You can start by going to
http://www.audioreview.com - this site is good for seeing review of high end home audio, do your research.
http://www.ecoustics.com - this is another home audio review site more research
http://www.craigslist.com/about/cities.html - go there, pick your city, and look around. There are a lot of good deals in high-end audio under the electronics section the best thing is that it is local not like
ebay
http://www.audiogon.com - this is a really good site for finding high end audio at discount prices
http://www.audioadvisor.com- If you must buy new, this is a good place to do it. They've been in business for some time now, and carry the hard to find , yet highly acclaimed brands that are not readily available in most cities. This is a really good site for hard to find gear.
Hope this helps. Overall don't go to your local high end audio shop and get lured by the 0% financing. You can go though to listen to some of the audio gear, and play with it see how it works,etc. and go with that information in mind and make a more educated decision, and use places like audiogon/
ebay/craigslist to save yourself some serious dough.
j.t.