How do you determine how much to spend on speakers

I think your taste in music and sound should dictate how much you spend on speakers. Plus, be mindful of a future upgrade path. If you can live with limited frequency response and limited listening volumes then buy small monitors. You can find some great ones in the $1k range used. Spend the balance on a decent front end ($2k) and a decent integrated amp ($2k). Spend a nominal amount on cables. A first upgrade could be a sub woofer or maybe a power amp to run through the integrated amps' pre-amp section, or a cable upgrade.

If you can't live without full range sound, then you will end up spending a good deal on the speakers. Decent reproduction of the lower frequencies is typically expensive. So then spend $2.5k - $3k on speakers and the rest on a decent front end ($1.5k)and an okay integrated amp ($1k). Spend a nominal amount on cables. Your first upgrade in this system will be on the electronics and cables.

Remember to trust your ears. Only you know what sounds best to you.

Happy listening, enjoy the journey and good luck.

Krazeeyk: You have been the recipient of a lot of good advice. However, I frimly believe the best advice is to trust your ears. Only you can know if something sounds good to you. What might sound good to you may not sound good to someone else. But who cares? The most important person to please here is you. You buy music because you like it not because someone else likes it. If a mini system from the Good Guys sounds better to you than a Classe / Magnepan system, then buy the mini system. This is the real practicality of the law of diminishing returns. Only you can answer the question: "Does that $500 CD player sound better than that $250 CD player"?

You will buy a system and you will get to know your system intimately over time. You will learn how your system pleases you and you will learn how your system displeases you. Probably, at some point you will be ready to make a change to correct for your systems' shortcomings. When you are ready to make a change, go listen for something else. Once again trust your ears. This cycle can happen many, many times. You are beginning on a journey here that may last a life time.

I would be willing to wager that the vast majority of Audiogon readers/members have changed and upgraded many times over the years. Each time trying to acheive that next higher level of whatever it is they like to hear.

So, go forth and listen, listen, listen. Buy what sounds good to you. Good luck.