You didn't mention how much you want to spend or what kind of instruments you are using. You should get an"audio card" and not a multimedia card (under $200 for excellent used ones (Card D+, Events). You need a 4 buss mixer (Mackie 1202 for $150 used). Amp and monitor speakers can run between 300 and up for used equipment. You will more than likely blow your hifi amp (they are not made to take the spikes that occur in live recording) if you try and use it.A good mic will run over 100 used but SM58 (shure) will work well. Sequence/Audio software can go for just a few dollars to ($40+) for used older versions (Cakewalk 6.0, Cubase).
Audio uses the hard drive and not Ram but the more ram the better. You should be able to get 16 audio tracks (maybe more) but if you try to use real time effects this will be greatly decreased. You might even have a hard time with them on a 266 and newer software versions. I would also recommend Sound Forge for editing tracks. You might need a Midi interface too ($20 used).So, for $700 you can have an excellent used setup. You might look for someone trying to sell the entire setup. The same equipment new could run you $2000. Of course, it could run you much more too. Check out www.harmon-central.com for used gear.

[This message has been edited by WS (edited 04-17-2000).]

[This message has been edited by WS (edited 04-17-2000).]