@gene - difficult to tell from the picture (gets too blurry when zoomed) but you probably know the answer: Are all 13 decoded channels available as preouts? And is it possible to disable amps in the settings? I would assume so.
If so, then couldn't you essentially use this as an AVP (lower price version of AV10) whilst mainly "just" loosing out on 2 Ch of decoding and XLR/balanced pre outs?
I ask because it would allow a manageable upgrade path from AVR systems to AVP systems, if that is desirable, by using the AV30 as an AVR at first and eventually adding separate power amplifiers and configure the AV30 to essentially work as an AVP. And then, come next inevitable upgrade (decoder, new formats, new HDMI standards, whatever) you're left with a modular system in which you're not throwing a bunch of good power amps in the bin just because HDMI 3.6 and Dolby BaDingDong (likely name for an Atmos successor, right?) comes along.
To me, that is the benefit of a modular system. Suggesting you can use higher quality devices because they're not made obsolete by something that isn't really relevant to them, but just happen to "live" in the same box. I know there's supposedly other "big advantages" of separates (in terms of audio quality), but I haven't really looked into that enough to form my own opinion yet. (I often read about it where phrases such as "unmasking the sound" and "it's like a veil is lifted" is used, and in my mind phrases like these are often unreliable at best)
Now if only AVPs weren't so much more expensive than AVRs.