Thanks for all the input guys, consensus seems it's not justifiable to add an external processor and amp except when you need more headroom, which in reality I don't. What I want really is just a few new aspects of technology (auto cal/Eq, HDMI 1.3 receiver).
Emotiva use their own proprietary auto equilization/calibration on the UMC-1. While IMO auto equilization is rubbish on quality speakers, I must think emotivas own technology in this regards is far from revolutionary and Audyssey is probably a better feature which is also a trademark on some very popular receivers with pre-outs. If this type of feature is important, you should choose Audyssey over Emotiva EQ. Audyssey is more stable and has a lot more R & D behind it.
