My two cents:
You definitely want the M80s.

FO M80s: $1198
Outlaw Audio 7200: $1849
663 (for new HD formats)): $345
Total: $3392 USD, pretty close to budget.

Caveat: You could easily stick with the 661 and wait for the next latest/greatest pre/pro

Enjoy/Regards,
SK

The M80's are $2584 aust, I am wondering if I should get the M80's first or the EP500?

Get the M80's first because you'll get good bass out of them. Then you can gat a EP800! 8 is a lucky number you know

LMAO yeah I wish.

I have a Stereo amp, it's a Marantz PM52, I am wondering if I could use that?

Also how do I setup a preamp? I know I plug into the Pre outs on the yammie but where do I go from there? Also does the yammie control everything or does the preamp?

The preamp does all the controlling. What ever you use as an amp should just be increasing the gain on the signal for output to the speakers. You plug in the interconnects to the preouts on the Yammie and then into the RCA ins on the amp.

Would that interfere with the surround sound? Or is it purely for volume control?

Sorry for all the questions but I don't have a clue about hooking another amp to an existing amp.

do you know of any decent sites that can explain it all in simple to understand terms?

Thanks

Graeme, keep in mind that a receiver is a combination of a pre-amplifier and an amplifier in one chassis. When a separate external amplifier for one or more speakers is connected to the output of the corresponding pre-amplifier channels, the internal receiver amplifier circuitry for those channels is bypassed and the separate external amplifier takes over the job of powering those speakers. None of the control and processing functions(including for surround sound)of the pre-amplifier section are changed, because they take place before the pre-amplifier outputs(pre-outs).

Just so you know, I am going to buy the M80's this week and I am a little worried the Yamaha won't have enough grunt to run them.

So I thought if I can connect the marantz to the Yamaha to add extra power to the M80's things should be ok.

Ok, is this correct...

if I connect rca cables to the pre-out left and right mains on the Yamaha and then into the left and right speaker terminals on the Marantz?

Can I change the volume via the Yamaha? The Marantz doesn't have a remote.

Thanks again for your help.

As the Marantz isn't a true seperate amp, I would plug the RCA's from the Yamaha into the AUX input on the Marantz and then hook up the M80s to the speaker outputs on the Marantz. You will obviously need to set the Marantz to Aux input and then from this point you will have to level match all the speakers for the surround sound. I would try the Marantz at 1/4 volume first and then adjust its volume up from there till it reaches the same level as any of the other speakers which are hooked up to the Yamaha, from this point you should be able to use the Yamaha to control the volume.