Your speaker/amp combination will be the major determinant of the amount of listening fatigue you experience. My advice is listen to a lot of speakers, pick one, then find an amp that will drive them suitably. Since you seem to like speakers with a warm character, I'd recommend Soliloquy, Vandersteen, and Vienna Acoustics. Meadowlarks and ProAcs are also considered non-fatiguing but I haven't heard them. Basically, to minimize fatigue, chose speakers with soft dome tweeters instead of metal domes. If you chose a planar, like a Magnepan, your will need a high-current amplifier (a good idea anyway).
A lot of SS amps sound bright. You may need to spend more than you think to get a decent sounding one. It is hard to beat a used Rowland for the money.
Good idea to move the NHTs to the rears.
I recommend buying a mid-priced HT receiver, such as a Denon 3803, instead of an HT pre/pro. This eliminates your need for a multi-channel amp and gives you all the latest surround sound decoding formats. It also saves some money and allows you to spend more on the main speakers/amp combination where it will make the most difference in sound quality. The amps in the receiver are plenty good for HT duties. Use the amps in the receiver for the center and surrounds and power your mains with your power amp driven from the pre-outs of the receiver. Cardas Neutral Reference will work well for the IC from the receiver to the power amp (about $250 used). This cable is very neutral and non-fatiguing and is a great performer for the money. Use the DAC in the receiver as your source with the DVD player you already have as a transport.
This system will give you a baseline to build from. Live with it for a while before spending any more money. Try your pre-amp between the pre-outs of the receiver and the power amp. You may find you don't need a pre-amp. However, if you like the sound of the pre-amp in the circuit, you can use it for 2-channel and only use the receiver when you want to play movies. You'll need an external DAC or a CD player if you use a pre-amp.
Cabling can make or break a system. If you find the system is too bright, try some warm or warm/neutral cables such as Cardas, Audience, or Nirvana. Kimber tends to sound fast and neutral. Copper cables tend to sound warmer than silver ones. The Cable Co. has a rental program that lets you try out many types and applies your rental fee towards purchase.
You said you need component video connections on your HT pre/pro. You will get a little better picture if you connect your DVD player directly to your TV and only use the pre/pro for audio processing. That said, the Denon 3803 has component switching if you want to use it for convenience's sake.
A lot of SS amps sound bright. You may need to spend more than you think to get a decent sounding one. It is hard to beat a used Rowland for the money.
Good idea to move the NHTs to the rears.
I recommend buying a mid-priced HT receiver, such as a Denon 3803, instead of an HT pre/pro. This eliminates your need for a multi-channel amp and gives you all the latest surround sound decoding formats. It also saves some money and allows you to spend more on the main speakers/amp combination where it will make the most difference in sound quality. The amps in the receiver are plenty good for HT duties. Use the amps in the receiver for the center and surrounds and power your mains with your power amp driven from the pre-outs of the receiver. Cardas Neutral Reference will work well for the IC from the receiver to the power amp (about $250 used). This cable is very neutral and non-fatiguing and is a great performer for the money. Use the DAC in the receiver as your source with the DVD player you already have as a transport.
This system will give you a baseline to build from. Live with it for a while before spending any more money. Try your pre-amp between the pre-outs of the receiver and the power amp. You may find you don't need a pre-amp. However, if you like the sound of the pre-amp in the circuit, you can use it for 2-channel and only use the receiver when you want to play movies. You'll need an external DAC or a CD player if you use a pre-amp.
Cabling can make or break a system. If you find the system is too bright, try some warm or warm/neutral cables such as Cardas, Audience, or Nirvana. Kimber tends to sound fast and neutral. Copper cables tend to sound warmer than silver ones. The Cable Co. has a rental program that lets you try out many types and applies your rental fee towards purchase.
You said you need component video connections on your HT pre/pro. You will get a little better picture if you connect your DVD player directly to your TV and only use the pre/pro for audio processing. That said, the Denon 3803 has component switching if you want to use it for convenience's sake.