Getting Started

Hi, I'm totally new to this hobby. So new, in fact, I have no system at all. After lurking here for a while, I thought it best to visit my local audiophile store. I did that last week and alas, it was not a good experience. When the clerks stopped ignoring me, they were very disinterested in my newby-questions and I was pretty quickly pissed off at what I perceived to be their dismissive, knowledge-snob attitude. What is so unfortunate about this is I live in a rural area and that's the only shop within 40 miles of me. I'm wondering if I can lean on you guys to help me put together a sub $2K amp and speaker pairing. It sucks to not demo but I don't have much choice currently. In the future, when I can find a good store where I can actually demo some stuff, I can upgrade. Right now, I just want to get into the game! I want a couple of floor-standers for primarily music (they'll be hooked to the TV as well). My room is 13x22. Thanks in advance.