Arcam offerings looks excellent, but extremely expensive!! If I went that route, I'd have to nix the surround speakers all together just to afford one of their receivers. I don't wanna do that...

Remember, I'm going for 'dabbling' in higher end (yet affordable) components.

All in all I have/had 4k to purchase a receiver, cd player, front stage (monitors & center), subwoofer, surrounds, accessories. The Arcam receiver that offered HDMI output is being offered at $2999. Way too much for my situation.

After seeing that, I went ahead and purchased the Yamaha RX-V2600 just last night. Got a good deal on it ($950 which includes an extended 3yr warranty). After the monitor/sub set up I picked up (roughly $1400), I'm left with roughly $1,650 to purchase the surrounds, CD player, and accessories... (I already have a solid Samsung DVD player w/ HDMI upconversion, etc.)

Can it be done?

-biju.