Solve this fun puzzle

Sorry, I didn't address the question specifically, as far as selecting between the three there's no hard-n-fast rules. For $900 all you can do is distribute the money more-or-less evenly between the three and just see what comes up. As soon as you start spending less the $200 on a piece your creating a weak link or imbalance in the system; I mean a $170 pair of speakers on a nearly $500 integrated may not give the best sound attainable for that total sum. In the end it depends on the specific components though.

The Magnapen MMG's used, about $400 to $425, would be really good for a system in that price range too.

The second post is says alot right. For that price range it is pretty simple: a pair of mini-monitors, a cd player, and an integrated amp (I'm not sure if a cd with volume and a power amp is necessarily better, I think it depends more on the specific components whether one arrangement is better than the other). You can do it for $900. The marantz cd-63 and 67 are classic cd players, I don't know how good they are compared to some of the newer stuff in the past few years, but one of those players at a used $200-$250 is good. NAD electronics are always worth looking at in that price range too. Some kit speakers might be a good way to go, like audioc.com Emerald's at about $300 kit form. I can't think of any integrated in your price range off hand outside the creek's and NAD's. I got my sister some entry level Rotel pieces as demo's from a dealer $207 for the cd player and $207 for the integrated,and then bought a pair of minimonitors at half-off for $400 instead of $800 list. A little pair of Epos used might have a nice sound. avahifi.com has the biromod wharfedale diamond 7.2's at only $259 pr. you may want to check out. For you $900 though don't start investing in tweaks, you'll get more for your money investing in those three components.