Keep you wallet at home. (take your driver's license). Go to Alma Music in San Diego after calling to make an appointment. Tell them you'd like them to demonstrate a system showing what is possible, without regard to budget as well as a system that costs, say 15 grand. The point here isn't to waste the dealer's time, but to let you hear what is possible. My impression is that those who have not been hanging around high end audio don't realize how effectively a really good system is in reproducing instruments.
I tend ot listen to acoustic instruments- a lot of small combo jazz, and can take the measure of how well as system reproduces instruments I'm familiar with. Using a heavily produced rock recording won't be as easy to "hear through" the recording since most of the sounds have been tweaked in post production.
Then, get more seat time, see if you can go visit an audio club meeting.
You may or may not want to become a hobbyist- perhaps you are just trying to get your head around products for the sake of buying a system/speakers/whatever, and be done with it. That's fine.
No one has heard every piece of equipment and all the possible permutations of combinations of amps and speakers, leaving aside source equipment like digital decks and phono front ends. Dealers are limited in what they stock and promote, which also means that certain combinations cannot be heard in a single demonstration.
A lot of us built our systems over time and familiarized ourselves with the gear we liked before we "bought in." You will save yourself a lot of grief, second guessing and perhaps some money if you get enough seat time to hear what different kinds of systems consisting of speakers (dynamic speaker, planar, horn) and amps (tube, hybrid, solid state) work together well. A competent dealer should be able to help you on component matching; a really good dealer will let the products speak for themselves and not press you or try to "sell" you.
I'm not going to recommend any particular component or brand for the reasons stated by others. Educate your ear--learn to listen for the natural recording space of the room where the recording took place (another reason for acoustic instruments rather than heavy multitracked stuff), the harmonic envelope (rise time on percussive strike and decay- most evident on a good piano recording), height and depth of sound stage, whether the bass sounds like "thump, thump" or an actual instrument and does it have dimension? These are some of the attributes that describe reproduced sound.
Oh, and have fun. This is actually a fun hobby if you approach it with an open mind and a certain deliberation---there is a desire to "buy" but refrain from that impulse. Learn more through seat time in front of systems -- it will reward you.
