My approach is to use common amplifiers and speakers and seperate the front ends. In the interest of highest possible music quality I am switching to an Adcom 750 preamp. The bypass feature allows me to run my main amps and speakers in the HT rig. Other manufacturer are starting to follow suit on higher end preamps. Krell's KAV300i and VTL's IT85 have the feature too! Why shut down your hard earned main system to listen to movies through of all things a receiver and $750 worth of speakers? My budget processor is a Marantz AV550 bought used ... it satisfies all the criteria for a small home theatre with out breaking the bank. It even has a tuner built in.
Home Theater or Stereo?
I'm in the process of upgrading my system. I own a DVD player and I'm trying to integrate video with audio. I've been very concerned about the reliability comments I've been reading on the internet on boards like this one and audioreview. I don' mind spending up to $2k for a preamp or processor but I don't want the hassle of dealing with operational problems. Lately I leaning towards sticking with stereo and just upgrading my preamp to a Classe (cp-50), Krell krc-3, Mark Levinson No. 38 etc. Do you have any comments that could help me. Thanks