There is always so much consensus in an AV discussion!!!!!!
This is just for audio, an apartment stereo, but do you want to be able to go into a home theater at some point? If you watch TV, a HT system makes it a whole lot bette. HT receivers do a fine job in stereo-only mode.
For someone just starting out, think simple, think decent quality, but not Uber Expensive. The middle ground is the best for almost everyone. The bottom is just electronic debris. The high end, even if affordable, is hardly better in a typical crappy listening area (although I know a guy who has around $200K in stereo stuff, just stereo, in a pretty cheesy apartment!).
Speakers really don't get obsolete. If they produce the sound in the proper way now, they always will. There is no sound that is "better" than "best". So, spend what you can on quality speakers
The best speakers for small listening areas are found in mid-sized bookshelf units paired with a sub. Teeny tiny speakers....you know the ones....and magic subs...well, no, just say no.
Towers...fun, not necessary for an apartment. Your bass will come from a sub.
If you get up into the midsized pair and a self-powered sub, then an affordable receiver will power them just fine.
For an apartment, there are all sorts of very powerful 10-12" subs. Get a quality sub as they last forever, like the speakers.
If you go the HT route, 5.1 makes a whole lot more sense the silly 7.1 let's-sell-more-speakers route (unless you have a huge and perfect dedicated listening room, but that is a different thing altogether).
In the same vein, if you get rear speakers there really is no reason to get the same sized ones as the fronts. The rear output is mostly more ambient, so do get the same brand and series, but just the smaller, cheaper ones. The sub is producing the bomb blasts anyway.
All this is, once again, for an apartment. If you have a real dedicated listening room in your McMansion, or a real mansion, then you need the size and power.
Lastly, and maybe most important, get a receiver that has a microphone system for tuning it to your room!!!!!! This makes it soooo much better!!!
If you go the HT route, or plan to do that, get a receiver that connects with HDMI single-cables. You simply can plug in the HDMI TV, the satellite/cable box, the Apple TV, the BluRay, etc. Have enough connections for any device you might be getting.
Especially for an HT system, get a Harmony One or similar all-in-one remote!!! Otherwise you will have to juggle maybe five remotes. For a simple two-channel stereo the remote that comes with the unit will be fine.
As for brands...there will be no agreement, ever. The cheezy WallofChinaMart stuff is awful on all levels. The tricky, magical systems are good only if you Believe. Again, for most people simple, solid middle-priced systems are excellent performers and will be good for years. The electronics then become a matter of features, style, price and reliability. Read Amazon reviews not because the reviewers are so knowledgeable, but because you will read about how mad they are that Brand X receivers break down after a few months, or that customer service is good or bad.
Like everyone says, speakers are what you listen to and they all sound different, unlike the electronics whose sound differences are subtle in the same price class. I would read as many professional reviews as possible. I wouldn't necessarily go by any one review, but in time you will find a consensus about a brand or line of speakers.
When you read professional reviews you must learn to read between the lines. Stereo magazines, etc. do not want to alienate advertisers, so criticisms are expressed more in the lack of enthusiasm that in anything directly critical. If rival reviewers agree that the Mark !V SuperTurboBass with Advanced Gas Flame tweeters (yes, for the least amount of inertia and such) are the best speakers they ever listened to, then you have to pay attention to that.
