Which AV Receiver?

@millercarbon - dude, get off your soap box already!   The guy has a budget of $300-1000 and he wants to add a center channel eventually (which is critical for proper directional sound in movie viewing).  A push to 2-channel integrated is not going to give him what he needs (and yeah, I understand 2-channel integrated is going to sound better for stereo).

I remember you laher.  You said that you couldn’t use a center channel at all in that situation and wanted a real simple solution which is why I put forth that audio-gd DAC preamp.  You also wanted power monitors and that was the Yamaha studio monitor suggestion.

However, for movie and tv audio, there is going to be a loss of clarity and coherence if you don’t actually have a center channel.  It’s actually harder to hear dialogue clarity in a 2 channel system, but if you don’t care about that, then a 2 channel Integrated will always sound better than an HT receiver for stereo music in your budget.

an “integrated amplifier” just combines a preamp and amplifier into one device.  Sometimes they also have a built in DAC.  That Rotel A12 is an excellent suggestion and hits all your requirements and it has four digital inputs.  However, it’s not actually 120 Watts per channel like robojerman said.  It’s really only 60 watts per channel so it’s kind of lit on the amp side.  That being said, those klipsch are 8 ohm speakers and extremely efficient at 98db, so they shouldn’t be that difficult to drive.   Just keep in mind that you will not be able to get a center channel with this integrated amp direction.

The Marantz receivers would only be recommended if you want a warmer sound with rolled off highs.  The NAD would ultimately do better for HT clarity and excitement.  Your klipsch speakers are not necessarily bright.   But, like I said, also look at Arcam.  The Arcam is a type of Class A amp and will have excellent sound quality, but will have a very smooth and slightly liquids sonic signature.