pre-amp processor

@dsk3

@auxinput is wright ( as usual ) If you are looking mostly for the new features ,you may buy

a Yamaha RX- A8A receiver . But I think , the ´´old ´´ McIntosh MX 160 will

still sound  a lot better.

By the way , the cost of hardware upgrades ( all included ) cost as much as the brand new top Denon HT receiver .

@dsk3

Have you ever unplgged and remove a 20 channels processor , to ship for an hardware upgrade ?
20 interconnects cables to the power amplifiers and subwoofers ,one power cord , one ethernet cable , HDMI cables , several interconnect cables to other sources !!!

You have to tag , almost each cables to know where to put theme back.

It is , half a day , of pure pleasure :-))))

@maxwave 

I have all separates now the Lexicon mc12b

dynaudio speakers

Vidikron model 60 which will be upgraded to the 

JVC NZ8 laser projector I’m looking for sound quality along with 8k 2.1 hdmi 

or 4k with being able to upgrade to 8k the Lexicon is component out no hdmi

For the past four  years , I have plugged and unplugged my whole system so many times ; that , today , at the moment I touch a cable ; I hyperventilate and sweat like

if I was in a sauna .

I don’t want to remove anything anymore .

I’m looking for sound quality along with 8k 2.1 hdmi 

or 4k with being able to upgrade to 8k

You could try looking into these two items:

NAD Masters M17 V2i (much lower price than your budget, but will likely have an 8K upgrade module in the future).

Theta Casablanca V - very expensive, but also will likely have an 8k upgrade in the future.

The problem here is wanting to be on the bleeding edge of technology but also expecting sound quality.