New to this hobby please help me

Look at alot of reviews . Best is to listen for yourself but im far from brick and morter stores and its sad. I have the golden ear same as t66 with the marantz 8012. I do use the small fans on top as  it does not overheat and go into protective mode. I think the best bang for the buck is the tekton moab in your price range. They are efficient work well with stero and avr.to me they sound better than my golden ear. They have a 30 day trial.study hard it will be productive.

I went trough a new speaker quest a few years and rejected a few pairs for either re-stock fees or simply selling them, ending up discovering the ones I had were better than my experimental choices. A learning experience for sure. Recently went with the "parts by mail" Pure Audio Project Duet 15 Horn 1 pair and they're fabulous. A serious high end speaker for a reasonable price.

Wow, talk about feedback. I’m also in San Diego, you know about Stereo unlimited on Sports Arena right?  They have alotta options. Good guys too. 
Best Buy in Mission Valley isn’t a joke, lots of gear some high end too. 

I think you can buy great speakers, used, for $2500. Save the rest for a better amp. There is no reason to go all out, you can upgrade in a few years when you figured out what you are missing. 

I have had more than 8 different pairs in the last 6 years, none were over $2500 and I am the happiest I have ever been with $350 speakers from craigslist. LA is a goldmine for used audio. You can also throw a few hundred bucks at shopgoodwill. KEF, B&W, Klipsch speakers listed every day.

The reason I am saying this, if you really spend 4K for speakers now, where  will you go from there? Your system is only as good as your weakest component. Incremental changes and focusing on balance and synergy are your best bets.

usaudiomart has a lot of Dynaudio, Totem, Triangle, PSB, Paradigm speakers at deep discounts. Fiddlers like us constantly want to upgrade and they loss is your gain!

btw I never could get into Alma, always closed and Stereo Unlimited has the most unwelcoming vibe (not the employees' fault) of any hi-fi store. But you may get lucky, nothing beats in person experience.

Think long, future use, other amps, perhaps other locations, a good deal only lasts a short time, a great choice lasts forever.

1st, speakers have efficiency/sensitivity ratings that effect how much power you need, the standard is how loud in db (decibels) they are when measured 1 meter away and driven with 1 watt of power i.e. avg 90db/1m/1w or lower 87db/1m/1w, or perhaps efficient horn speakers 102db/1m/1w

generally: avg 90db; low (below 90db) or higher (above 90db)

so, to allow the use of lower power, perhaps try a low powered tube amp (less cost and less heat, fewer tubes) in the future, try and select higher efficiency speakers

2nd, they have average/nominal impedances, and low dips of impedances. the lower impedance need more voltage, some amps are rated for a variety of impedances, some are not.

Your AVR is rated at 100 wpc at 8 ohms, 140 wpc at 6 ohms, it does not have a 4 ohm rating, thus we can presume it is not great for low impedance/high voltage needs.

That is why it was advised the otherwise wonderfully sounding Golden Ears speakers might not pair well with your amp.

I presume if it is an AVR that you will be getting a Center Speaker and rear surrounds. You want a similar efficiency and tone from your Center Speaker, the rear surrounds are less important.