Amp first approach to building a system, anyone ?

What worked for me was attending a few audio shows and discovering which brands I aligned with in taste and methodology, then building from there. I found that I prefer wooden speakers which resonate with the music, and then tube amps over ss, and finally realness and musicality vs technical mastery. This narrowed down the companies I wanted to give my money to and enabled me to feel confident in the goals I was pursuing. Component-matching is so important in this hobby, so if you can stick to compatible brands, or even stick with one brand, I feel you’ll find yourself appreciating the resulting system. 

In a sense, I did take a power amps first approach to building my system. They are the.oldest components in my system and I've had them over 25 years. All others have been subsequently replaced with better or upgraded - in some cases several times.  

I do think the audio shows will help you find your personal taste even if its not an optimal environment. Amp and speaker synergy is key and some match better than others. My goal with an amp is to never run short of headroom. I am a krell fan 700,600,650 all recapped by krell factory. Michi m8, accuphase m 1000, hegel h 30 a in mono and big macs are my starting point.enjoy the dopamine.

Only if some hot amp is the lite of your life. 
Else it’s always speakers first.  👌

I am thinking whether this approach complicates or simplifies things or both.

Of course, you must just love your amp to even consider it. Some will only listen to their 300b amps and nothing else. How about $30k for NOS pair of Western Electric tubes ? At least that's what I read somewhere, might've been a slight exaggeration. They are said to last forever, though.