hi! im a newbie when it comes to this. Wanna build sana an entry level audio set-up. What components do i need? How much kaya budget? pwede na ba 30-35K? What kind of speakers? I have no idea talaga eh. Recommend naman kayo oh. 
Im not really an audiophile, I dont have a trained ear nga when it comes to sound, just want to have a system in my room for music. Btw, maliit lang yung room, mga 12x12 feet.
Thanks guys, hope you can help me. 
Here's some interesting articles for this ... Ear Cleansing.
Question: You ask us to trust our ears when shopping for audio equipment. But I'm not an audiophile. What should I listen for?
If you are capable of becoming emotionally involved with music, you are an audiophile. Your criteria for evaluating a sound system should simply be how closely it makes recordings sound like live music. This implies you know how live unamplified music sounds and that you can find well-made recordings of it for use as demonstration material.
Why use pristine recordings of acoustic instruments (including voices) playing in natural acoustic settings when that may not be what you typically listen to? If you just use your favorite CD of electrical instruments, there is no natural sound in the real world to serve as a basis for comparison. The same is true to a lesser extent of recordings of acoustic instruments made in dead studios with reverberation added afterward. If you use a poor fidelity recording of acoustic instruments, then your selected sound system will optimally compensate for that recording's faults, but equally color every other recording the same way. It will not do justice to newer, better fidelity recordings.
In my experience here at the store, the best recordings of acoustic musical instruments in a natural ambience are made by the small, specialist labels: Telarc, Sheffield Lab, Chesky, Reference Recordings, etc. Using them, if you sit in the "sweet spot" of the sound system and close your eyes, you should be able to "suspend disbelief" that the musicians are in the room with you. Or does the music just sound like a good hi-fi?
The best preparation you can make for an audio purchase is also the best preparation for enjoyment of your purchase once it is home: listen to live unamplified music. Pay attention to and enjoy the sensations of what you are hearing. You don't even have to like the particular music selection; just notice all the wonderful textures revealed in the notes.
For example, the Dayton area is overflowing with small theater companies, many of whom do not use amplification. Listen to the different actors' voices speaking and singing in that setting. Notice their timbres. How open do the voices sound in the high frequencies? Do they each seem to have unique textures? After attending such a performance, the next time you hear someone talk through a sound reinforcement system, notice the differences in the voice timbres from what you heard live. You'll realize that, although the sound reinforcement system is much louder, much of the rich texture of the voices it amplifies is lost.
If you or your friends own an acoustic guitar, strum a few chords. Notice the unique twang of each strum. If there is another model of acoustic guitar handy, notice the differences in the twang between them. Also notice how the guitar resonates in the room. Again, you won't notice that same richness in mic'd guitars or guitar recordings played on average hi-fi systems.
If you or a friend or neighbor has a small grand piano, play chopsticks on it. As you do, vary the speed with which you strike the keys and note the change in sound. Notice the sharp added intensity when the hammers first hit the strings and the gradual dying away as you hold the keys indefinitely. When someone else plays the keys, stand near the lid opening and notice the richness of the sound.
Do you have a child who plays in the school band or orchestra? Chances are you're tired of listening to practicing, but spend a little time in the same room just listening to the presence of the instrument - a sax, trumpet, drum, tuba, whatever. Each has a palate of tonal colors in a live setting that you don't hear on your car radio, boom box, rack system, or twenty year old component system.
At least once this year go to a classical music concert in a nice hall, even if you don't think you like classical music. Listen to an unamplified ensemble of strings. I never liked classical music as a child because recorded strings sounded so boring. In a live hall they have a magical sheen that I've never heard fully reproduced on any hi-fi, although hi-fi continually comes closer.
All of this richness is not necessarily loud (although a live unamplified big band can blow you over with rich sound). Amplification of public performances trades quality of sound for quantity. Yes it's necessary. But a good hi-fi can do so much better. Unfortunately, many people have only heard amplified concerts.
And many people have rather mediocre hi-fi’s. I'll even venture that for a lot of you readers, your best sounding music source is the factory sound system that came with your car. While these have greatly improved in the last decade, they are still far from accurate.
And what do people generally have for music sources? CDs, tapes, and FM radio. Most recorded and broadcast music is highly processed to give the music the maximum impression of power. This sacrifices much of the musical detail.
So unless we make a special attempt, most of us have little idea what live music in a real acoustic space performed by sensitive musicians can sound like. If true, we are depriving ourselves of a genuinely sensuous experience!
Yes, there are certainly times when I love to have synthesizers and electric guitars and mega bass reach my primal senses. A sound system that can accurately resolve the subtleties of acoustic music can also sound absolutely mahhhhvelous on this music. But well below this primal experience is another level of richly varied, if more delicate, sensation that arises from a direct link between our ears and the music being performed. This level is the biggest challenge for a sound system to reproduce, but if it gets somewhat close, I promise you a level of intimacy with music in your home that will surprise and delight you!
Go cleanse your ears with "all-natural" music and see if it opens your senses. If it does, you'll understand my passion for great audio, absorb a little of that passion yourself, and become a more discriminating "audiophile" when auditioning equipment than you ever imagined!
