I have the Emotiva XMC-1 and it is a terrific preprocessor with the focus more on audio quality rather than bells and whistles. And it comes with Dirac Room Correction built-in, a BIG plus. It's half of your stated budget, has a 5 year warranty and comes with a 30 day in-home trial. Order one and try it out, I bet you keep it!
Recommendations for theater room processor and amp
Okay, I am building a new house and just blew my budget on a Raven Integrated Refection MK2 amp and Wilson Duette 2 speakers for my great room. This means that my theater room has to pay the price for those two purchases. I am going to buy the Tekton Pendragon theater speakers and subwoofers, and an Oppo 105D blue ray player. I need recommendations for a good but budget friendly processor/receiver and amp for the Theater Room. I am looking at Emotiva, Sunfire, Pioneer. I want the receiver to able to stream music through the whole house. That is a must. Any suggestions? I would like to stay under $5k for both if possible.