Amplifier Suggestions - High end

you should set a price limit, because your definition of "high-end" and other people's opinions of high-end are two different things.

My advice if you are looking in the $5000 and up department is look at professional AV sites, dealers and magazines. Gamespot is not the place to go for advice on that level.

Amplifiers don't have specs that include A/V inputs and signal processing. You have two choices. You can either 1) get an integrated A/V Receiver (sounds like what you were thinking of) or 2) get individual components, which include either a processor, a preamp as well as amplification (which could either be integrated or not...) or a preamp/processor and an integrated amplifier.

Depending on your budget, you'll probably go with an integrated A/V receiver, or a preamp/processor & integrated amplifier, because I don't get the impression you're going to be bi-amping speakers, using monoblocks and vacuum tube preamps...

What kind of speakers are you using anyway? (Because there's not much of a point in getting something too nice if you're not using speakers of a commensurate quality...)

I'd suggest you look at brands like NAD, Cambridge Audio, Outlaw and Krell but I think they've been slow to add HDMI inputs, except for the Cambridge Audio,so you might end up looking at something like a Denon, Marantz or Onkyo.

Not too sure about the features on their remotes (other than Denon, which I have, and is serviceable) but I would just buy a Harmony 880 or something before seeing remote functions as a deal-breaker.

I would just call these Receivers, using amp just confuses us in thinking you want separate.

How about the new Onkyo 805 for about $1000: http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=87135

* THX ultra2 certified
* HDMI V1.3 repeater (3in/1out, 1080p compatible), w/HDMI video up-conversion
* Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoding
* Top line of Burr-Brown DACs for clean sound
* Faroudija DCDi Edge Technology
* 7.1 channel at 130watts

So it's got 3 HDMI in, and it's 1.3 HDMI, has a Faroudija chip for better upscaling, and then it's one of the first to decode all those new audio formats you see there. Also three zones

Here's an owners thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=857502

A more expensive 875 model coming soon:

TX-SR875 ($1,700, June 2007)
7.1 A/V receiver, 140 watts per channel
4 HDMI 1.3a inputs, with HDMI upconversion to 1080p
Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
HQV Reon-VX Video processing
THX Ultra2 Certified
Audyssey MultEQ auto speaker calibration
XM- and Sirius-ready
Multiroom functionality for three zones