Can someone help me pick out my first speakers?

+1 Pioneer Andrew Jones

Had the Pioneer SP-FS52 for years before building my high-end system.  Andrew Jones is a speaker design guru with a long history of proven track record at various companies.

I am not tech-savvy at all, and I'm really sorry if this is the wrong place to post it, but I'm looking for a pair of small decent home speakers for music in the $300 range. 

I've heard people on reddit discourage people from buying Beats and Bose but that's the extent of my knowledge! Can someone recommend a pair of speakers to me? Or direct me to the correct subreddit if I'm not in the right place?

Thank you!

I got this,..

your budget is tricky, it’s a grey zone. There are some big quality swings between a 100 and 600 bucks. You would be sent back and fourth at Best Buy between the Magnolia and the soundbars guy.

Elac is a good suggestion and benchmark to compare other speakers to.

You can get high end PC speakers for $300 if that’s your source.

Yes, Beats and Bose and even B&O are not discussed here, for a good reason. 

Big plus +1 for the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR. Eventually paired with one then two SVS subwoofers in your budget range should serve you nicely until you hit the Lotto.

I assembled two Pioneer BS22 7.1 HT systems for friends, one using two SVS SB-1000's and another with two Velodyne DD-10 Plus. Since they budgeted on the DD's they planned on upgrading the Pioneers. That was over two years ago.

While not in your budget my ownership with the then top of the line Paradigm Studio 100 v1, v2 and S8's I cannot recommended brand. 

There are some other good suggestions here you should take a hard look at.

Welcome to the Mob.

it's safe to say this is good value for $299 at 50% off

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/kef-q-series-5-25-2-way-bookshelf-speakers-pair-walnut/6379830.p?skuId=6379830&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=438&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5P2aBhAlEiwAAdY7dMuaK6P84fqOW-vqUv1rFT5QJJMFgUpV2G_WmHre7AydgpuPNsU8hRoCcpgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds