.
with music listening as your priority, i would strongly recommend you integrated amp + speakers. i am also a newbie and whatever understanding that i have been able to gather, av receivers of today cannot give as good sound as an amp. Cos in av receivers the audio signal coming in from the dvd/cd player is digitally divided into 5 channels or 7 channels. the music signal is not recorded in 5.1 and hence when decoded by av receiver in 5.1, there is loss of signal and fidelity. even if av receiver is put on stereo mode, the signal still has to pass the digital circuitry and some loss wil be there.
as far as which amp+speakers to buy, you can go thru my threads here... i have asked qstns here and my doubts were cleared. you too can be benefitted from them.
http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/512-best-entry-level-integrated-amp-india.html
i also listen to similar kind of music as yours and hence what i feel good hard rock / heavy metal sound should be as follows:
- clear and tight bass to hear the double base and feel its punch.
- neutral reproduction of mid-range (distortion guitars) and high frequencies (cymbal crashes, screeching vocals)... not too bright otherwise it may lead to listening fatigue... the key is to be able to hear each instrument seperately
all said and done, each one likes to hear their music differently... coloured / non-coloured.... with extra bass or not.... so hear for yourself and choose what you like.
as far as which amps to go for, i recommend cambridge audio 540a v2 (am myself very seriously considering that) cos its the best possible in our total budget of 30k. this amp costs 18 k so that we have 12 k for speakers and may need to put in addnl 1 k in wires/interconnects. i am assuming that you either already have a cd/dvd player or ipod to listen to music.
since the amp reviewd in many forums as a little laid back with warm tone, we need bright speakers. recommended ones in this forum are mordaunt-short 902i (12k) or wharfedale diamond 9.1 (12k). i personally also want to try with c.a. polk audio monitor 40 (14k) or rti4 (15k). these are bookshelf speakers - dont get floor standing speakers in that budget. but these bookshelfs are powerful enuf to fill the room with sound at 10 or 11 o'clock volume nob position.
if u r in mumbai, currently times av expo is going on in bombay exhibition centre, goregaon on western exp highway. tomo is last day and u can check out all brands
happy headbanging
vilfy
