what to address first

Ken,

You have very nice equipment as is. I would stick with the Arials, unless you want to swap out all your speakers for a different brand. You could go to a 6 or 7 channel system if you have the room for it.

In general home theater sound distribution is:

50% center channel
40% L/R channels
10% Surround

You might get more improvment/$$$ in your system by working with acoustics at this point.

I agree with the power conditioning suggestion. You can improve the audio and video with this as well.

thank you all. i neglected to say that i do indeed have individual dedicated outlets and an Exact Power conditioner. I just feel the audio of my home theatre isn't quite there yet. To be honest, I do have a little of the bug.I have been wanting the 20T's but there seem to be better speakers for home theatre.What should I do???

Place your order for the APL-modified TEAC Esoteric UX-1 universal player that APL calls the NWO-1 and sells for about $19k (you will no longer need a preamp). Imagine the performance when you merge the undeniably finest transport mechanism built with perhaps the most talented modifier. Check out aplhifi.com for more info.

Next audition a pair or set of Nuforce Ref 9 Special Edition amps which retail for only $4400 a pair.

You can also do better regarding scs and ics far better regarding line conditioning.

-IMO

I think you were on the right track with the meridian gear. DSP7000's are a great choice as are the DSP5200's for smaller spaces. Either the 800 series or the fantastic G98/G68 with the room eq feature and 1080P support would work great. The surround processors in concert with the dsp loudspeakers offer a synergy and level of control that no other system can match. Theater components require software updates over the years to keep current. Meridian has a long history of supporting their products over the years. I am a Meridian Dealer and would to help in any way I can.