BBIH,
I need to drop something... :) Seriously, though. I don't have a definite reason why, I will probably add it back. Actually my list has not moved - its really getting more complicated. All these posts and research is creating more questions than answers.

Heres a small list of things (pos and neg) that are floating in my mind (I admit some points are biased and are not based solely on sound quality - which I apologize, as this is what I requested in my original post):

negs (these are quotes from various sources):
*1) "Rotel has their stuff made in China."
2) "English mnft's have just now started to take HT seriously"
3) "Rotel Availability problems - 1066"
4) "NAD - reliability issues"
* not to bash the chinese, and before I hold that against ROTEL, I will need to find out where the other mnft are made. I know DENON is in JAP, not sure about NAD - ?, YAM is JAP.

pos:
1) "REspected sound quality , both NAD and ROTEL, DENON"
2) "quality build - NAD and ROTEL (DENON in here as well)"

neg/pos:
Price: NAD and Rotel are on the high end of my budget. ie: For ex: the price of the NAD 761 (1490 CAN), I could get the meatier DENON 3802. So now I have to weigh the 3802 with the 761. now since I'm at this level I have to add the meatier YAM

I'm now realizing that my budget is not enough - 1500 is the threshold seperating great stuff from the audiophile stuff.

thoughts:
1) I like the idea of seperates. So now I am considering prices of a combo set up? (could I get a decent sep set up from say DEN or ROT for the 1500 range ) and would this be a better route than say the meatier 3802 al-in-one)
2) I like (alot) the look of both the ROTEL and NAD products. very sleek and minimalist - this is appealing. Both offer seperates - somthing DEN and YAM don't have.
3) The DENON /YAM has a stronger HT offering - since they have taken HT more seriously and for longer time that the english brands.

See, I'm very ready to make a decision on this ... not :)


ps: secretly I like (very much) the NAD ROTEL line ups.
but, being a current DENON owner I am hesitating.

thanks everyone, I enjoy your input.
Peatro