Dead advice on high end stereo/HT mix

Keis,

If you are looking for a dedicated home theater preamp, there is no better unit or value than the Lexicon DC-1.
These can be had preowned in the $1,000-1,400 range.
You will not find better processing than this for the price.
I would actually make the challenge that 99% of people will not hear the difference between the DC-1 and ANY 'better' unit when talking/listening specifically to Home Theater surround.

This leaves you with $2K for an amp, center, and surrounds!!

Give it a look/listen!
Dan

With the speakers that will blend with the Thiel 3.6's the closest to your price range in my opinion are the Monitor Audio Silver series 12i for center,either get the 4i's or the Silver Series Dipole surrounds, then get a Parasound 3 or 5 channel amp and you will be set. The Monitor Audio speakers are fast speakers like the Thiels and with a Parasound amp powering them it will be descent HT set up.

Keep them Stereo and HT systems separate. Get the best you can for your budget HT receiver + 5 monitors(or 4 monitors + center channel) + subwoofer. You will pay for an extra pair of monitors, but will save on headache. This way you don’t need to match center channel to thiels, simplify setup, get rid of potential ground loops