ROTEL VS YAMAHA RXV1500

I've been very happy with my Sunfire amp and for the cost, I think it offers a tremendous value (used). I've heard/read really good things about B&K. These are two that come to mind that will not break the bank and offer 7 channel amps. I would personally try and find or wait for one of the older model Sunfire Signature's to come up. They were originally 400watts/ch and then version 2 was 425watts/ch.

My 1068 is a Pro only not a reciever but I did use pre outs on an Onkyo I owned prior, the sound wasnt vastly better and I quickly fihured that a seperate preamp/processor was in order...........and it was a big step up in performance. The Rotel (reciever or Processor) have cross over settings of 20,40,60,80,100hz plus bass and treble controls for each channel (agreat feature) you can also have seperate settings for dolby and stereo 2 channel and you SACD inputs.....it is very flexible!

The Rotel is going to give you the best amplification, less bells and whistles. Yamaha is known for their DSP's, and has more bells and whistles. If you want the closest to audiphile, go Rotel. I have the RSX 1067, and am very happy with it, I listen to more 2 channel through it than movies these days.

The DSP options are mostly a joke and wastefull fluff in my opinion as are many bells and whistles, most of wich are not hardly if ever used, a simple direct approach to electronics will give you best performance, bells and whistles just much up sound and signal path.

Actually, if you're NOT using the amp section in the Yamaha, you'll might find the sound difference between the Rotel and Yamie NEGLIGABLE! Then, it gets down to features, EQ', switching and upscaling, etc.
I've had very good success over the years in some systems using the Yamaha as a pre/pro. However, better DSP and EQ technology is out there to do even more with the sound, acoustics, etc. So consider. Most rooms NEED some room correction! (as most people don't have heavily acoustically engineered rooms). In this case, the Parametric in the Yamaha will be at least very helpful for bass peaks in the room, to even out the response, and increase dynamic range and accuracy.
I hear the RXV861 is supposed to be a descent sounding piece. Perhaps even better, most likely, with a better amp! But I've not heard that piece, just hear-say. Ya might check it out. Otherwise, Why not look at the Integra pre/pro as an option? Got all the latest and greatest, including Audyssey MULTEQ.
At the very least, you can go down to your local AV store and by the Yamaha, and try it out! Don't like it? Then just return it!!! Problem solved , there.
Good luck