"Take your time" advice is very good and appropriate. I jumped straight to the end: "Just go to Illinois and hear for yourself" because of my story with Decware.
As I said, I didn't know anything: Sony, Pioneer, Onkyo, receivers were my hi-fi world. I bought speakers if they were heavy and had big magnets (embarrassingly).
I had just started dabbling with used SS and tube amps from Jolida and Myriad, and realized you can hear the difference over a consumer receiver. I read about SET and started small with a SE84C. not too much money. But definitely heard a difference. It blew my used "hifi" stuff away. The clarity and more so the speed of the small SE84 is unmatched. You can't understand it until you hear it, on efficient speakers. That's key, you (we all) have to learn what "speed" means, or really sounds like. And once you know, then you can't live without it. I gained some trust in Decware, and wanted more power, so I bought into the bigger Torii3. it trades some speed for lots more power, but still beats the pants off the other stuff I heard. Trust grew. And then the ZMA... and that's, well, just awesome in a whole different way. (tight and big low end, to say the least). Anyway, as my knowledge (including going to 2 Decfests in Illinois and hearing all their gear) and trust grew, I spent more $$$ and have zero buyers remorse.
I put in the time and money to gain the knowledge and trust with these products over time. I love my3 amps. They are different, and all fantastic. think Swedish super model triplets. each amazing, but slightly different. And compared to "lesser" (other) gear, there's no comparison.
Now, speakers. yes, this is very subjective, but a general rule is more efficiency is better (as the articles explain... you don't want to waste audio information (music clarity) generating heat in a speaker or crossover. ) Also, there are synergies between different amps and different speakers (due to damping and impedance curve differences). read the decfest threads and you'll see preferences about which speakers sound best with which amps. you can spend a lot of time trying different combinations (of any brand speaker).
So again, I say, go to the source. Steve D has his opinions of which speakers best match amps and the reasons why. People here do too. He knows what will likely sound good in your room when you describe what you're trying to do.
If the cost of the trip is a small enough fraction of the money you want to spend, and you want to get to the end result sooner than later, go to the source is still my advice. What you gain from that trip is the knowledge you need to feel you're making sound choices.
free advice is worth what you pay for it.