I think saying NAD is one step up from Rotel is an incorrect and far too general statement. Rotel do a wide range of amps, as do NAD.
I remember when I was buying my hifi, 15 at the time, I started with a budget of about £400, ended up spending £800. Was well worth it though, I kept the stuff for 5 years and never had any regrets. Sold it to fund my ever increasing car habit but sold it for little loss.
What I bought:
Arcam Alpha 7SE CD player (I still love this CD player, I improved it using a Non-oversampling DAC which I loved and didnt sell.)
Arcam Alpha 8R amplifier (Great amp, although I always wanted the 9 or 10)
B&W 602 speakers (i loved these, but you really need bigger than a 3x3m room to hear them at their best).
I'm guessing you've read the sticky, so you'll know that there is a lot to consider when buying a hifi. Room size and organisation are 2 major points.
Your best bet is to go for some standmount (otherwise known as bookshelf - DO NOT put them on a bookshelf) speakers, unless your room is bigger than 4m x 4m. I currently have floorstanders in a 3.5x3.5m room and they just dont sound right.
Assuming you go for standmounts this'll be your shopping list:
Amplifier (best going for an integrated with your budget) - ~£200
Speakers - ~£200
Speaker stands
Speaker wire
3.5mm -> phono (RCA) cable (or Dac & coax cable & RCA - RCA)
Source:
If you want to get the best from your system, I'd recommend an external DAC. I got one from www.diyparadise.com ("Monica 2") and I havent found anything this side of £1000 that beats it yet. It's $150 delivered, so with the current exchange rate, its a no brainer imho. You will need to know how to do a little bit of soldering though as you need to connect the RCA connectors, and you'll need a simple 1.5a 12v power supply (i use one from an old battery charger). Yeo is a helpful chap and he might solder on RCA connectors for you for a little bit extra if you ask nicely. He's sold 100s of these and they come highly recommended.
Amplifier wise:
There are a hell of a lot of good amplifiers out there. Arcam, NAD, Cyrus, Rega, Rotel, Linn, Marantz, Meridian, Naim. a lot of people rate Cambridge Audio too but no experience myself. Not a huge fan of rotel or Cyrus personally. I love Arcam, Marantz, Linn, Meridian and Naim (Linn, Meridian and Naim are higher end though). The great thing about amps is that, unlike PCs, a 20 year amp can easily hold it with some of the best modern amps. That means you can have high end sound for very little money. If going for second hand gear, generally each brand has a "sound", so if you like an arcam amp that is new, you're going to like its older equivalent.
My recommendations for second hand demo/purchase (completed listing from ebay price in brackets):
Naim Nait 1 (£155)
Naim Nait 3 (£200)
Naim Nait 5 (£205)
Arcam Alpha 9 (£145-£215)
Arcam Alpha 6+ (£125)
Arcam Delta 290 (£115) (same as Alpha 9)
Linn Majik (£130-150)
Marantz PM7200 (£125-185)
Marantz PM-66SE KI (£70-£115)
Marantz PM-6010SE KI (£100+)
Marantz PM-80 (£89 last one sold for on ebay!!!!)
MARANTZ PM17 (£205)
Meridian 551 (saw one go a while back for £210)
NAD C370 (£155-185)
NAD C350 (£75-£110)
All of the above would be miles better than anything you could buy for £200.
Once you have your Amplifier chosen it's on to speakers. You'll see power ratings on their specs, this isnt how much power they need to operate, this is generally their recommended maximum. I've heard speakers that can handle 250w being powered fine by a 45watt amplifier.
Personally, I love B&W and system audio, and I quite like KEF. a lot of people rate Mission and Wharfedale, but they dont appeal to me.
My recommendations:
B&W 601 (S2 or S3) £100-150
B&W 602 (S2 or S3) £160-190
Wont recommend any others as speakers are very personal, but they're the two I'd be looking at if I was looking for speakers under £200.
Stands are a great thing to pick up second hand as they can be had for next to nothing. If they are a good stand they'll be fairly beefy though, so finding some local to you is probably a good idea.
My main bit of advice to you is DEMO DEMO DEMO. When I bought my system I spent 4 weekends demo'ing stuff. I bought these mission speakers without demo and hate them (got all caught up with the price). I bought my current power amps after 22 years experience with them (same as my dads). Pre-amp is the updated model from the same system. (Meridian 201 preamp, Meridian 105 power amps). You can pick up a 201 for less than £120, and a pair of 105s for between £150 and £400. I would rate them along side some stuff costing about £5000 new now. I'm not the only one either
My next upgrade will be to valve amps if I bother at all.
