I have an 5 year old Onkyo that works well as well as a Yamaha--both mid-level $800 receivers (list) that I paid about $500 for. Personally, I'm just not that concerned about "audiophile" home theater--I just want to hear clear dialogue and some thump when things blow up. Maybe the Emotiva gear? Seems likes it's well priced. I like REL subs too, btw, and they can be used with the front speakers AND to feed the LFE output of 7.1 Just my 2 cents...
New HT Receiver
Building a dedicated 7.1 ht room and need advice on a quality receiver. Will have separate 2 channel system so this is really JUST HT. will likely be using focal speakers all monitors but haven't decided for sure. I want it to have all the newest formats. 2 hdmi outputs for a secondary tv in another room. Marantz, integra, anthem? Might add multichannel amp in future but not at first. Room 25x16x9. Thx