OP,
Your question is understandable, that's to say, that you believe you can make a good buying decision by asking experienced users for advice, but, at some point you've got to ask does the unit I'm looking at do what I want it to do. So, first write down your list of what is important to you. Since you stated earlier you don't want to think for yourself here's a very short list of what might be important: Warranty, Cosmetics, Easy to Operate, DAC/Processor Capability, Wireless Control/Interface, Network Connection. Since you may not yet understand what features may be beneficial, look into what the features promote. The power of the unit, by the way, is the least of it all.
I've had my pre/pro for 16 years and I am still completely satisfied. It's a Sony. The only thing I need today to realilze perceived improvement to my listening pleasure is a Network Audio Player. I'm now doing what you are doing, shopping to make the best decision. It appears I've narrowed it down, interestingly enough, to two somewhat different components, an Oppo 105 and a Marantz NA6005. I narrowed it down to these two devices since with the Oppo I can playback multi channel SACD's which I would like to do; and, with the Marantz I can use it as a wireless DAC to play hi-res files from my home theatre system which I want to do.
