I'm a beginner

Sorry, didn't read your post properly. You already have fine speakers.

I currently use 2 pairs of Quads for HT and audio: two on each side of the TV. The interior pair acts as centre channel, and the result is amazingly good. But the Quads are going to a 2-channel room, and so  I will use a pair of ML Prodigies for L and R. Will probably get another pair of ML to sit right beside the TV for a centre channel. Like I said, this REALLY works.

Bryston amps are musical and indestructible with a 20 year warrantee. Classe amps tend to be more refined, but gobble electricity and run hot. Consider used.

I have heard good things about the big Panasonic player - I have one on order, but it hasn't arrived yet. About $1K. Pioneer Elite is also a good bet - I have one of their last TV's, and after 10 years, it's still better than most.

I would spend the rest of the money on a good processor. You only want L, R, and centre, so an older unit may work fine for you. Anthem, Classe might be good bets.

If you think you must have a sub, consider GR Research. That's where I'm gong in a year or so. As for cabling, I would buy the cheapest you can get. 12AWG cable should cost a few bucks a foot. Buy that, and then challenge the megabuckers to make a significant improvement. Maybe you will find that for your ears and your system, they can't.

Good luck - sorry I didn't read your post carefully the first time.

This hobby is supposed to be fun. With $15K in your jeans, it should be a LOT of fun. Start with some magazines and books. After you are familiar with the vocabulary, and have digested some expert views, go shopping. Visit high end stores and see what you like.

I agree with above advice, start with speakers. Think to spend at least half on speakers.  Speaker effects shout out at you - much more than any other component - make sure that you hear planars (Magnepan, Quad), boxes (B&W, etc., etc.). Just don't be too smitten by the spectacular, the hard edged. You may find that after a few hours you hate it, and want a more relaxed sound - and that's an expensive lesson.

If you like $50K speakers, just tell the salesman that you love that sound, but only have $10K. He just may surprise you with an older trade-in or his personal set-up that he wants to change. It happened to me, when I said $15K and the owner said, "How about $20K for $100K product?"

I also suggest that you go REAL CHEAP with tweaks and cables. Like the cheapest you can buy. Then, over the years, whenever you have an extra $100 for the system, try something and see if it makes a difference. More fun. And you can do it over years and years. You just may find, as I did, that there is quite a lot to enjoy in this hobby if you don't take it too seriously. 

Good luck!

Haven’t heard the Impressions - but they look like classic ML hybrids, which should be superb for HT. My Prodigies, also ML hybrids, worked very well with older Bryston SST amps.

Picked up the Panasonic UB9000 this afternoon. It's very good with my Pioneer Elite.

DVD's of black and white TV is better even than on my Linn Unidisk - the grey scales are graduated into finer increments. Far better in this respect than my older premium Denon. Colour is very good and very pure. BBC's Planets Blu-Ray was just excellent.

And it's fast. No more cuing up a disk before going out for dinner (OK, I exaggerate a bit). Also, it's very easy to hook up, very easy to set up, and the remote is intuitive. But while the remote does the job, it is not elegant or high end, just feels like cheap plastic. But that is a minor quibble.

After 5 hours of ownership, I recommend it highly.