$40,000: What 2-channel system would you build?

@fthngrg In today's dollars, your system is equivalent to $11,200. With that much cash you could get a fantastic sounding system. The new SS gear sounds so much better to me than the SS stuff I owned 20 years ago.

With a $11,200 price tag I would consider something like a NAD amp/preamp, Hegel integrated, or my current Peachtree Nova 150/300/500. Maybe some used KEF Reference 1 speakers. That would be a much better system than what I owned in past. My older systems were actually more expensive than this $11, 200 price tag. Things like DACs are so much better now and the speakers also sound way better today than in the past. I am sure there are outliers from the past that were better but for the most part I find new gear better.

Today, I see a large segment of manufacturers that charge a lot just to show the perception of quality. There is also a lot manufacturers with affordable prices that are also of very high quality. 

yyZ...
The new Nova would be a vg choice, but the new Elac amp and dac/pre, plus Emerald Physics KC II Pros (open baffle) would be an excellent backbone

You can do a lot of mods and upgrades with those Klipsch Heresy speakers, and add a pair of nice powered " audio " sub woofers, as opposed to home theater boom boxes. Of course, I am a large proponent of horns, and the Klipsch Heritage, specifically. I am making a bold statement here, but if I were to upgrade from my updated and modified Klipsch Lascalas, I would need to get myself the Volti Vittori 5 piece system, which includes the ELF ( extended low frequency module ). Nothing mentioned above would interest me. Just stating my likes, like everyone else. 30 K for the speakers, and 10 K for everything else, with the idea of always upgrading, a piece at a time. At 65, I do not see this happening for me, although, I could go into some accounts of mine and do it, if I wanted to. Truth is, I am a happy camper, when it comes to music listening.....Sorry if I offended anyone. Enjoy ! MrD.

tweak1, what 28K GaN amps, slashed to 14 K, are you referring to ?  Unless you are referring to willgolfs new, Mola Mola mono amps, AND matching preamp. Those Putzey Mola Mola amps are not GaN amps.

MrD
My bad, but that only makes the absurd price even more absurd
What's the old saying? "A fool and his money are soon parted
Fool is probably a bit to harsh, but certainly an uneducated consumer (with money) is an easy mark, but then again, they got glowing reviews, and likely sounded significantly better than whatever high priced amp/s people were/are using. I doubt seriously that someone without an existing hi-end system would jump on board

Class D is probably the fastest moving target in all of audio
The EVS 1200 starts with the latest IcePower 600w modules to which RIc sprinkles his magical pixie dust, puts them in authentic Italian chassis, and strips the whole thing down to barest essentials, eschewing modern conveniences that create noise, all that for a reasonable (for this hobby) $2200