B&W CM9s....what power is needed.

How much 2 channel listening? Percentage? Also, what sources will you use? And what other speakers for HT?

75% HT 25% two channel listening. FAmily is all HT. Oppo 103 is primary source. Room is 18'x 26' with 14' vaulted ceilings, wood floors and large opening to kitchen area.

I have a B&W CMC2 center channel and B&W M1-m surrounds. I may have gone too high up the food chain with the center channel but it was on sale.

I'm not sure if this would be what you're looking for, but I recently read a review from a notable reviewer named Peter Moncrief. He reviewed the Arcam AVR-600 HT receiver using his B&W 802D speakers and said this receiver beat any preamp/poweramp combination he had ever listened to regardless of price. He said it sounded wonderful in 2 channel stereo and simply amazing in surround mode. 120 WPC in surround mode and 150 WPC in stereo. Price is $6000. Take this for what it's worth from me or the reviewer,but it might me something to look into if you're interested. He also said it had more than enough power to drive B&W's to very loud levels.

The Arcam AV600 is an extremely impressive sounding AVR. It may very well be the best performing AVR avaialble today. When it performs.

I would caution anyone considering spending 6K on an AVR to learn as much about this unit as possible. Seems that besides extreme performance, it also has extreme reliability problems. There is quite an extensive thread going on right now in Audiogons Home Theater forum about the unit.

Too bad. I really like Arcam gear.

Good info Paraneer, I didn't know about the reliability problems. I had listened to the AVR 600 at a audio salon in San Diego paired with B&W 802 Diamond speakers. I was very impressed by the sound. To bad that it may have reliability issues. It sure sounded promising.