new system for beginner

Masdm: My advice is to visit higher end dealers in your area and listen as much as you can. There is lots of good advice here, but only you know what type of sound best suits you. If you can dial in a preference, this will help you to reach your audio dreams. Most folks on Audiogon have their own preferences (myself included) and advice will naturally be based on this to varying degrees.

One thing is certain...if you are willing to buy used, you can wind up with a significantly better system for your money. I have bought used gear here at Audiogon and at dealers, with good results. I have found amazing values from dealers with whom I've developed relationships over the years who've taken trades on new equipment. So don't discount dealers as a source of good deals.

Best of luck.

My advice is run screaming in the other direction. Before you spend hours comparing descriptions of 12AU7s (vacuum tube) only spend $100/per for a 40yr. old device smaller than your thumb, Before spending the tiny gaps of time measured in days between perpetual upgrades second-guessing your last purchase. Before you decipher the acronym "SET" or - GASP! Shudder!, your immortal soul imperiled beyond salvation - "VTA"!!!
If you ain't afraid by now, you're too dumb to listen to mass-market crap and deserve what you get; a good hobby and great music.
Depending on your budget, your best bet may be any one of a number of integrated amps, a decent set of speakers and an inoffensive player. Then you can work your way into vinyl (i.e. real highend) and become a VTA guru.

thanks for all the help so far. allow me to answer some questions. the room i was planning it for is 18'x 20'. i listen to jazz (mostly), rock and other assorted genres from time to time. i listen to a great deal of live music. i am definitely willing to buy used equipment because, in many ways, i view this system as training and i do not want to feel wasteful if i part with the components after a short time. as far as visual appearance is concerned i have no true preferences, yet. i am really interested in the sound no matter what it looks like. i would be willing to spend upwards of $2000. advice about everything from speakers to cables to cabinets is welcome. i want to learn as much as possible.

Considering your room size and musical tastes you might start by trying to audition a pair of Vandersteen 2CE Signatures (large floor standers) to see if you like their sound (these can often be had for $800 or so used, though freight will be high). Anyway you go though you will get more bang for the buck with a good integrated amp. My favorite used CD player is a bit dated, but to me sounds better than any of the new budget players that I have auditioned as it has a very full low end and smooth highs. This is the CAL Icon MKII. This same model with the power boss upgrade (more expensive) would also work well with the Vandersteens as they can handle the added detail of the upgrade without sounding bright. I have only listened to the Vandersteens with more expensive amps and do not have a recommendation for a high powered but low cost (used) integrated as the ones that I am familiar with probably do not have enough power for your room size. I can think of quite a few other floor standing speakers in the same price range, but the Vandersteens will give you big sound for Jazz and Rock. If you were to end up with the CAL Vandersteen combo a pair of the cheap Homegrown Audio solid core silver IC's would be a nice match, if your room is not too bright as they are a bit forward sounding which will offset the opposite of the CAL and the Vandersteens. I have listened to the CAL and Homegrown IC's (both mine) with these speakers, though with a Bryston amp and a Marantz 7C vintage preamp and was very impressed with the sound in a large room, thus the recommendation of these specific items. Auditioning these speakers will also give you a good base to compare others to (like to see if you can get by with the bass, not as much, offered by moniters and such). I also use the CAL player as the transport for a Bel Canto DAC in our living room setup and recently used the CAL solo when the DAC was away for upgrades, and it sounded good.

Dekay, I will echo your Vandersteen 2C recommendation. Anyone looking to start a system should at least listen to these speakers. They are an incredibly good value for a full range speaker. They are a little warmer than neutral and not the most immediate or detailed, but they have no obvious irritating weaknesses, the bass response goes amazingly low for this price range, they are exceptionally easy to drive (and do very well with modest tube amps). Overall, these speakers are very listenable and will form a great foundation for a very musical and satisfying sound system.