weakest link? what would you upgrade?

Baranowski, I kind of had the similar experience,
I was using a Marantz avr with B&W 805 center anyway I changed the whole thing
first I did'nt want to doubt the power of a very good AVR like the Arcam avr400 for now if the avr600 upgrades to HDMI 1.4 I might be tempted but the truth is the Arcam avr400 is very powerful at 90X7 wpc not two channels like most avrs companies, as well the Arcam's power is just awsome it will drive and hold most speakers to the wall, right now I have Merlins VSM mme they're sensitive at 89db so works well for me.
good luck finding the missing link.

I'm not a fan of B&W speakers, but if you like them and plan to keep them, I would start off with a good stereo amp for for your front left and right speakers. There's only so much power that you can get out of your receiver. A good amp will really take control of the speakers. Should make a very big difference.

You didn't mention what you were using for playing your music.... IMO a nice upgrade would be a Blu-ray/CD player. I have heard many good things about the oppo as a blu-ray player. It also has components ie: DAC; that makes it great for analog audio music listening. While I have no issues with the PS3. I think its a great device, but I think you will get a lot of enjoyment out of a universal player like the Oppo.

Zd542.... i have an anthem statement separate amp... you suggesting i also get a stereo amp?.....

if i mostly watch blu rays would a different player matter.... there is no decoding or up converting, running a losses signal, would the oppo be any different?

Sounds like you have a great home theater system Bill. With the exception of souce components, I can't think a reason to change the Speakers and Amp. Even the Pioneer acting as a pre-pro is a solid link if you do not need HDMI 1.4 and it sounds like you don't - you're happy with your projector. Further, the Pioneer uses advanced MCACC as do the newer Pioneer Elites so no advantage here either.

So perhaps the only thing is the source. If you like music, upgrade your BluRay/DVD/CD player to get better DAC's for CD playback and utilize the players analog outputs. If you dont care so much for music, don't change a thing as you in very good shape right now.