Piggybacking meambler’s receiver suggestions request - receiver or pre/pro advice please

Hi, everyone. I haven’t been here in a while but I value your expertise and judgment. Here is the backstory: several years ago I had a Denon 3808 CI and it suffered some network card issues and lost one of its HDMI connections and I remember paying good money to send it back for Denon to fix it. It was a fully a warranted product from a reputable source. And even to go before that, when I first turned on that Denon, upon hooking it up, I knew the sound was superior to my previous mid-level Yamaha’s and Pioneer elite (lower end of those). I immediately fell in love with how it played both 2 channel audio from my rega tt and 5.1 channel music from sacd’s and dvd-a’s. And it was great for home theater, after I found a better way to set up the sub (online sources) after having run audessy and it wasn’t right. So - I have loved these products. But, as noted above, the Denon began having issues with other little things failing after I got it back and I did not want to go to the trouble of sending it back yet again. I was not super impressed with their customer support. But what did I do? I upgraded to a Denon 4310 CI.!! Dumb loyalty to the sound.

Now for about a year, this one’s remote has begun failing in ways like I can’t access the menu from the remote but have to do it from the front of the unit even after hard and soft restarts. And it has had trouble switching sources from the remote. Finally got that working mostly between my two main things are use. Nonetheless, I am very troubled to have more and more issues. And now the sub all of a sudden is booming and shaking the walls on simple TV shows like the news - not exactly raucus adventure movie soundtracks. So I manually adjusted the sub woofer by pushing the menu button on the front of the unit since I can’t do it from the remote and it was fixed until I turned it off and then re-turned it on the next day. And I manually turned down my sub (on the sub itself) which is a very fine axiom sub (the EP 500 new model). I run a 5.1 system by Axiom. So even though I love the sound of Denon, i am beginning to shop for yet another replacement receiver, on a teacher’s salary - which is why I am mad that these seem to never last long enough.

I would like good quality sound for music first as home theater is just an added bonus, an enjoyable one, no doubt, but I do want music to sound great. I guess I wonder if I can spend less than $1200, say, since I don’t need more than 5.1 channels (i did 7.1 and did not notice a difference that mattered to me). But, I just use this as a reference price. I want to buy one more receiver that can last a decade at least. I have a new Rega P-6 with Jolida phono pre-amp and an Oppo UDP 203 and I use a tivo and a roku from which I stream netflix and amazon. I love albums and hi-rez music, multi-channel and stereo. Please consider this and offer suggestions on a nice receiver for me to enjoy. Preferably with a good remote if you tell me another brand - Denon’s are challenging, and one you believe will last. I am wide open, even to price point, and I would like to take advantage of any bargains as new models may be coming in the next months. And I am 55 now and I wonder if my ears are good enough to detect subtle sound differences anyway. Too many concerts and good car stereos in my past! But i could discern the difference between Denon and my previous Yamaha, but the Yamaha was down further in their line, so not a fair comparison. I also would not like the unit to be taller than the current Denon as my equipment rack lacks more height space (may rule out some Onkyos?). And I was loving reading about Marantz that works with Alexa, but aren’t they sisters with Denon? And does that mean I could expect more problems or are they made differently? Given that I also have a 4 channel quad setup I run alongside this one with Klipsch LaScala’s and Heresy’s, I have a heart for the Marantz’s of old (i have a 4400 and a Sansui 9001 - two awsome receivers from the 70’s that continue to work, while these Denon’s continue to have quirky failings). But I need not make an emotional purchase. I am soon retiring from 28 years of teaching middle school and do not know what I will do next for work, so I need to be smart. So, thanks for reading this and thanks in advance for offering your insights, experiences and opinions! I look forward to hearing from you! I hope I gave you enough info. Thanks!

Just to be upfront - I also posted on AVS and hope that is not against decorum and if so, I won’t do it again. And, the more I think about it, I really do not care nearly as much about HT as much as 2 ch and multichannel music. I don’t think I care so much about room correction even. Are there any receivers that do all sorts of music, from vinyl to hi-rez discs to streaming that do music well and are “good enough” for ht? Maybe that is what I want. I remain open and am sorry if this seems schizophrenic - maybe I was enthused by the bells and whistles of HT and like the way the sub can iintegrate  even with music, but don’t need the be-all, end-all (as if you could ever have that!). I don’t even have a 4k tv and will only get one if mine breaks.  But I do love immersive sound, be it 2 or multi-channel, for my music. Thanks in advance!
Laura