Advice from apartment dwellers

best "bedroom" systems I had were:

Pathos Twin Towers mated with Vienna Acoustics Mozarts

Cary 300sei mated with ProAc 1sc

Source in both systems was a Naim CD3. Either set-up would be excellent in an apartment setting where you do not want to "shake the walls".

I also like Michael Green Design PZCs for room treatments ... they are some of the most visually acceptable I have seen

THE best low-volume speakers I have ever heard are the Totem
Dreamcatchers which go for about $400 on here.
Read the Stereophile review on them, it tells it like it is.

Thanks all, for your considered responses and information...looks like I have some reading up to do. Many thanks!

"Unless you have a pre WWII apartment, you will never get the ability to listen at sound levels that make the hobby enjoyable."

I think you have it backwards. The walls in pre war buildings are paper thin. At least all the ones that I've been in. I can't tell you how many times I ran to answer the phone, only to find out that it was one of my neighbours phones ringing, and not mine.

I agree with you Zd. My experience is the 50s-60s brick buildings isolate sound much better than pre-war flats. Fortunately that's the kind of building I'll be moving into, so we'll see how it goes. I'm on the top floor in a corner, so it's one wall and the floor. The floor, obviously, is the bigger concern.