upgrade sound system

[hively]

Our Excella 500 has an "vintage" 8 track tape player and radio we want to upgrade to a CD and digital FM. Is there anything in particular we should keep in mind as we swap one for the other? Existing unit works just fine - maybe we'll just keep it and ADD a CD / FM, but my 8 track tapes are wearing out....
The existing unit drives four speakers - two in front, two in bedroom, with a reostat fade.

[j54mark]

Probably your best upgrade would be to the speakers themselves.

Mark

[ALANSD]

just be sure you have enough power to drive whatever speakers you choose. High powered recievers and external amplifiers are everywhere now so the choices are many.
A lot depends on the type of music you listen to, the demands of rock and jazz with low end bass require more power , more speaker size. If you listen at moderate levels to a variety of music, then this is not so critical.
The satellite radio thing is a great idea, at a recent get together a few members were shoing us theirs and they were really enjoying the lack of commercials.