@zander024 Here's my journey, which is all over the place until I got serious about a two channel system. I unfortunately don't have any dealers of anything local that seem willing to allow at home demos (I did in store demos when possible) so I've relied on countless hours of research. My biggest tip is to decide on what kind of sound you like and what you're ideally seeking as an end result.
1. Denon AVR, two Klipsch subs, and old KEF Q75 towers.
2. Denon AVR, PA240, old KEF Q75 towers.
3. Denon AVR, PA240, KEF R5.
4. Arcam AV40, PA240, KEF R5, added Bluesound Node 130 and shortly after did the PD Creative power supply mod.
5. Same as 4, but added Denafrips Venus 2. Major improvement but hampered by the AV40 since there's no way to eliminate everything going through the internal DACs.
6. Pass Labs XP22 added, Arcam goes through the XP22 pass-thru function. First separate venture which made a tremendous difference, Bluesound and Venus now are routed into XP22 which then goes to the PA240.
7. Same as 6 but added Focal Kanta 3s, again massive improvement.
8. Same as 7 but added the Terminator Plus because I was already familiar with Denafrips and wanted more of that. It's an excellent, balanced DAC, detailed yet smooth, huge soundstage, great separation.
9. Added Lumin U1, along with the X1 upgraded power supply. BIG improvement over the Bluesound, night and day.
That's a wrap. My final upgrade will be the PA240 amp, which is actually a good pairing with everything but is by far the weakest link in the setup.