A/V Processor and Amp for B&W speakers?

The Marantz processors are quite excellent, especially for the money you spend. It definitely is a "mass market" item, but it's engineered well with excellent power supplies and analog circuits.  It's also the only "consumer level" item with discrete analog output stages.  Marantz and Outlaw both have a slightly warm voicing with slightly rolled off high frequencies.  The Marantz would have better bass however, because power supply is much bigger.  You can also go back as far as AV 7702 MKII if you wanted.  They all use the same power supply and analog circuits.  The newer models only have additional bells & whistles plus maybe newer HDMI support.  You might have trouble finding a used Marantz for as cheap as a "new" Outlaw.  However, it's definitely going to be much less than $2k.

There’s an Anthem MRX 720 being sold here as demo from dealer with full warranty for $1799.  Unless you’re looking for a warmer sound like Marantz this is a very nice option.  Best of luck. 

Ok, in doing a lot of digging around and looking at second hand prices I included Yamaha CX-5100 & 5200 in my searching (based on some other Audiogon threads) and stumbled upon a CX-A5000 for $550 (just over $600 including shipping), after looking at reviews and forum comments I pulled the trigger. Seems like a decent price to me, it doesn’t come with a setup microphone though so I need to find the right one as it seems there’s a few different versions out there. I’ll contact Yamaha but any advice on this and setup welcomed.

That's a really good price for the A5000, if it's in good condition.  Since it's missing the microphone, it's likely missing several other pieces.  Dod you get a remote control with it? 

The Yamaha is likely not going to have bass/midbass that is as full sounding as the Marantz.  However, it is going to have better high frequency resolution.  It could come across a little bright/harsh, especially if you pair it with the Monoprice Monolith amp and your B&W speakers.  You'll have to let us know how it works out.  There are ways to help calm down the Yamaha if your sound is too bright/harsh (i.e. fuse upgrade and power cord).

It does come with a remote and power cord, and visually in the add it “looks” in good condition, but I bought a squaretrade protection plan for some additional comfort in case it’s a lemon.

In terms of bright sound, interesting point, but at least the Yamaha / Monolith combo should be less bright than my current amp, which is Pioneer, a brand known for being on the bright side generally I believe. There again I’ve never had separates before so this is new territory for me.