I agree with everything Sdcampbell has said. In addition, if you are looking for really good stereo audio for music enjoyment in addition to HT performance, you might want to look for a preamp/processor that allows complete bypass of the internal DACs for analogue. I'm not aware of any receivers that allow this, which means that a signal from an analog source is converted to digital and then back to analogue at the output stage. This tends to degrade the signal.
I'm not up-to-date on the latest preamp/processors to suggest one. Aragon's discontinued Soundstage had a full by-pass, essentially using it's Aurem preamp in the one box. The unit listed for around $4000 when it was still being produced but I suspect that you could pick one up for around $2k now. I believe the Simaudio Moon Attraction is a current ly produced model that offers analogue bypass, but I think it lists for over $6000.
I'm not up-to-date on the latest preamp/processors to suggest one. Aragon's discontinued Soundstage had a full by-pass, essentially using it's Aurem preamp in the one box. The unit listed for around $4000 when it was still being produced but I suspect that you could pick one up for around $2k now. I believe the Simaudio Moon Attraction is a current ly produced model that offers analogue bypass, but I think it lists for over $6000.