I would say an Emotiva Amp would be great "new" bang for the buck amp. You could also look for a used B&K Ref200x5 (these were $2500 or so new) or 5 channel Adcom or Rotel amp here. You could also save some money by buying an Emotiva UMC-200 Pre-Amp process for $599 new and have a nicer system than most AVRs. You could get an entire Emotiva system (pre and amp) for less than the Pioneer.
I still own several sets of Mirage speakers. The M series are power hungry. How much power they need depends on how big the rooom is and how loud you want to play them. the louder you want them to play the more juice they will need.
Also, for the record, I do not own Emotiva gear, I have recommended them to friends and have heard them and they do a very nice job for the money and much, much better than AVRs.
I still own several sets of Mirage speakers. The M series are power hungry. How much power they need depends on how big the rooom is and how loud you want to play them. the louder you want them to play the more juice they will need.
Also, for the record, I do not own Emotiva gear, I have recommended them to friends and have heard them and they do a very nice job for the money and much, much better than AVRs.