Ultimately, my goal is to get the best sounded setup that's as close to 500$ as possible (if an amp was needed, I might push that up a bit). I want it to sound as "musically appealing" as possible, which I realize is a very subjective term. With all else equal, I would of course prefer simplicity -- but I certainly wouldn't want simplicity to sacrifice musicality at all.

If it's possible for me to get a reasonably priced amp, that might be a good start when considering bookshelf speaker options. Anyone have any suggestions there? But if I end up getting some really nice bookshelf speakers and there's only 100-200$ left for an amp, would I be getting something so poor that it makes the end product not worth it?

I sometimes tend to overcomplicate/overanalyze things so thanks for bearing with me. Maybe if I was given what people think was the 'top choice' for a bookshelf/amp solution within my price range that would be really helpful instead of seeing 4 or 5 possibilities since I can get overwhelmed with indecisiveness.

Thanks again for help.