avr receiver help

Evolving your two channel over the long haul sounds like the smart way to go. You might think about another amplifier and a two channel pre with pass through. These don't need to cost a great deal to achieve that delicate two channel sound. If your speakers have the powered subs you might think about tubes.

You'll find people with more receiver experiences over at the AV forum.

so far i tried a pioneer, h/k and a onkyo in two channel and i think the h/k sounds best so far with the preludes, the reason for my original post was to get an idea of what brands of receivers other prelude owners thought sounded the best with this speaker so that i would have a starting point of wich receivers to listen to, but you are right i'm going to have to go try a few more of them before i find the one that i like, the two channel pre with pass through sounds like a good idea, thanks for all the info.
greg

"so far i tried a pioneer, h/k and a onkyo in two channel and i think the h/k sounds best so far with the preludes (Stereophile Class A???)." (Okeeteekid)

I agree with you that the HK likely is the better sonic match for your P'ludes. Also, you can get it moded a bit,if you want to get tricky. That is an option.
Still, I'd be using outboard amplification, by finding something on the used market that fits your budget. And, if you look hard, you can find some real Gems down in the low $400 range for a 5 channel amp! You would likely get stellar results with your speakers with any of the Parasound 5 channel/6 channel amps, maybe an Adcom, ATI (might be a little crispy on top, but depends),Outlaw amp?, and others. Anyway, good luck