If I want a bookshelf system this good, what should I buy?

Luxman 505 UX2 w/a pair of Aerial 5T speakers.

If you like the Luxman sound you could look for a more modestly priced used Luxman L-507u. Another good choice would be the Vincent SV-237 - nicely made, solid piece with plenty of power (150 at 8 ohm) for your speaker choice. The Vincent is $2500 New. It is tough to accurately gauge sound through videos, but here is one comparing Luxman to Vincent:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YAElqLa6k_4

@gotog Thanks for finding me a great amp. It's a pleasure to know there are so many good options I find each day!

Happy New Year!

There is a mint, low hour Simaudio Moon 340i for sale on USAM. This is a really well made, great sounding integrated (100W doubles to 200W into 4ohms). I would pair this with the Bluesound Node 2i that @soix suggested.

Thank you so much @soix 

That is a lot of good information for me.

Can't thank enough for meaningful advises from people like you and others who has experience and altruism to help new audiophiles!

Happy new year holidays!

K

For lower budget bookshelf speakers I've been pretty impressed with Sonos products.

At your budget you’ll want to go with an integrated amp. Your speakers are not a very easy load for an amp at 86dB sensitivity, and they drop to 4 Ohms in both the bass and lower mids. The Aegir won’t be able to drive the 100s properly, and frankly I question if even the Ragnarok would be sufficient unless you listen at relatively low levels.

There was a Hegel H300 for sale on US Audio Mart last August for $2000 that is still listed as available, and if so that could be a great amp for your speakers. It also has a decent DAC that may keep you happy at least for a while, but clearly the Orchid would be an improvement.

There’s also a nice Rogue Pharaoh on USAM for $2200 that may also be a very nice match (no DAC though), and although it’s a Class D amp it has two small tubes in the preamp section so you can fine tune the sound to your liking by trying different tubes — very nice! With the Orchid this would put you a little over your budget, and you’d still need a streamer. As an alternative I’d recommend you get a used Bluesound Node 2i to stream as it will be about half the price (around $450) of the MiniDSP SHD Studio, and it has a DAC that’s plenty good enough that it should hold you over until you feel the itch and/or have the funds to upgrade. So for electronics you’re around $2700 between the Pharaoh and used Node 2i. Add Raven Audio Soniquil RCA interconnects ($119) and speaker cables ($179 for 3 meters) and you’ve got a great system at about $3000 all in. Raven has a 45-day trial period BTW.

As as an aside, I had the Rogue Medusa amp in my system on demo upon which the Pharaoh’s amp section is based, and I can tell you it is an outstanding amp that is very neutral and threw an outstanding 3D soundstage that should play right into the strengths of your 100s. Anyway, hope this helps, and best of luck in your search.

Thank you all. Merry Christmas!

I will comment here when I am done hunting for my first proper setup.

If you like the Schitt amp, then I would stay with as much of their gear as fits your use.  Their stuff is most likely to work together well.  You can also, ask them for suggestions on other gear and their return policy is supposed to work well.Let us know how it works out when you have your system.Good Luck

Depends on uour budget and space but i have had a pair of Buchardt s400's for about 4 months now and i love them they have another model that is really goid too the S300

S400 is the best speaker i have ever owned. 

I saw a rosewood pair at hifi buys in ATL today. Idk what they sound like, but they look like JEWELRY!

I heard the Vandersteen VLR's using an Aurender N100, Ayre Codex DAC, and Belles Integrated and was very impressed.
Adding a Sub 3 to the mix makes it pretty sweet. And, I think it is within your budget, especially if you can buy some of it used, and still have money for some good AQ cables.
Bob

I have responded to you on your original thread. You seemed to have increased your budget after having listened to your speakers driven by high quality electronics. Also seems that you havn't yet purchased the DAC or streamer so you have options there.