I think it's always a good idea to sell the items you don't need.
I also think it's good to simplify things - like just getting a 1-piece AVR or 2-piece pre-pro + amp.
As far as which brands to get, well, that's personal preference. You probably know what I would get, so I won't say it.
LOL, I know you love avr's in music systems ***** help you}, lol But it is NEVER going to happen in my house.. If for no other reason, not to deal with an avr remote. Heres a story for you, enjoy it, I wrote it thinking about you...
Imagine me coming home from a 12 hour work day, kicking off my shoes, stripping off my jacket, shaking the snow from my hat before depositing it into the wooden bowl on my hall tree. I walk into my parlor and sneak around to my sofa, when I sit down I feel it, "I am almost there", sitting in front of me just a few feet away.... musical bliss.... I made it home before my wife, the kids are at some school function and I am all alone, nothing to think about for at least 18 and a 1/2 minutes!!!
I reach down and pick up the remote, so close to that feeling that is going to wash all the problems of my 15 employees, hundreds of customers, and handful of reckless family members away.... BUT WAIT, what is this cheap plastic remote I feel, and hundreds of buttons, I fumble around to find the one marked "POWER" and finally I see light, BUT WHAT LIGHT, its is so bright!!! Now what does it say, "DVD" no, I dont want DVD, MUSIC !!!! I just want music, my large callous covered fingers try to navigate the clutter of tiny buttons but to no avail, now it says "VCR", I haven't owned a vcr is over a decade, but yet them 3 letters taunt me, so close to having that sound seal the room from the rest of the world and completing what I was missing all day. Now illuminated by the lunar source in front of me I squint to interpret this plastic device of the devil himself, FINALLY... I find "CD", I depress the tiny rubber stud and something happens, at last the cd player pops to life, and the screen flashes "CD", I can feel how close I am, with great haste I mash the brightly colored play button, and it all comes to fruition, I hear something happening, a rumble of some sort, I don't recall which cd I left in that little drawer, but I am sure it is going to be something friendly and welcoming for me, but this rumble is different, sharp and far off set from where my speakers are sitting.... Then it hits me, its not coming from my painstakingly placed audio equipment, its origin is far less welcomed... Its my kids, throwing their cleat filled duffle bags down the hallway, I am no longer alone, I squandered my precious time trying to get my system to come to life while killing my dream of listening to some classic tune that was recorded decades before I was born...
My fantasy is now further buried as I hear the garage door opening, my wife is home, but don't fret I will now have something to listen to, she will no doubt have a thousand tales about her day to share with me.................
ANYWAY, I have tried using an avr, but I hate them, even in direct mode there is something wrong with the sound, nothing like a cd player or any source, a volume control and an amplifier or 2.... I like mono blocks just because how they look, its attractive to me, a pair of amps for a pair of speakers.... I wouldn't buy the above gear for full price, but I have the opportunity to purchase a gently used pair of jc1's with a p5 for $5K and maybe even a little less.... So to me, it sounds good since I like Parasound gear and I like mono blocks, the jc1's are sexy...
