Looking to build a system for under $5k

Hi Joe , Lots of advice given . Try to keep this in mind .
You Will change things !  it happens to all of us .

Lots of trial & error - then success .  You will hear things  especially speakers in sound rooms - they will sound great .
a] pay attention to what components are be used to drive speakers ?
b] acoustics in these sound rooms are tweaked - usually big time .

I'm very familiar with you type of bedroom - lots of angles , lower ceiling  ,  etc  . Placement will be critical .
Finding a pair of speakers is critical but will be hard until you hear them in your room you will not know for sure . 
I'm thinking [ and have been through this ] a speaker with more of an open sound will fill room nicely 
I went through box style  like KLH5's , Spendor A5's ,Golden ear 5's 
Magnepan .7's    
Right now I'm using & quite happy with an older used pair of DQ10'S 
They are not necessarily better [ the spendors & maagies were great] but they SOUND better in my room [ its a basement with a low ceiling and has proven to be a real pain in the a$$]

You may do well to start with some basic [ less $ ] equipment and find your sweet spot

one thing that has been mentioned - Blue Jean Cables -  very good all you'll need
also I'm a big fan of Rogue audio - the newer Sphinx is a real good " best bang for the buck" int amp ..

Good luck & don't forget to Listen to the Music ! You will get caught up listening to equipment .    

Hi Joe,
I started long time ago with a Rega products (Brio amp & EL8 speakerd) and I still have them up to today.  And plus if you are thinking buying LP in the future, they have very good LP player at reasonable price comparison to different brands. For a CD player I would think about an universal player like OPPO. But first, you should look for an specialized audio store around your area and listen to different brands and combination to educate your ears. All our recommendations are subjectives. The best system is the one that makes you tape your feet. Do not waste your time in big box stores. 5k$ is a very good buget.

a lot depends on your room......

If I had 5K and an average sized space, I would do Vandy 2CESignatureII's (2300 or so) coupled with a Vincent SV237 hybrid class A intergrated from Audio Advisor for about 2300 including a great DAC
Just add an Oppo or Marantz player and yer set......

You could also go Magnepan 1.7i's instead of the Vandys.

Bluesound Vault 2 $1200, Rega Flex R integrated $1700, Rega RX 1 speakers $1300 leaving approximately $800 for cabling, stands and a nice Syrah.  I promise this system will rock!

I see allot of great advice on gear but very little inquiry on what is important to the end user. 

Many of you do not inquire how this particular gentleman  is going to use his system, or take into consideration what this man  may find appealing both in sonics as well as visual presentation, and although Vandersteens are very good speakers their look and sound is polarizing, many Women hate their boxy, fabric look, not to mention that if you have Cats they might not be the best choice. Also Vandersteens  sonic signature is laid back which some people love and others do not.

 I find it disturbing that they seem to be shouted out as the holy grail when I find them to be a very fine product but just one good choice in a sea of excellent choices. This is the same argument that Wilson is the best or B&W is the best or Magico.,I personally don't feel that any of my speakers is the best I have my favorites however, we extol the virtues of many different brands of speakers and let the customer decide which product they find matches their tastes, room size, visual look and sonic flavor. 

 All loudspeakers have their strengths and weaknesses and this gentleman needs to hear many different products and systems till he finds out exactly what he finds satisfying.

Also many people don't' want tubes or multi piece audio systems with a lot of components. 

So what I find interesting is how few of you have actually asked the pertinent questions of how the customer is going to use their system and what qualities matter most and what are the features or qualities that matter to the purchaser.

There is a difference between the music lover and the die hard audiophile, and unfortunately too many of you do not realize that the music lover does not necessarily care about tubes or records they just want to listen to music on a higher quality system. and simplicity and streaming may matter more.

When I  talk to a customer I ask all of these questions, we start with the choice of speakers first then work on electronics.

For your guys edification, Audio Doctor, has largest collection of audio gear in the area, and we have quite a few brands of equipment that we showcase. 

So for this gentleman's budget we have a choice of three or four excellent sets of speakers and many different combinations of electronics:

We have the Dali Opticons 6 and they are amazing for $2,500.00 The Dali's offer a unique set of sonic qualities they have a huge sound stage, are very warm yet have surprising detail. 

We have the KEF R 500 a great $2,500.00 speaker, big sound stage, very good clarity and resolution, stunning wood work. 

We have the Paradigm Prestige 75 very detailed floor standers, outstanding bass and dynamics

We have NAD, Cambridge Audio, Naim, Micromega, Nuprime, April Music and many more. In tems of first real audio systems, the Naim Uniqute is one hell of a great amp which has a built in dac, streams, Tidal and Spotify and is very compact with a great app.

The Nuprime IDA 8 at $995 beats most $2k integrated amplifiers and we  have many more great choices.

So to recap there are many great speakers in this price range, there are many choices of simple effective systems, this gentleman needs to understand that his choice should mirror all of the things that may be important to him,and that includes the way a system looks, its sound quality, how it suits his musical tastes, as well as how the system functions. 

He should visit Audio Connection and we would welcome him to visit Audio Doctor to hear our collection. 

If you guys are in the area you should come in and  take a listen to some of our systems.