Hi Russell,
There's a lot out there. I have just finished (sort of) putting together a system. I've spend about 2 years doing it. If I were starting over I would go to a dealer and pay the extra dough for a system where all the components sound blend well. You could also pick a system and tell the dealer you'll wait for demos or open boxed stuff.
All the rage in Northern California is the LFD integrated with Harbeth speakers--both about 3K each. Recently I listened to a computer based W Dac system with Leben integrated and Devore speakers--about $7500 for those two.
Al
