I am in the midst of a spontaneous e-bay motivated upgrade of my home theatre system. My next step is a receiver.
My main issues are price and compatibility with my speakers. My speakers are B&W DM610i (main speakers), B&W DM302 (surround) and, if I go 7.1, Boston Acoustics CR-2 (rear). I am still shopping for a center channel (I am looking for a B&W, probably a CC6 or CC3), and I will get to buying the subwoofer after the rest of the system is set up.
What I am looking for now is a good receiver that can handle my mains that are rated at 4 ohms, plays good music quality, and can play the most recent surround modes. I am scared of those receivers that say they only support 8 ohm speakers, but I understand from previous posts that some receivers just say that for safety reasons, but play at 4 ohms fine if they have ventilation. I am also looking for something that won't break the bank. I could go up to $700 if needed, but I would like to stay more in the $500 range (but I am willing to look for refurbs and deals on the web).
One last point--I play most of my music from high resolution MP3s off my computer, and I have a high quality sound card that can hook up to any receiever with a 5.1 or above input.
Can any of the gurus on this list provide some advice?