I've actually written quite a lot
I remember when I was buying my hifi, 15 at the time, I started with a budget of about £400, ended up spending £800. Was well worth it though, I kept the stuff for 5 years and never had any regrets. Sold it to fund my ever increasing car habit but sold it for little loss.
What I bought:
Arcam Alpha 7SE CD player (I still love this CD player, I improved it using a Non-oversampling DAC which I loved and didnt sell.)
Arcam Alpha 8R amplifier (Great amp, although I always wanted the 9 or 10)
B&W 602 speakers (i loved these, but you really need bigger than a 3x3m room to hear them at their best).
I'm guessing you've read the sticky, so you'll know that there is a lot to consider when buying a hifi. Room size and organisation are 2 major points.
Your best bet is to go for some standmount (otherwise known as bookshelf - DO NOT put them on a bookshelf) speakers, unless your room is bigger than 4m x 4m. I currently have floorstanders in a 3.5x3.5m room and they just dont sound right.
Assuming you go for standmounts this'll be your shopping list:
Amplifier (best going for an integrated with your budget) - ~£200
Speakers - ~£200
Speaker stands
Speaker wire
3.5mm -> phono (RCA) cable (or Dac & coax cable & RCA - RCA)
Source:
If you want to get the best from your system, I'd recommend an external DAC. I got one from www.diyparadise.com ("Monica 2") and I havent found anything this side of £1000 that beats it yet. It's $150 delivered, so with the current exchange rate, its a no brainer imho. You will need to know how to do a little bit of soldering though as you need to connect the RCA connectors, and you'll need a simple 1.5a 12v power supply (i use one from an old battery charger). Yeo is a helpful chap and he might solder on RCA connectors for you for a little bit extra if you ask nicely. He's sold 100s of these and they come highly recommended.
Amplifier wise:
There are a hell of a lot of good amplifiers out there. Arcam, NAD, Cyrus, Rega, Rotel, Linn, Marantz, Meridian, Naim. a lot of people rate Cambridge Audio too but no experience myself. Not a huge fan of rotel or Cyrus personally. I love Arcam, Marantz, Linn, Meridian and Naim (Linn, Meridian and Naim are higher end though). The great thing about amps is that, unlike PCs, a 20 year amp can easily hold it with some of the best modern amps. That means you can have high end sound for very little money. If going for second hand gear, generally each brand has a "sound", so if you like an arcam amp that is new, you're going to like its older equivalent.
My recommendations for second hand demo/purchase (completed listing from ebay price in brackets):
Naim Nait 1 (£155)
Naim Nait 3 (£200)
Naim Nait 5 (£205)
Arcam Alpha 9 (£145-£215)
Arcam Alpha 6+ (£125)
Arcam Delta 290 (£115) (same as Alpha 9)
Linn Majik (£130-150)
Marantz PM7200 (£125-185)
Marantz PM-66SE KI (£70-£115)
Marantz PM-6010SE KI (£100+)
Marantz PM-80 (£89 last one sold for on ebay!!!!)
MARANTZ PM17 (£205)
Meridian 551 (saw one go a while back for £210)
NAD C370 (£155-185)
NAD C350 (£75-£110)
All of the above would be miles better than anything you could buy for £200.
Once you have your Amplifier chosen it's on to speakers. You'll see power ratings on their specs, this isnt how much power they need to operate, this is generally their recommended maximum. I've heard speakers that can handle 250w being powered fine by a 45watt amplifier.
Personally, I love B&W and system audio, and I quite like KEF. a lot of people rate Mission and Wharfedale, but they dont appeal to me.
My recommendations:
B&W 601 (S2 or S3) £100-150
B&W 602 (S2 or S3) £160-190
Wont recommend any others as speakers are very personal, but they're the two I'd be looking at if I was looking for speakers under £200.
Stands are a great thing to pick up second hand as they can be had for next to nothing. If they are a good stand they'll be fairly beefy though, so finding some local to you is probably a good idea.
My main bit of advice to you is DEMO DEMO DEMO. When I bought my system I spent 4 weekends demo'ing stuff. I bought these mission speakers without demo and hate them (got all caught up with the price). I bought my current power amps after 22 years experience with them (same as my dads). Pre-amp is the updated model from the same system. (Meridian 201 preamp, Meridian 105 power amps). You can pick up a 201 for less than £120, and a pair of 105s for between £150 and £400. I would rate them along side some stuff costing about £5000 new now. I'm not the only one either
My next upgrade will be to valve amps if I bother at all.I've actually written quite a lot
WOW! committed did u stop for a breath!! thanks i feel a lot clearer about where i am going now! 
)