speakers and amp advice for a friend pls?


Hi guys, a friend really into music asked me for a favor but i am too busy with graduate school to spend time looking and reading reviews as I used to do before.
He said he have $1200 for speakers and amp, also he would prefer tower speakers, I adviced him that we will ask for help here before any move as I always do with my own upgrades etc.
He likes Rock music and mostly the golden 70s and 80s music,
He just arrived from Cuba 8 months ago, certainly no much exposure to audio gear.
I assume that with that money he can go far in the used market to even buy a dac and cables, plus...
All inputs highly appreciated!
Thank you all in advance.
mountainsong
I'd be leaning towards NAD and B&W speakers. I know some people enjoy Rotel with B&W but you need to be familiar with Rotel to know what to use. The newer Rotel gear sounds awful to my ears. I had a NAD C317 and B&W DM602's and that combo was a rock and roll match made in heaven. You can't go wrong with either of these companies.
Building a system for someone from scratch without knowing their taste or room is almost impossible.
It's like saying my friend has $12 to spend on lunch, what should he eat?
Sure, you'll get lots of recos, but your friend may or may not like what he gets to eat.