Hi Henry,
I've admired your photography for many years. Spectacular. Welcome to the forum. IMHO, before plunking down 30K on audio gear, you really should take a bit more time to see (hear) what's out there. Even if you're looking for ultimate simplicity/minimalist gear there's lots of speakers out there that I trust will be much more musical and emotionally involving than the Beolabs, at that price or significantly less.
For starters, take a look at Linn's active speaker line such as the Artikulat, along with their Unidisk player that will allow you to hear all audio silver discs, not just CD. Nice looking stuff as well...
http://www.linn.co.uk/music_systems_artikulat
Good luck in your journey, and I commend you on your beautiful art!
Dan
