living room as an Audio Laboratory

I am several years from retirement and recently have gotten back in to listening to music.  My living room is small 15' by 15' and I am thinking about turning it into a semi audio laboratory to determine what I would like to have in the future in larger rooms when we retire.  I have been buying open box entry-level equipment in an attempt to get into the hobby in a relatively inexpensive way.  A friend suggested I buy some equipment and use this time in a way to determine what I would like to do in several years.  Purchases have been a Marantz stack, PM 6005 and CD 6005; speakers were NOS Paradigm Studio 20s and stands.  He suggested adding a small floorstander such as a Monitor Audio Silver 6, a small Paradigm 8" sub and a more powerful 75 to 85 wpc integrated amp.  He said by experimenting with different wattage amps, and the floorstanders versus the stand mounts with a sub, would help me learn more about what I like.              Is this a valid way to increase my knowledge without committing big bucks?  thank you!