Stereo Shopping

[Musashi]

I'm about to be in the market for a new receiver and some speakers. I figured it'd be a nice boost to the theater before I start getting blu-ray films. I've been looking around, and even got a demo of one system that would ultimately run about 3 grand for the receiver and speakers. If I were to go with this one I'd probly get it in pieces, starting with the receiver and fronts, then slowly adding the rest over the course of the year.
That being said, I been wondering if I'm better off waiting for receivers capable of lossless audio codecs through HDMI to come out. I'm also curious about how much I should be spending on speakers; when does the point of diminishing returns happen?