For $3,000 I would definitely go with separates. AV Receivers drop in value dramatically as soon as you take them out of the box. With separates I think you'll be happier with the quality of the sound and you'll also be in a position to upgrade down the road if you choose to. At your price point I would recommend the Adcom GFA-7500 5 channel amp and the Marantz AV9000 preamp processor. The Adcom GFA-7500 is five separate mono amplifiers on a single chassis. Each module produces 150 watts into 8 ohms and 225 watts into 4 ohms, with all channels driven. The unit weighs about 60 pounds. It is THX certified and can drive low impedance load speakers without breaking a sweat. You'll wake the neighbors if you're not careful. Lucas Films uses this amp in its studios for mixing THX soundtracks. I'm currently using this amp in my home theater with some low impedance electrostatic hybrid speakers and getting exceptional results. This amp retails for $1,500 but you can pick this amp up on the internet new for around $1,100. It really is a nice piece for the money.
The Marantz AV9000 is an excellent preamp/processor for home theater at your price point. It is THX Ulta certified, uses premium-quality parts and is really well made. The unit has a host of features including a very respectable am/fm tuner. It has 96kHz/24-bit D/A converters and 24-bit A/D converters for exceptional audio quality. It also has one of the best multi-purpose learning remotes I have ever seen! (I know, it's a guy thing). This preamp does a fine job on DVD movies. Musical presentation is warm and accurate. The manual is not so good so patience is needed when you're setting this unit up for the first time. This pre amp retails for around $1,800 but you can get it on the internet if you really look for around $1,300. After shipping, this leaves you about $500 for interconnects, speaker cable, DVDs and popcorn! Regards; -Jerie
The Marantz AV9000 is an excellent preamp/processor for home theater at your price point. It is THX Ulta certified, uses premium-quality parts and is really well made. The unit has a host of features including a very respectable am/fm tuner. It has 96kHz/24-bit D/A converters and 24-bit A/D converters for exceptional audio quality. It also has one of the best multi-purpose learning remotes I have ever seen! (I know, it's a guy thing). This preamp does a fine job on DVD movies. Musical presentation is warm and accurate. The manual is not so good so patience is needed when you're setting this unit up for the first time. This pre amp retails for around $1,800 but you can get it on the internet if you really look for around $1,300. After shipping, this leaves you about $500 for interconnects, speaker cable, DVDs and popcorn! Regards; -Jerie