Need to replace my Rotel RMB-1095 . suggestions pls

Well .. everything sounds amazing ... after such a long time without a proper audio setup, it was so nice to watch a movie last night and play some music today

The repair lasted just over one year. Lost the left front channel yesterday so it is time to shop for something else. Not willing to spend another $1k and have to listen to movies thru the tv speakers for 40 days.
might also upgrade my 7 year old Marantz pre-amp

Sorry to hear of your problem. Would it be possible to purchase a 2 channel amplifier and use the Rotel for the center and surround speakers adjusting output levels from the A/V preamp?

possibly but at this point I am planning to replace both the AV7701 and the Rotel amp.  The AV7701 is an older processor and I want something that supports all the current formats.

That amp, the, "RMB-1095" had a bad "Protection circuit" topology and they, "Rotel" re-designed that entire circuit. Complete with a "New and improved" board a few years after the debut of the amplifier line. 
 I lost a channel in one a few years ago and my "Amp guy" found out about it on a phone call, while ordering parts from "Rotel". So he replaced it also for another $350. Which was the cost of the upgraded protection circuit board + shipping, two years ago. Did they look at this when repairing your amp? Was it mentioned? I think in total it was $680 including a new power supply as well to repair. Which was what goes apparently when the orig. protection circuit fails.