@grislybutter yeah I pretty much went all in. I have no intention of trying out a thousand different options and obsessing over every nuance, losing 20k in the process. I wanted power, bass, speed, realism. Huge, room filling sound. It's all there in my present system. Now to maximize results :)
I initially thought that I would spend far less, but to my ears the difference between a setup like mine (lower 5 figures) and the 5-10k system was a night and day situation. So I dove in head first. I did get everything at fairly substantial discounts. Cary Audio and their sales are hard to beat. I heard a killer Primaluna amp, but found out that production is in China. That was a no go for me .Especially with the chance to support a business that is 20 minutes from me.