Which Speaker

I have a friend with a Yamaha A-S301 integrated amp and some Monitor Audio Bronze 2 bookshelfs and it sounds very good. He added a used SVS sb1000 sub and the overall sound quality surprises me every time I hear it.

I also have another friend that had Kef Q700 towers and a mid tier Marantz AVR and I was always impressed by the Kef Q series. He likes to listen pretty loud at times and the Kefs did a good job of keeping up. He upgraded to Monitor Audio Gold 200 towers for what its worth. 

Lots of good options for a first system in your list. Set a budget and stick to it. Resist the urge to upsell yourself chasing the opinions of others. There is always a step up the cost ladder available with hi-fi gear and always someone here ready to tell how much better it could be if you just spend a couple hundred more.

@b_limo its coming from a website called peter Tyson. I think they have a few UK based stores although I obviously cannot go to visit, I wonder if they ship internationally though? https://petertyson.co.uk/hifi/bundles-offers thats a link to their bundle offers although there are a lot to filter through but I agree the savings on some of them seem excellent.

It is hard to stick to a budget, I've probably already gone over a bit but sometimes its hard to resist with all the great ideas people put out and obviously wanting to get the best stuff possible and I'll admit I am probably a little more influenced by others opinions than I should be. 

I'm working my way through all the recommendations and really appreciate all your guys advice to. Its helpful talking to people who have first-hand experience with them as well as other reviews. I'm slowly making progress hopefully I'll get there soon

I certainly would not get a Marantz.  I have one for my surround system in my family room driven by Definitive Technology speakers which are satisfactory for watching TV and some movies.  I am building a higher end system for the living room eventually, but can get buy with what I have.  

I personally feel more comfortable with new.  However, this group might be very helpful in finding you some good used equipment that might be better than what you thinking about.  The big thing is to avoid making some of the same mistakes we all have made.  That's why this group is so valuable to belong to.

Hi Oliver.  Yes, do slow down a bit. You can research and figure it out in 2-3 weeks of research.

Its nice to work your way up through the tiers because it gives you better ears and more appreciation for the higher models that you might have overlooked if you just jump to the top at the start.  For instance, you get Monitor Audio Bronze and think they sound great.  So good in fact that you are willing to spend more to see how much better the Silvers are so you get Silvers and yes, they are better.  You listen to them for awhile and the upgrade bug bites again and you get Golds.  Now you’re talking!  You can appreciate the Golds, their refined sound and awesome build quality because you started with Bronze’s.
This approach though costs some $ because you will lose a little bit with each sale (even buying used and at good prices).  
Its also a good idea to try to make it to a level where you aren’t going to want to upgrade right away.  
If you are starting from scratch, you might want to look into a bluesound node 2i, an integrated amp with or without a dac and speakers (you can use the bluesound node 2i dac if you land an integrated with no dac.  Later on you can add an external dac for $200-$600 and have a nice upgrade at that point.)
So, bluesound, integrated, speakers, cables from bluejeans.  That would be my suggestion.