Here's my take on your quest in spending 20K.
1. Buy a pair of Sonus Faber - used but mint, for 5K or less.
2. Buy a few bottles of wine - the good stuff. All speakers sound GREAT after 3 glasses anyway - even a Bose Soundwave system.
3. Buy 2 round-trip plane tickets (for you and significant other) to a European destination - Paris sounds nice- and attend a live concert there plus a restaurant or two.
You should have enough money left to purchase music (downloads - vinyls - cd's whatever) or take in a few local concerts.
When all is done, you might even get used to the beautifull looks and sound (subjective of course) of those Italian speakers - if not you, your significant other will for sure.
All joking aside, I more or less followed this scenario (minus the Bose part) and dont regret a thing!