Hi

I want to start fresh on my home theater system and have been researching for a number of months.

Only problem is, I have no idea what equipment to buy. Every shop I visit tries to push their particular brands onto me, insisting that theirs is the best (i can tell by listening to certain systems which speakers i like, but it is not as easy for amplifiers).

The original system I had in mind was an Onkyo TX-DS989 Amp/receiver, with a set of B&W 703 speakers (and B&W sub and surrounds to be selected), along with a DVD (Yet to be chosen).

During the months of research that I have been doing, I must have have changed my mind a dozen times. My Amp list now consists of a choice of the following:

Onkyo TX-DS989
Pioneer VSA-AX10i (great amp but no support from Pioneer in S.A)
Denon AVC-A1SR
Yamaha (AZ1 or AZ9 (probably too pricey though))

Pleeeeaase help!! Which amp is outright the best. Is there a better amp not on my list (within the same price range). I unfortunately do not understand the technical lino too well, but it seems that the Yamaha has the most advanced electronics and processing power, whereas the Pioneer is rated as best all rounder, and Denon is rated best for 'oomph'. However, The Yamaha AZ1 seems to be a bit "old" now as the AZ9 is becoming the new flagship model? Am I correct? And the AZ9 may be too expensive consdering the anwser to the following :

Another important question: The last Hi-fi shop I was at advised that I purchase an Onkyo integra amp (cheaper model - about 120W p/c) and use a seperate amplifier for the fronts and center (a primare A30.3 was suggested). The reasoning behind this was simply that (as the salesman put it): "amplifiers outputs are tested/rated with only one channel running. By running all 6/7/8 channels the power to each channel is lessened somewhat. This is easily demonstrated by taking the amplifiers power consumption (minus a percentage for loss due to heat etc) and dividing it by the total number of output channels - you will never arrive at the same output as the amp is rated. And we all know that power cannot be 'created'. An Amp cannot push out more power then it is consuming". This does seem to make sense to me. However, it is rarely (if ever) the case that ALL 6/7/8 channels are being used fully at the same time.

Is this really the case, or was I just being duped into purchasing an extra amp? If not, I was considering buying one of the AV amps above and using a power amp to drive at least the 3 front speakers. A rotel RMB-1095 would be great (and it would drive 5 speakers), but then I get the feeling that most of the money I am spending on the AV is wasted, as I will not even be using the amplification it provides.

I really really need help on this one As i am totally confused. In my case, more research is just adding to the confusion.

And I have not even reached the speaker selection phase of the purchase yet.

In total, I can probably spend about $10000 on my system (Amp, speakers and DVD/CD player). THis is a major huge big of money for a South African, as the rand is pretty weak against the dollar, so I really want to make sure I spend it wisely.

Any suggestions?

Please help
Justin