Jel, they are both very good, and you probably wouldn't go wrong with either one. Three years ago I struggled to choose between these two units and ultimately chose the Meridian. The dealer carried both the AVP and 561, so I was able to compare them side by side. Used as an outboard DAC I felt that the 561 was more musical, richer sounding, and less lean sounding then the AVP. The 561's multi channel music modes (trifield, music) are also very good, however the Direct two channel mode is the purest sounding. Both units are software upgradeable. I've recently downloaded the latest version of the 561's firmware that includes EX, Meridian ES, and Prologic II. Unless you use Meridian's digital speakers the 561 is restricted to 6 analogue outputs unlike the AVP's 7.1 capabilities. The Meridian uses an easy to understand PC program to maintain all settings. The settings can then be downloaded (or uploaded) to the 561. A laptop is useful in this regard and allows you to program the 561 without removing it from your system. The 561 can be setup without a PC, but this is much more cumbersome. The 561 does come standard with composite and s-video switching, I don't use either one. No doubt, the build quality of the AVP is very appealing. However, in the three plus years that I have had my 561 it has performed flawlessly. Good hunting.
