Dynaudio S 1.4 causes me to upgrade AV system - advice pls

[NickWH]

Those are very expensive speakers, I hope you got a good deal. What you are going to find out is, the cost of those speakers will add up fast in the way of the associated equipment you are going to need to get the most out of them. By this I mean, you really have to go the seperates route (not entry-level, either). The only receiver I would imagine pairing those with would be a B&K (which costs almost as much as good seperates). Sure, a Rotel, Arcam, or NAD receiver will power those speakers, but you will not get the kind of refinement and control that is possible with good seperates. Powering five to seven 4 ohm speakers is not usually a design consideration for receivers. With these speakers you really need the brute force of a dedicated amplifier. The speakers may also show the limitations of the built-in preamp used in HT receivers.

Figure out a budget for your pre/pro and power amp, and then you can determine what you should start looking at. I would recommend getting a pre-amp/processor new, then look to the used market for a good deal on a multi-channel power amplifier. You'll get a lot more for money while getting the 'latest and the greatest' decoding technology. Also keep in mind that an advantage with seperates is that you can upgrade your processor as new surround formats are released, while a good power amp can be kept in service for many years.

Here is a good review:
Dynaudio Contour S1.4