Don't dismiss the older Anthem AVM 20's and 30's. They can be fully upgraded to the AVM 50 (HDMI) and sound just as good if not maybe a touch better (at least to my ears.)I think it's like $2200 for the upgrade and the AVM 20's have been selling for around $1100-1200. That would allow you to get into the AVM 50 for about $3400(better than $5000!) The AVM 20 has had several upgrades up to now (it's something like the 2.21 version.) The older AVM's were well reviewed and a lot of peoples references. They are excellent on music (except I'm a firm believer that NO processor will equal a good 2 channel preamp using music.)
The other thing is no higher end processors due the new codecs(like Dolby True HD, etc.)
The other thing is no higher end processors due the new codecs(like Dolby True HD, etc.)