[shipdriver]

This thread reminded how I have a, what is now geriatric for an AV receiver, Denon AVR-5800. A few months after I got it, Denon offered an upgrade which swapped out the entire DSP block, adding surround formats, ProLogic II, DenonLink, and a bunch of other stuff. In the end, though, what keeps it in service almost 10 years later (besides freakin' awesome sound quality) is the 2 sets of 7.1 analog external inputs. It means I'm more dependent on the quality of the analog stage of the players, but that is fine with me. I can have full-res audio from Blu-Rays on a circa 2000 receiver and it sounds sublime. So for the OP, as long as the MM8003 has those 7.1 analog inputs, you have some protection against new formats coming out (at least as long as surround formats still have 8 channels or less).

[jermmd]

I think the Onkyo pr-sc5507 is the best prcessor you can buy right now in your price range. It may even be the best processor you can buy right now period. It's probably as upgradeable as anything else and it has all the latest and greatest gadgets.

If you only need a 5.1 setup and you don't absoluteley need HDMI, then I would recommend buying a used processor from a few years ago. I'm using a California Audio processor that sounds incredible and is extremely flexible for set up. It cost $7500 new and I paid something like $500 for it 2 years ago. There are amazing deals to be had on older processor if you can use Blue Ray pass through or if you're still primarily watching DVD's. These older processors give up nothing in sound quality to the latest stuff.

Joe M.

[ctviggen]

I second Joe's suggestion.  I have a Proceed AVP (audio video processor), and it sounds great and always has.  The problem for me is that I want to go to 7 channels in the main system, and the second system with the Proceed, 5 channel amp, etc., is getting too big.  I also want HDMI and video processing on HDMI, to reduce the number of wires I'm running to our TV (it's literally 6 inches in diameter of wires between speaker wires, HDMI, two sets of component cables, audio cables, etc.).