As the title says, here I will talk only about separate component systems. I recently purchased after spending days in shops listenting to various configurations and scrounging the internet for whatever I could find. Before you start out define your budget and be prepared to spend 10-15 % more if you get something 20-25% better. Its also important to divide this budget wisely amongst the various components. Another preliminary is that different companies specialize in different components, so its not advisable to go in for the composite systems if you want more than a chalta hai sound. Lets start:
Receiver. The receiver is going to be the second most important component of your system, so it is advisable to spend liberally on it. Thats where the input from all components is going to get processed and fed to the speakers. Receivers will usually have input options from CD, Radio, TV, DVD, VCR, and Tape. If you want to hook up a record player/guitar/kareoke make sure your receiver has a phono input. Otherwise you will have to hook up a preamp which is also okay but just adds another link in the whole chain. In the low-mid budget range Sony and Kenwood make good receivers. For a better sound quality you will have to go to Onkyo, Yamaha or Denon. Harman Kardon is really good as well, though even more expensive. I will not talk about still more expensive ones as they were out of my budget and I did not research them that much.
Front Speakers and Central Channel. These are going to be the most important component of your system and deserve maximum budget and research. The important question to ask here is the main purpose of your system. If its watching movies then the central channel is going to be more important than the front speakers. For music pay more attention to the front speakers, and choose them depending on the kind of music you want to listen to. For ghazals and classical vocals, the central channel is very important as it catches the mid range very well and in this case you can go in for bookshelf size speakers. For classical instrumental, and english rock you want to spend more on the front channels and it might be wise to go for tower speakers in which the frequency response is well spread out. Avoid satellite speakers unless space is a constraint. Good speakers: Infinity, Polk, Boss, Onkyo in roughly descending order.
Subwoofer. I did not talk about hip hop and music with emphasis on base in the previous paragraph because thats where the subwoofer comes in. Though usually your front speakers will advertise capturing frequencies above 35-70 Hz and will be good enough in general, if you like listening to bass then a separate subwoofer is a must because the frequency response of the front speakers is not good in this range. Others can exclude it and spend more on other stuff. The most common ones in the market are 4, 6, 8, and 12’’ subs. Anything less than 6’’ will not serve the purpose of the thud you want from the music. Also, look at the starting frequency response. It should be atleast 35 Hz. Most okay to good subs sounded roughly comaprable to me.
Rear Speakers. Probably the least important part of your system, they are going to come into play mainly while watching surround sound movies as 99% of the music is still not recorded in 5.1 channels. Basically go for anything which is average ie. does not mess up the sound from the other speakers. There is a lot of argument about whether all speakers should be from the same company for pure surround sound. Technically that is correct as the frequency response is usually matched amongst them, but 99% of us will not be able to tell a difference.
Cables and Connectors. An oft negelcted part of setting up your system, I think is very important. After all signals are transferred through cables. Go for thick cables for speakers and gold plated ones for all audio/video components. You are going to spend more, but there is absolutely no point spending thousands on good components if you are not able to transfer good quality sound.
CD changer. Not a very important component as all CD changers in the $150-1500 range sound pretty much the same, but try to go for the same company as your receiver. Brands: Sony, Onkyo, Denon, Panasonic.
Turntable. If you are vinyl buff like me, this is a really important component. Be prepared to spend a reasonable chunk if you want a better than CD sound. Ordinary record players are going to give the annoying hiss which was why CDs took over. Anything less than $300 is not worth buying but with a $500 record player you can get a better sound than a $2000 CD player. Brand: Pro-ject
Tape Deck. Again, no use hooking up a substandard tape player to your cool system, so if you want this component be prepared to spend atleast $150 to avoid getting the hiss from magnetic tapes. Brands: Denon, Sony, Onkyo.
I am not too sure about the brands available in India currently as I live in US, so have tried to keep the review more need than brand oriented. Ultimately, a good music system is what sounds good to you, but if you define your needs along with your budget for $1500 you can get a system you should be happy with for atleast 5-7 years. And be sure to bug the hell out of the salesperson by listening to all combinations with your OWN CD. The important thing is to split your money in different components according to your needs. As a rough guide 20% on receiver, 40% on front/central, 10% on rear, 10% on CD changer, 15% on subwoofer, and 5% on cables, all flexible of course according to personal preferences.Happy shopping! Comment/suggestions welcome......
Shwetabh.