Howdy all. I'm pretty much sold on the M3Ti's and will be using these as the mains for my system. Additionally I'm considering the M2Ti's as my rear and speakers.

I'm hoping I can get some comments on my choices here.

M3Ti - L&R mains
M2Ti - L&R rear
VPZero - center
Hsu Research VTF2 - Sub

I'm split on the preamp to use. I'm leaning toward integrated preamp/amp because of costs. These are my current picks:
B&K AVR307
DiVA AVR200
Harman Kardon AVR 8000-Z

Any comments or suggestions would be welcome.

Whip, any of the amps you mention will do fine; select on the basis of features and price. On the speakers, however, I'd suggest that you consider the M2s for the mains as well. Since you'll have the VTF-2 handling the bass, the better M3 bass wouldn't be significant. You could save a few dollars and also get a bit better midrange with the M2s. On the center, my suggestion would be to use a third M2. Alternatively, I'd suggest a higher level VP than the Zero.

I would take heed to JohnK's advice. He gave some very good options.

It seems as if you know the value of high quality bass. The HSU was an excellent investment even though it will probably end up costing almost as much as your other 5 speakers combined.

what exactly are amps or pre-amps used for? are these to give you more power, say like i have 80w per channel and i get an amp and it raises that by 50watts?

Ayien

To keep it as simple as possible, integrated amplifiers have two built in sections, a preamplifier and an amplifier. The preamplifier section will control things such as volume, treble, and base whereas the amplifier section delivers the drive or power to your speakers. These components can be had as individual items giving you greater control over the quality of sound reproduction as well as the ability to upgrade the components. There are many manufactures web sites you can go to and get an idea as to what these components are and what they do, Rotel, Arcam, Outlaw, and NAD to name a few. There are some HT integrated receivers that will give you the option of adding a power amplifier via the preamp out section. Hope this info helps, I know there are some people in the forum that can get into the nuts and bolts of this, maybe you will hear from them as well.

CAV104