Replacing my AVP

Guess it depends on what you are looking for.

The "audiophile" grade AVPs tend to focus more on SQ, so you have fewer processing modes.

I tend to have a stereo setup for music and a multichannel system for movies (using HT bypass to integrate them). My current AVP is the Marantz AV8801. I think it is very good bang for the buck. It decodes all the current formats and supports all the processing formats like Audyssey DSX, DTS Neo X and DPL Iiz up to 11.2 channels (9.2 with Iiz). It also uses Audyssey's XT32 for finer resolution room correction.

Bryston SP3? Sneaks in just under your budget.

But I'd also have a look at the Marantz. It is a pretty impressive system but has the economies of scale associated with leveraging components from a large scale consumer electronics firm.