Basic system for living room

I like the Parasound Integrated amp and whichever bookshelf speakers you might like. Listening is everything. Brands I would audition are Paradigm, Monitor Audio, KEF, B&W, and many others. If you get the amp new, you could buy a pair of speakers second hand and get something special. B&W would be one I would look at-  like 805. If you have the floor space the new Magnepan MMGi with the mid-bass module would sound tremendous.

Belles Aria. Also some great prices on Hegel H160 now that it's been replaced...

I concur on the Belles Aria.  I lived with the Parasound Halo Integrated for 1 1/2 years.  Then Johnny R at Audio Connection played a Belles Aria Integrated and the sound totally blew me away.  I couldn't believe the quality of the sound for the $$.

I have a system in my dining room that I am very happy with and find that one of its greatest strengths is exactly what you are looking for: the ability to play clearly and well at low volume. It also has the advantage of being very small and easy to place: a Bluesound Powernode2 with the Bluesound Duo small speaker/sub combination. This would fit into your budget. While on their own, the components may not be particularly remarkable, I think that Paul Barton has tweaked the speakers and the Powernode (which was nowhere near powerful enough to drive my Spendor BC1s) to work a little magic. That magic is particularly evident on MQA files streamed over Tidal.
Alternately, the new Elac Debut B6.2s paired with Elac's Element EA101EQ-G Integrated Amplifier/DAC sounded awfully good together at the Montreal audio show and would leave you with enough money left over to get an Elac Debut S10EQ subwoofer (which adjusts for room acoustics) AND a Bluesound Node 2 streamer (if you are interested in MQA or possibly a SQ upgrade from Sonos). The new Elac speakers have front-facing ports and should be easier to position near a wall.  Once again, I think that this system benefits from the fact that Andrew Jones designed them to sound good together. Good luck!

Goldenear T7's ($1400) and Rega Brio Amp ($995) and money to spend on good cables and power management.