want to build a 2 channel system where do i start

I just spent a little less than $15K on my new system. I did pretty much exactly what these people suggest. I listened and listened and listened. On the fist day alone, I think I went thru about 10 pairs of speakers and about 5 amps in just about every combination of them.

The difference was greatest in the speakers and that's where I spent most of my budget, $6.5K. I didn't want many components and went with an integrated at $2.8K. So you can see, I followed Mordante's advice and spent the bulk on the speakers.

The rest was spent on a CD/DVD player, cables, stands, and a power regenerator.

With your budget, you should be able to buy a highly musical system that will play classic rock like a champ!

Consider a horn system for rock about as good as you can get, check out Audiokenesis. KCS loudspeakers, Edgar horns. Bet they can help you select amps etc to go with the horn systems plus some of these guys will do some custom work custom finish, designs etc.

A system should be built around a pair of speakers and a compatible amplifier.

After that, the world is your oyster.

mpg2971,, btw, there are some myths out there regarding musical genres and spkr design. be your own guide or you might fall into this trap. not bashing peoples opinions but as you sound new to it i just wanted to give you a heads up. choose the spkr you like with your cd or lp playing. you gotta live with it, not the salesman. i listened to some $$ thiels once and was not that impressed and the salesman acted as if i was wrong to state i found them not very satisfying. there is no right or wrong in subjective perceptual experiences.

I would say that you could spend about half that amount and still get something that sounds fantastic - then you have alot more money left over for records, CD's, and live concert tickets.