The little amplifiers you can get on aliexpress and the like for about $70 can be quite good although pre-covid there were more like $35. They just have simple bluetooth and analogue in and depending on the model support 2 or 4 speakers plus 0 or 1 subwoofer.

I bought a couple and then found 2 pairs of nice second-hand bookshelf speakers. Presumably everyone is upgrading to smart speakers and dumping their old stuff because it was really easy to find great speakers for a very low price.

There's this guy in my town who is still clinging, somehow, to his life in the as a long-haired metalhead hifi bro and I cannot wait to see the look on his face when I go down there and drop a couple paychecks in his lap and say "enlighten me" ;-)