If I hadn't gone to an Emotiva MMC-1, this was the receiver I would've used for a pre/pro. While I would love all the latest bells and whistles, I'm still running an older CRT RPTV and only have a Philips BD-P9000, which only will pass lossless audio and not the higher end DD and DTS formats. That, coupled w/the 40% discount on Emo's next gen pre/pro and drop in price swayed me their way.
I'm sure I would've been more than happy with the 1800's performance, it's got everything I was looking for, though for the kind of money they're asking, you think they'd step up to the GUI OSD on this unit, but considering that's the only gripe I'd have for it, it's a hell of a receiver for the money... -TD