Help I have not bought equipment since mid 80's

Thanks for all the advise. The equipment I have now has either been bought as demo, used or basically a couple months old. I would prefer not to pay retail. So far this is what it looks like:

PT5 - demo $400
2250 - demo $2600 (new $4000)
280cd - demo $1900 (new ($3500)
Energy Veritas 2.4 (used a few months)(new $3600) and a new set of Monster Z200i XLR interconnects (new in package and seal not broken) - $1800
interconnects: Vipers - demo $100 a set
CV6 - used $200

About my budget, it depends. I have a wonderful caring wife who does not care what I buy. Lets just say, I need to feel like I am getting what I am paying for. I could spend perhaps $10,000 or so on these items (used or demo).
I do not know the terminology to describe the sound I want, but I want to ease back, listen, and feel totally into the music. I am not looking for a rough ride. I do not want to feel tense while listening. I would like to enjoy the music, and at the same time not be aware that it is there. For now I would likely keep the speakers, but I am open to a different Amp, Pre, and CD, if it would give me better results.

I am looking for a 2-channel system mainly. BUT, my wife saw the plasma TV's when I took her to the local stores one day, and now she says she wants one. So, I will likely be thinking of a home theater system to add with the 2-channel in the future.

I am totally in agreement on ditching the PT5. In response to the advise on just purchasing a simple system and checking it out for a few months, that is basically what I had in mind. I bought the PT5 and 4420, and have been using my old pioneer cd player so I could add gear to it and check it out. I figured I could either put the B&K in my bedroom, the garage, or sell it when I am done with it.

I have also taken the following gear home and auditioned it.

Parasound A23 and P3
Energy Veritas 2.3
Monster HTS 5100
KAV 500
Krell HTS7.1

So how did the iPod sound?

Bigbluebarnacle, according to the author, many of the audiophiles said it "sounded pretty good for digital", and they said 99% of the public wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But, the author also said he listened to "Take Five" sourced from the iPod and the same tune sourced from vinyl, and he could definitely tell the vinyl playback was superior. Really interesting column if you can track down a copy of today's "WSJ".

WTS, yep they've re-invented the wheel several times since 1985. Not to worry. My guess is you have too much of a good thing going there. I like the Energy sound alot but I'd say it's better suited to making softer electronics shine. You might try tempering your you-are-there Krell stuff with a more musical speaker. ProAc and Soliloquy are my faves.

Rockvirgo is right, in my experience. I have tried the stand mounted Veritas (I think 2.3) and liked it quite a lot but tried it with a Conrad-Johnson 60 watt amp. I think you may want to think about getting into tubes as most equipment is now very easy to maintain and very musical. I have never liked the SS sound of Krell but am really quite prejudiced - have been using tubes since 1982. Another thing to consider is a tube pre-amp and a non-mechanical sounding SS amp. But again, the Veritas is a very detailed speaker and needs attention as to what drives it; can sound a bit thin and bleached out with wrong amp. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it seemed somewhat easy to drive. There are lots of good used tube amps for 500.00 - 2,000.00 that could make the Energy shine. I'll stick with my ProAcs and SETs, though.