The best combo under 3K.

Even if you were trying to put together a "serious" A/V system, I believe a receiver is the way to go. By its very nature movie watching is not sonically a high-end activity and therefore the nth degree refinement of high-end equipment is not truly needed. Any B&K, Denon, Integra (Onkyo), Pioneer (Elite), Sony or Yamaha receiver with a MRSP over $1,500 will do a superb job in a well setup home theater installation. The latest edition of Perfect Vision has a buyers guide to various current models. I believe they rate the B&K as the best performing.

I would agree w/ the above post. As a dealer who sells primarily theater systems, I carry the B&K, Pioneer Elite and Denon products. It is my opinion that the B&K offers the best sound quality, build quality and upgradeability of the bunch. It is the same parts as their seperates, just with a shared power supply. Add in 100% american made, and awesome factory support, and I feel it is no contest.

Give the Anthem AVM2 and the MCA 5 a listen.

If you could wait and save another $1K you could purchase and audition the Musical Fidelity AV pre and power amps with a 30 day return policy from The Audio Advisor. If they are on par with the rest of the "A" gear they will out perform any of the HT competition IMO. Combined with the Gallo Micros they will make quite a style statement. Take a look @ audioadvisor.com. The amp should have plenty of headroom to allow the Gallo/amp combination to coast and not sound brittle when pushed as the speakers do with lesser amps.