Receiver

If you care about sound quality then you need to know the lowest component at the very bottom of the audio food chain is the AVR. Next up from that is the stereo receiver. All these things cram way too much stuff in way too small a box and with way too cheap parts to be work well at all. Take your money, which obviously if you are even considering one of these things you worked hard for, and buy a stereo integrated amp. Vast improvement. 

Or forget sound quality and get the AVR with the most features that looks the prettiest.

Thank you, and by the way I am not apposed to any opinions on how best to do a multi-component setup and i know there are way better speakers out there but I have to work with what I have for now! 

 NAD and Anthem are my only two realistic choices right now. Anthem is in the middle of a product change, so you may find the MRX line at a discount as they roll out their latest.

I wouldn't put any consideration into "8K" stuff.  It's really just the next marketing gimmick to "sell" consumers into buying new equipment.  Realistically, in some situations, you really don't even need 4K.