Which high-end receiver?

Your equipment does not need to be located in the same room as your display. Apart from the DVD player you may not even loose any convenience since every front panel control is replicated on the remote and everything on the front panel display also goes to the monitor output.

Pulling wires into an unfinished basement or attic space can be done without cutting any more holes than you need for the wall plates.

Xantech makes good IR repeaters, speaker cable losses are not a problem out past silly long lengths (50' +), etc.

Thanks, my equipment is currently set up in the office behind the media room, and I'm already using IR repeaters. The new house has the media wall against and exterior wall, and there is no good place to locate the equipment, other than the built in area.

I'm no fan of receivers but I was very surprised and impressed by a recent audition of the Arcam AVR300 - this thing is the real deal, excellent sound for music or movies and all the latest processing modes. The box isn't tiny, but it's much smaller than some receivers, and it's ONE box.

I still have my beloved 2 channel system (Cary 303/Herron preamp and monoblocks/AlonVs) for stereo listening, BTW. But this gear has totally spoiled me for most HT gear, especially receivers. In fact, I've been unimpressed by my listening experiences all HT receivers up til now, even with movies. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the AVR300 and thought it was outstanding on both music and movies. I liked it better than several much more expensive sets of separates at the dealers.

The ACR 300 is a seriously engineered piece. All the lastest bells and whistles. I'm buying one for our HT system. Check it out.

Thats a very strong recommendation and I am considering this Arcam as well. However, I have read that it has had some buzzing type problems. Any thoughts on that?

Not aware of any buzzing issues. I can only share my own experience.

The demo model didn't buzz when I heard it - it had been playing music/movies all morning long in-store and then we played around with it for over two hours in the aftrnoon. I brought it home and didn't fire it up til the next day - played with it all week - no problems for me.

I'm not saying it never happens, but there was no buzzing on the store demo unit I had. I've had several Arcam pieces in the past and always found them to be reliable with good customer service. I don't like fussy components.

If you have a local dealer, I would try to get a home demo. It's an impressive piece.

BTW, I'm a realtor - congrtulations on the new digs.