dadork, you remind me of where I started, about 10 years ago, having a Marantz AVR/Polk home theater (with RT12s bought int he late 90s) in the basement rec room that we and our kids greatly enjoyed for movies and video games. Kids moved along and I started to get back into music, first thing purchased was an Oppo universal player to spin those old cds that had been boxed up for years - lots of fun and mysteriously it made Netflix etc sound better too. Next was speakers, my brother's unused Maggies, which in turn deserved more power, so in came a used 150wpc amp. This was getting fun! But then I moved, different sized listening room, and I wanted to try streaming, so got Tidal, then Roon, and a PS Audio PWD DAC and then their bridge. Each step was as good or better than the last, but the Maggies never sounded right in my new tunnel of a room (11.5' x 20' vs old room which was 16' x 24') so on to the third set of speakers. I could go on, but two things - buy used (everything mentioned so far was used) and have a plan and budget - you will be amazed at what you can do for $2-3k, I know bc I have done it. Don't ever get overwhelmed by all the super high-end posters out here in Audiogon land, you can have great sounding audio and theater system for not too many $ if you research, plan, and buy used.
Sounds like this posting has you off and running with a good plan. Like mentioned a few times above, preamp with HT bypass will serve you well. Also I can honestly say that at some point, look at and research room treatments - these will likely be your highest value ($/delta in SQ) you will get once you get to a $3-5k system. When you get serious about speakers, and knowing demoing is not easy for you, really think about how best to describe what you'd like to hear more of, less of in your system, and what you don't want to lose, then read lots of speaker reviews and if possible call a few experts or visit a shop or two when you visit civilization (I think there's a great store in Ann Arbor?) - there are people out there who are happy to help a budding audiophile with their journey.
And never forget, it's about the music!
Sounds like this posting has you off and running with a good plan. Like mentioned a few times above, preamp with HT bypass will serve you well. Also I can honestly say that at some point, look at and research room treatments - these will likely be your highest value ($/delta in SQ) you will get once you get to a $3-5k system. When you get serious about speakers, and knowing demoing is not easy for you, really think about how best to describe what you'd like to hear more of, less of in your system, and what you don't want to lose, then read lots of speaker reviews and if possible call a few experts or visit a shop or two when you visit civilization (I think there's a great store in Ann Arbor?) - there are people out there who are happy to help a budding audiophile with their journey.
And never forget, it's about the music!