My notes on the ASR review.
This is a midrange avr and not a flagship. It weighs almost half my old onkyo tx-sr876 60lb's
Almost all the weight is in the transformer, needless to say, its power supply is limited.
When you run into low impedance loads ( 4 ohm ) you need double ( or more ) the current.
So they have designed with good peak / dynamic power, but limited continuous power, and ability to drive difficult speakers.
As a prepro it ranks quite well, not state of the art, but good. And it can put out 3.5v through the pre outs, which makes it easily compatible with most any power amp.
Big game changer bonus: dirac, at a price most people can afford.
In terms of overall impact on sound quality in this price bracket... dirac could be a game changer. ( and that's what many users are reporting).
Personally, I have ordered the integra DRX 3.4. It's equivalent to the NR7100, but with a full set of pre outs.
I have amps for my l/c/r, and the built in amps will be ample for surround and height speakers.
I think of it as an economical prepro, with built in surround amps.