Welcome skyzorg. Keep in mind that the Axiom speakers are very transparent and will not play friendly with poorly recorded material (garbage in = garbage out). When I 1st got my Axioms I quickly learned that one of favourite blues artists makes terrible quality recordings. I primarily listen to that artist now on my mp3 player or car and not in my HT Axiom setup. All that to say changing your amp will likely not make the harsh recordings sound better.

For you receiver options you'll have quite a selection with a budget of $1000. Do you only want stereo or are you looking for 5 or 7 channels of amplification?

Edit: Mark - quit planting your thoughts in my head!!!

Cheers,

Last edited by cb919; 04/03/12 04:58 PM. Reason: Mark's thought telepathy
Dan
On-Wall M5HP LCR, QS8 & EP500 in 7.1