Lurking here as I am in very similar position as OP. Key differences are space and (guessing here, given his/her main speaker choice) budget.
My space is a big great room, a roughly triangular shaped walk out basement with one wall sub-grade, all walls finished with drywall, a little glass near the system (on an adjacent wine cellar), two ~ 6' windows and a sliding glass door on wall opposite system (40' away), 8' ceilings near system going to 9' about 14 feet from system (drywalled), totaling 1500sf of space that will have basic furnishings, a pool table and pong pong table (both tables at farthest distance from system). Current plan for flooring is a high quality vinyl, though carpeting (or generous use of rugs) for about 1/3 of space nearest the system isn't out of the question.
I have one piece of electronics to use: a Meridian 559 two channel amp (300WPC), which I bought as I am considering a pair of huge, old school, power hungry fronts with lots of drivers (linear array) as I feel like these will have the penetrating power to make good sound at reasonable volume at the pool table area, 30' away. I am leaning heavily towards the Anthem 5.1 integrated amp for it's all the latest video connectivity and "tuning" ability as noted above, and to preamp out through the Meridian to the fronts, and power the remaining HT speakers with the Anthem. Will have a freestanding (table top) center and in-the-ceiling rear surrounds, and subwoofer (if necessary - which I think it is). My budget for the integrated amp, all speakers and wire/connects is about $9,500, and that includes only ~ $1,300 for the pair of fronts I expect to buy used.
Thoughts?
My space is a big great room, a roughly triangular shaped walk out basement with one wall sub-grade, all walls finished with drywall, a little glass near the system (on an adjacent wine cellar), two ~ 6' windows and a sliding glass door on wall opposite system (40' away), 8' ceilings near system going to 9' about 14 feet from system (drywalled), totaling 1500sf of space that will have basic furnishings, a pool table and pong pong table (both tables at farthest distance from system). Current plan for flooring is a high quality vinyl, though carpeting (or generous use of rugs) for about 1/3 of space nearest the system isn't out of the question.
I have one piece of electronics to use: a Meridian 559 two channel amp (300WPC), which I bought as I am considering a pair of huge, old school, power hungry fronts with lots of drivers (linear array) as I feel like these will have the penetrating power to make good sound at reasonable volume at the pool table area, 30' away. I am leaning heavily towards the Anthem 5.1 integrated amp for it's all the latest video connectivity and "tuning" ability as noted above, and to preamp out through the Meridian to the fronts, and power the remaining HT speakers with the Anthem. Will have a freestanding (table top) center and in-the-ceiling rear surrounds, and subwoofer (if necessary - which I think it is). My budget for the integrated amp, all speakers and wire/connects is about $9,500, and that includes only ~ $1,300 for the pair of fronts I expect to buy used.
Thoughts?