Thanks again for kicking off this thread - a lot fun!
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I thought it interesting how many posters seemed to think their current equipment is what they would choose if they had £20,000 to spend on new equipment. A surprising number of people think they are at their £20,000 end game system already?
The second sentence of the opening post was missed maybe.
The question may be how to interpret “end game”.
The max of a reasonable choice? Delivering a really great sound?
The absolute incredible and silly max of a possible choice? Going far beyond sound alone?
I could easily imagine much much more expensive gear than I currently own. Mine is about £16,000 which I think is already quite a lot.
Will any more expensive “end game” one sound better…? Would it satisfy me more for more then a few months? I’d be rather uncertain.
And putting more and more money into gear doesn’t make it necessarily better.
Also, choosing more desired gear may also come with new technical requirements. I’m actually about to swap my 10yrs AVR. So, I did a research. I found one or two which may fulfill my ideal requirements. But those alone are about ridiculous £15,000. So, rather no way to replace my speakers as well.
Depending on the space and concrete room you may need very different gear.
You have certain ideas regarding visual design of your preferred gear? This may open the max to unlimited spheres.
The OP didn’t explicitly say if it’s about stereo or also surround sound. The letter is usually more expensive. I have a surround sound gear for my HT, but I also enjoy multichannel music very much. “hi-fi” is a rather undefined term.
So depending on your needs, wanting and constraints £20,000 may be something completely different. And as long as no one knows your very own situation you can’t compare 
I’d assume the OP actually plans to buy some gear and simply wanted to get some “recommendations”, not “just for fun”, TBH 
Fair points. For me, “end game” means a stereo system I’d be genuinely happy keeping long term rather than constantly chasing the next upgrade. The £20k figure was mainly to see what different people would prioritise if starting again from scratch.
In my own case I’m actually looking at upgrading, so the discussion has been useful. I’m a big believer that the room and speaker choice come first — throwing more money at equipment definitely doesn’t guarantee better sound. 
Okay, got it
So, with your understanding of “end game” you may have triggered rather unexpected responses, not relating to being just “happy” for some years, but rather to being completely fascinated, overwhelmed, with a strong conviction there’s nothing “better” than that, regardless of any price.
In that sense “end game” and the limit of £20,000 together are rather contradictory, IMHO
Yeah, I get what you mean I probably used “end game” a bit loosely. What I really mean is the best system I could realistically build within a £20k budget - something I’d be genuinely happy keeping for many years without constantly thinking about the next upgrade.
There’s always going to be something more expensive or technically better, so true “end game” in the unlimited-budget sense probably doesn’t exist for me 
Not at all. My system functions perfectly, I enjoy using it to play music–still having those wow moments with new and old music–so why would I want to change anything? So, if I didn’t have a system I’d aspire to build something similar.
Maybe an Exposure integrated amp or a Rega (British) deck, but otherwise, I’m not going to chase rainbows, and know my hearing is long past its best to waste time seeking what isn’t realistic.
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