Hi agodhwani
I use a Pionner Blu Ray BDP LX 55 with Marantz NR 1402 and Boston Acoustics Soundware XS 5.1 speakers...been a year now..everything is perfect.....in the past 11 years used Pioneer, Yamaha, Harmon Kardon and even Denon....none of them sound any close to a Marantz who have been in existence over the past 50 years whose primary focus is Music....see the online reviews on performance etc on the internet...there are also threads on owners of Marantz on this forum....
The Marantz has a suite of music / gaming / movie modes, besides auto audyssey setup, there is bass treble settings along with 9 band adjustable EQ.....this is the hallmark feature not available with most competitive amps. Not forgetting the slim looks...The M-DAX feature helps to clean up MP3s to a larger extent making them sound as close as hearing a CD in best audio quality.
Big brands like Bose is expensive and to be honest, you don't get the same build quality and performance in Bose like you used to in the 90s......systems today are pathetic and overpriced!
The system works fine in an area of 200 sq ft.....The NR 1402 can handle towers easily and the B&W 600 series is a perfect match on this AVR.
The NR 1504 (with airplay) + Boston Acoustics Soundware XS 5.1 is available on HiFi Mart for 51k odd as a package. If you wish you can go for the boston bookshelf speakers.... try the A2310HTS package..... You may want to check the many dealers in Mumbai for a quick audition.. MZ Audio at Bandra (W) Mumbai has Marantz with Bostons which you can go and hear......there are also a lot of other dealers....
Here are Floor Stading speakers which will easily match and perform excellent with the Marantz NR 1504
Boston Acoustics A 250 Floorstanding Speaker
Here are bookshelf speakers if you want to put bookshelfs around...
Boston Acoustics A 25 Speaker
Here is the centre speaker
Boston Acoustics A 225C Center Channel Loudspeaker
Here is the subwoofer
Boston Acoustics ASW 650 Subwoofer
I am sure the above speakers will rock your place and get your friends crazy...
Pioneer has been in the AVR business for long and their DVD or Blu Ray players really deliver the required clarity in audio and video....almost the same video card used by OPPO is being used in the BDP LX 55.....the Blu ray player easily reads 1 TB external harddisks without any issue.....the performance is awesome...I have used 2 HDMI cables...one for video and one for audio from the Blu ray player. This player plays all formats...(Universal).
Hope this helps....thumb rule for any system, read all reviews and take a decision..speaker wires do matter and make sure the right gauge of Oxygen Free Cable (OFC) is used......Music and Movie files need to be of good quality for effective experience..