Looking to get started. please help

Consider looking at the Dared i 30 integrated with built in DAC. I believe it can be bought new for a reasonably low price, and will sound much better than the onkyo. As for speakers the wharfedale EVO (40's or 50's) are a good value. Quad 22L2's are nice, and a fav of mine the KEF 104/4's or reference 4's are great. Speakers, whatever brand you go with are probably best bought used. Don't forget that you'll need to buy some speaker cable too.

Good luck

Hi Roots

High-end audio is both very easy and very hard. The easy bit is you simply listen to gear - lots of gear - to know what you like. It really is that easy. The hard part is - for some reason - people don't want to do the easy bit. They come up with all sorts of reasons - remote location, no dealers, confused and need some help, become addicted to what magazines like Sterophile and Absolute Sound say thinking they will lead to audio nirvana, or throw up their hand entirely and become part of the blind tests show all competently designed gear sounds the same crowd.

Don't fall for it - make time to hear gear, if you don't have dealers near you use the Hi Fi forums to find fellow audiophiles and hear their systems, join an audiophile club. You will likely find like me that the large boys stuff you hear at dealers are often (not always - but often) no where near as good as stuff direct sold that you can only hear at fellow audiophiles places - for the money anyway. But no need to take my word for it - simply listen to gear and I believe that will quickly become clear.

As for a specific recommendation to seek out and listen to I suggest, in your price range, the Martin Logan Electromotion:
http://www.amazon.com/MartinLogan-ElectroMotion-ESL-Electrostatic-Loudspeaker/dp/B004M8S12A

Thanks
Bill

I'm not sure you need a DAC. You can connect your TV and your iPOD with RCA connectors to any input on the new integrated or receiver.
For subwoofer later, you can connect via the receiver's preamp outs, or if it doesn't have preamp outs then can be connected via the speaker cables (make sure the new sub has these inputs).
The Martin Logans are good speakers, I've heard them several times at shows. The reason I think the Tekton recommendations are better is because they are less expensive and they are very amp friendly, IOW they are easy to drive. Most logans that do not have powered subs (like the ones suggested above) are the opposite, difficult to drive so they would likely need a more powerful/more expensive amp.
But also keep in mind that there are many many choices besides the few that have been recommended to you (speakers and amps). You should use these recs as starting points to find what you want.

I can't thank everyone enough for all the advice.

I have found a NAD 326 integrated amp, used for $350 that I am looking to possibly pull the trigger on. The big difference between the 326 and 316 seems to be the power. So, I figure why not buy the one with more power used for a better price.

I've also e-mailed Tekton about the mini lore. I like the 30-day return policy and I'd love to try them out. I don't think I have found one negative review on those. I am wondering what Erik at Tekton thinks about those going with the NAD 326.

I have found a NAD 326 integrated amp, used for $350 that I am looking to possibly pull the trigger on. The big difference between the 326 and 316 seems to be the power. So, I figure why not buy the one with more power used for a better price.

Sounds like a good idea, and get a pair of Mini Lore's. I was thinking about the DAC for better sound quality with the iPod and TV, but you could just get started without it as Sebrof said. This might be wise since I found out that Peachtree will be introducing a new version of the iDAC in the near future. Priorities may even change once you start using the system.