Thanks for everyone's comments so far, I think highfihoney may have hit upon the real question I'm trying to ask:
Clearly, highfihoney thinks this isn't possible. Does everyone agree that if you you're ready to upgrade your receiver, that there isn't one particular receiver or amp/pre-pro combination that would be worth shelling out $3000 in the hope of not having to upgrade that component again for a good, long time?
First off you need to understand that what the industry claims to be huge advances amounts to mostly gimmicks,weather were talking about Home Theater equipment or very expensive High End 2 channel stereo gear,neither HIFI or Home Theater has changed all that much,sure there are new features & designs every few months but they are not huge advances in overall sound.
No matter what name brand we end up talking about when were talking Home Theater & the "advances" & new features that come out just about every year ,there is no way you can buy "future proof" receivers,the HT industry is driven in such a way that the industry makes its own equipment totally obsolete within a few short years.
If having a good Home Theater experience is as important to you as listening to music you need to ask yourself a few questions & decide on what your "REAL" long term goals are,forget about speakers for now & think about what you NEED.
Are you the type of person who intends to use all the advanced features that are comming out all the time with Home Theater,or are you the type of person who wants GREAT SOUND/MOVIE EXPERIENCE without all the hassel of having to learn a bunch of different functions,remember these functions & what they are used for?
Also are you the type of person who in the event of a problem ,where your system needs adjusted or recalibrated will jump right in,read all the manuals,understand what each feature does & understand what each type of surround mode is used for,remember that along with more features comes the ability to screw your sound up much easier if you or somebody else messes with the wrong buttons or settings.
If your a "plug & play" type person who wants great sound without alot of learning & understanding of all the functions of an advanced surround system i'd reccomend you keep it as simple as possible,simple does not equal being cheap or sounding bad as well as having all the latest gadgets/gizmos & functions does not equal having a system that will give you good sound & offer ease of everyday useage without headaches.
You should understand that while Home theater has advanced in the last 5 years most of the advances are for die hard HT buffs & not regular everyday joe's,the advances like built in room EQ & 7.1 go unused for the most part by regular everyday joe's,basicly what im trying to say is that if your just looking to buy a system that sounds great for everything but is still very easy to use then keep it simple,xtra functions do not equal better sound & by trying to keep up with the latest functions will not.. in most cases give you better sound.
These reason i advised buying used high end equipment is becuase buying new equipment is a loosing propisition,your "new features" will become rapidly obsolete & before you know it the electronics in the system are valueless.
If you buy used hi end equipment somebody else took a massive loss in order to have the latest functions like 7.1 or HDMI,a used hi end pre/pro amp combo will offer you 100% of the features that the common man needs to have an excellent sounding music system & home theater system without leaving you holding the bag 5 years from the date of purchase.
