I would love to see a product that has all the current features and offers an upgrade path for all the future features and comes with the audio performance level of a Bryston component.
The reality, however, is that there isn't a product that meets these requirements. Therefore, one has to make a decision what matters more.
One option is to buy an Onkyo/Denon/Integra Pre/Pro @ $2,500 and up every year or every second year to keep up with the changes the DTSs, Dolbys and Audysseys serve and have a decent audio performance, but not at a Bryston level.
Another option is to purchase a machine like the Bryston SP-3 which leaves out video processing and therefore doesn't get obsolete that fast as far as video processing is concerned. It delivers audio quality @ Bryston level, but will lack features that every $500 receiver will have. The fact that it will be in the $10,000 region is another factor to take into account. Considering that you can use an SP-3 as an excellent 2 channel pre might help to digest the price tag better if you not plan to run it in a dedicated multichannel environment.
That is the reality that I perceive and as I learned that "perception IS reality", those are the option I am contemplating about.
Cheers!
Markus