AV Receiver Help me narrow it down

Which speakers do you use? The limitation of Marantz are there transformers. They are quite small compared to Onkyo. So you miss the speed and control Onkyo can give. The difference between Onkyo and Denon is that the focus of instruments and voices is sharper with the Onkyo. Onkyo has made big steps in the last few years. It depends about the speakers you use but Onkyo is the only brand in this pricetag which can give depth. Other ones is what we call 2-dimensional amps. I sold all these brands for many years and I have done hundreds of tests with them. Audyssey xt32 is the way to go. This sets new levels in surround.

Cambridge

They pride themseleves on providing vastly superior audio performance at they exclusion of knobs, knicknacks and generally useless features etc.

Google CAMBRIDGE AVRs for their superior reviews and then actually physically go audition them.

The top CAMBRIDGE AVR convinced me enough to actually buy it and create a discreet 7.1 system with Martin Logan FRESCOs independent of my 2 channel audio kit.

IMO you may be quite surprised at this kit ...highly recommended.

have you considered seperates? since you want a pre amp out, you must be considering upgradability in terms of power amps. I would consider getting a good processor in the $1000 range and perhaps a used multichannel amp in the $300 range. I actually did just that for a second surround system in basement with a Parasound 5 channel amp and an Integra Prepro and I'm very happy.