As a general principle, I prefer quality over quantity. I also run my bluray dvd player through my integrated amp to watch movies, though I take the purist approach and stick to 2 channel music which is my priority. Keeping it simple and focusing on 2 channel music has allowed me to buy better speakers and upstream gear, and invest more in isolation products, cables & AC power such as an audiophile wpo. Running multiple channels and mixing different speakers and subs can have a deleterious effect on coherency and musicality.
In my system, I aim for a sound which is natural, coherent, engaging, musical & non-fatiguing. By "musical" I mean that music sounds lifelike in a word. I run a small, but very powerful Vitus integrated amp, Magico S5's and a Vitus cdp as my main source. But you don't need to spend anything like that money to achieve similar goals.
Though admittedly this is quite a departure from your stated plans, FWIW I would stick to a 2 channel setup, sell your Focal 836 speakers & look for a 2nd hand pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE speakers, 2nd hand Modwright KWA-150 amp & 2nd hand Modwright LS-100 preamp. If you're patient, for about $14-15k you would have an awesome setup.
The Legacy Focus SE speakers are great value high end speakers. They have awesome bass which digs down to 18Hz & thanks to its sealed box design, bass is tight and accurate. The SE's run 2 x 12" long throw low bass drivers & 2 x 7" mid-bass couplers, so definitely no subs required! The KWA-150 would be delivering 250 watts @4ohms into the Focus SE's which are very efficient (95.4db), so that is *plenty* of power.
Also fyi, Dan Wright from Modwright offers a Dac and Phono option for the LS100 preamp, so you could later get the dac option and run it as a dac-preamp to stream music from a laptop or HDD. If you wanted to later take the sound up a notch further, you could upgrade the tubes to something like a Genalex Gold Lion (GZ34 rectifier) & Shuguang Black Treasures (6SN7). There is also an upgrade path for the KWA-150 which can be factory-upgraded to 'SE' spec. I am a fan of Modwright who offer the best customer service and back up support in the industry.
The above options imho would massively improve the sound of your system & offer great value. That gear will hold it's 2nd hand value well, so even if you later had a change of direction it is very unlikely you'd lose much/any money. They are keepers for sure. Hope that helps.
In my system, I aim for a sound which is natural, coherent, engaging, musical & non-fatiguing. By "musical" I mean that music sounds lifelike in a word. I run a small, but very powerful Vitus integrated amp, Magico S5's and a Vitus cdp as my main source. But you don't need to spend anything like that money to achieve similar goals.
Though admittedly this is quite a departure from your stated plans, FWIW I would stick to a 2 channel setup, sell your Focal 836 speakers & look for a 2nd hand pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE speakers, 2nd hand Modwright KWA-150 amp & 2nd hand Modwright LS-100 preamp. If you're patient, for about $14-15k you would have an awesome setup.
The Legacy Focus SE speakers are great value high end speakers. They have awesome bass which digs down to 18Hz & thanks to its sealed box design, bass is tight and accurate. The SE's run 2 x 12" long throw low bass drivers & 2 x 7" mid-bass couplers, so definitely no subs required! The KWA-150 would be delivering 250 watts @4ohms into the Focus SE's which are very efficient (95.4db), so that is *plenty* of power.
Also fyi, Dan Wright from Modwright offers a Dac and Phono option for the LS100 preamp, so you could later get the dac option and run it as a dac-preamp to stream music from a laptop or HDD. If you wanted to later take the sound up a notch further, you could upgrade the tubes to something like a Genalex Gold Lion (GZ34 rectifier) & Shuguang Black Treasures (6SN7). There is also an upgrade path for the KWA-150 which can be factory-upgraded to 'SE' spec. I am a fan of Modwright who offer the best customer service and back up support in the industry.
The above options imho would massively improve the sound of your system & offer great value. That gear will hold it's 2nd hand value well, so even if you later had a change of direction it is very unlikely you'd lose much/any money. They are keepers for sure. Hope that helps.