soundsgreat, kaushik, unleash_me,
thanks for the welcome
btw, i'm still in a "read, learn and hear" kind of situation about the electronics and speakers.
audio is higher on my "wish list" than home video. i'd rather wait for the hd dust to settle down and wait for the hd broadcasts and hd movies to be freely available in india before plunge into video.
so far i've visited avexcellence (pune), la-kozy (bombay), avi (bombay and delhi) to audition various brands. based on my "experience" so far my initial short lists consists of brands like nad, ca, rotel, psb, b&w. also planning to visit soundnvision (pune) to check out the cyrus range.
integrated combined with bookshelves is what i'm currently researching. who know i might end up with pre, power and floor-standers combo instead!
feel free to share any gyan you might have on the above.