I was in a similar situation as yours... However I'm not quite the two channel guru as others... I didn't start out with excellent 2 channel and then compromised for HT. I came at it the other way around, my first "decent" sound system was an Onkyo 787 receiver mated to decent, mismatched sets of speakers. As HT progressed I bought better and better receivers which, in turn, had better and better 2 channel reproduction.

I currently run a former "top of the line" Onky 905 receiver that I use in 2 channel "direct" mode to power 2 ADS 1290's for serious listening. I'm sure that if I had separates and/or a dedicated 2 channel sytem and room I'd be happer, BUT, I ain't got the room nor the money for that so, these are the conditions that pervail.

Worf