Pre Pro And Amplifier Instead Of Receiver

Another option to consider; buy the receiver that provides the best bang for your budget. Then in a few years if you have the funds, buy a separate amp and use the receiver as a pre amp. Then if you want, you can have a two channel amp for two channel listening and still use your receiver for all multi-channel tasks.

New gear: Emotiva UMC 200 and UPA 500 both for $1000
Used gear can be limitless on Audiogon. Stay future proofed as much as possible such as HDMI and 24/192

Thank you all for your responses!

I will admit that in general I have enjoyed my Onkyo 807 and would consider another onkyo but it appears the reliability factor with the hdmi boards and audio drop outs plague multiple of their models. At present, I'm feeling like reliability is pretty important.

I assume the thought process for going for another receiver vs a used pre pro and used amp, is my budget is a bit low and the newer receivers have the latest video capabilities?

The new Emo gear is appealing. Would the quality be better than a new receiver? Anybody tried the UMC-200 pre pro and UPA 500 amps together?

My use for this set up will be 100% home theater.

Thank You!

I'm not sure that you could find separates that include Audyssey xt32 witin your budget. OTOH, a number of AVRs (including all the Onkyo variants mentioned above) include it. For me, that would probably be the dispositive factor. You needn't stick with Onkyo (Tho I would - and did) , but I would definitely stick with xt32.