Newbie to the awesome audiophile world

If you  are going to get in this hobby seriously, you must get top line equipment, if you just want to listen sound just sound so stay where you are now. Because there is nothing between, the ladder has many runs , and addiction to reach the top will be exhausted. 🙂

Good advice from @mossyrocks and while I agree that collecting CDs is not practical per se, I am one who still thinks it is a good idea. And I'm still collecting. CDs are cheap. There is great data out there on what the good recordings are. There are tons of them available. And once you buy it you own it. And for music that you actually own I do not think there is a lower price option than used CDs. Not saying anyone _needs_ to go down that path, but I would not discount it either.

I do not purchase a CD for everything I listen to but I do purchase one for everything that would be on my long term "playlist". I do books the same way. Kindle or iPad is fine for light reading I'm not likely to come back to, but for the stuff I consider important.....I get the hard back.

+1 n80  Great advice 
Steve Guttenberg has a YouTube clip on audiophile systems for less than $2500. I think you pick your speakers first, then an integrated amp that will drive them, then a CD player and then a DAC (or a combined CD transport and DAC). If you are wanting to stream, then a Bluesound streamer/DAC would be a good choice. Schitt products are great bang for the buck if you want to buy new. But I applaud your willingness to buy used as you will get you more for your budget.  Consider ELAC speakers. I personally would look for a quality two way that gets down close to 40 Hz on the low end. Forget a turntable at this time. If I had to do it over again, not sure I would go down the analog path.