AV Processor Question

I agree with Internetmin. That is as good advice as anyone could ask for. Good luck and keep us posted.

I have a few questions for you. Which speakers are you running and do you use a sub? What is the efficiency? What do you use for video? Are you using a BluRay/DVD player?

The best value is to get the cheapest AVR with Pre-Outs that has the latest lossless decoding and HDMI protocol (1.3 vs 1.4)that you need. Don''t worry about paying for amplification that will go unused. As you already found out, a dedicated pre-pro already costs more than an AVR with the same features. Many of us do this as it seems to make the most sense.

The separate power amp will last a long time, and could be coupled to many differnt AVR's as the processing/connectivity technology changes along with your needs. But a good amp is a good amp and these never change. I have now had two different AVR's hooked up to my Parasound multi channel power amp and never worried once about not utilizing the AVR's built in amps. To be honest - I wouldn't want to use them. The Parasound is so much better.

Good luck!

I too have a 5 channel Parasound amp that I was running with a BK ref20 until recently. After seeing how much dedicated pre/pros are, I ended up getting an Anthem MRX300 to use as a pre/pro. It's been working great.
I'd buy a receiver based on the features you want. You can always use some of the amp channels for extra surrounds or a second zone.
I figure at $1k, it's so much less expensive than the pre/pros that I can just upgrade it in a few years if there are significant changes in technology.

Internetmin's answer was perfect. I'd add that if you're willing to do without audio over HDMI and room correction, a used Emotiva MMC-1 can be had for about $275-300 these days. I used one for several years without complaint. They were certainly more reliable than the UMC-1...although with fewer features.

The MMC-1 switches video over HDMI, but audio will need to run via coax, toslink, or analog RCA into the MMC-1.

Best of luck.