Hi... new here and all that, trying to find some places to help me with this lil' project with me and my buddy. I'm not much of an audiophile, but he is. A pretty extreme one, most of the time.. However, he doesn't know all too much about sound systems and the like, so I decided I'd help him shop about on the internet.

He gave me a few guidelines:

max of $5,000, but in the $2,000 range much more preferable.
prefers balanced sound. Like Sennheiser HD-600 headphones.
Starting with 2.1 - good idea?
PC with FLAC music will be the main source of music
Used mainly for music.. movies too. Surround can still be added later if that's preferable, though.
Would like a reciever that's not TOO expensive, but good, and upgradeable.
Music is mostly the important thing, above all else
"Absolutely the main thing. I'll play movies through it too, and as long as it's balanced anyways, it shouldn't matter, it should be good for both.", he says
Room is about 14 Feet by 12 Feet.
Connections.. HDMI isn't important, but if it's there, great! Component is a bit more important.. and at least two optical ports are needed, but three would be ideal.
He wants me to emphasize balanced sound. Especially in relation to bass. Nothing boomy.

Hope you guys can help! Links would be nice also, if you can provide em!
Thanks a bunch