I would say that the first step is for a person to determine what type of speakers they prefer. That is, not brand or model; but rather speaker architecture.
Is it open baffle? Planar? Stand-mount with subs? Active or passive? One of these will likely agree with a given room better than others.
If one finds ported enclosures unworthy of consideration, they are in luck for they can now safely ignore 90% of speakers on earth. Why are 90% of speakers ported? Because glueing one foot of ABS pipe into a 2" hole in the cabinet is a heck of a lot cheaper than a second woofer.
Once one is settled on a speaker type, they are free to narrow it down further to make / model.
Then, to find amps that makes their new speakers smile and sing! This step is perhaps the most crucial. Many people think it's easy, but it's not.
Then, to locate an excellent preamp; or, at least, one good enough to make their sources shine.
@pindac often speaks of the End Sound in his thoughtful posts, and that is a very good concept indeed because the end sound is not determined by any single component, but rather by the entire system coming together as one in a holistic way.