Again, thanks for everyone's input so far. As more people mention separates, I'm starting to look at them also ... argh! The last thing I need is more choices and decisions!
As I alluded to in other posts, this will be my first foray into a real home theater setup. I don't know if my ears would notice the difference between a receiver and a prepro/amp, but my wallet certainly would. I realize that statement is a broad generalization, though it seems hard to put together a prepro/amp combo that beats a receiver in terms of price and features. Performance is a different story, but again, I don't know if I'd appreciate the difference enough to justify the cost for me.
I'm looking at the M60's b/c my room isn't THAT large (about 3000 cu ft), nor would I play my music that loud. From what I gathered, most of today's receivers at $1000 and up should be able to drive those speakers (along with the VP150 and QS8's) without a problem. At the same time, I'm also going to use the HT setup for video games (can't wait ...), and the PS2 and GC both output 480i/p. So, I'm interested in a video upscaling to 720p, which some receivers do, but I'm not aware of any reasonably priced prepro doing it. A separate video processor is probably overkill for my needs (and wallet).
Just sharing my thoughts as I re-read people's posts ...
