Building a system from scratch (other than speakers)

It sounds to me that when you have time to listen you want to make it a more involving session, isolating music from video. 

You have been given good advice so far. I also believe given your budget that an integrated amplifier is the way to go. However as I am not familiar with the Theos I can’t make a specific recommendation as you are correct in your concerns as to the amp speaker synergy.

If I understand correctly you are putting together a  music only system. My question is how vinyl vs. digital is partitioned regarding your listening sessions and your music library as is and as you see it in the future? If you would provide some feedback on this and the questions asked in previous posts we might be of greater help. 



  

OP-

you are off to a nice start. Seek out ML dealers/retailers to determine the kind of gear that sounds appropriate w/ those speakers.

Do not forget the most important aspect, cables/power cords!
Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

The gear available now is quite different than even five years ago. There are a lot more "integrated" options, such as integrated preamp with DAC, DAC with preamp (there is a difference), even some integrated CD players with preamp function. 

Servers are a serious option and should not be overlooked. OTOH, you can use a computer such as a Mac Mini, as I do, and use a form of integrated to achieve your goal. 

Lot's of options. Do not buy hastily.  :)

Martin Logan electrostats have a pretty wicked impedance curve, so weather you chose tubes of SS get adequate power around 100 watts. I have Martin Logan Summits and have used both tubes and SS and they both sounded great just different.

Thank you all for the advice so far. To clarify a little bit:

simao - I live in central Mississippi, so high-end audio stores and in-home demos don't really exist here. The company that sold me the Martin Logans went out of business. I do have an audio consultant that helped me with home theater but he only deals in Mcintosh and Rotel and has no inventory/sound room.

adg101 - I was trying to be all-in around $5K but can stretch that some I need to. 

mesch - honestly, I don't know what the partition will be. I have a fair amount of vinyl and far more cd's. I'm sure I will lean more towards one than the other after I build the system and have some time with it. I mostly listen to classic rock (think grateful dead to led zeppelin), some newer rock/alternative leaning towards more acoustic (think nirvana unplugged to dave matthews/tim reynolds), and some classical, jazz, and blues. Sorry I'm not more help on the partition, that's why I was leaning towards the relatively cheaper turntable. 

jafant - thank you! yes, will have to start a new thread for cable/cord recommendations when I get components figured out.

douglas_schroeder - yes, trying not to be hasty and finding that very difficult! I had an Emotiva xsp1 & xpa2 in my amazon cart the other day just because I was being impatient and wanted to get going - decided to try to be strong and seek professional help i.e. this forum. When you say server/mac mini, are you meaning storing some form of uncompressed audio there to play through the system?