Hey Cork, I'm late to this discussion but wanted to share what i've learned recently. I upgraded my receiver twice over the last few months, I can attest that power is not everything, just because it can push the speakers doesn't mean it will sound as advertised. My Yamaha RX-A860 pushed the M100 fine, no distortion but I had lots of EQ to dial them in and I hated the high end. Ian was quick to send out the older tweeters that I liked and it solved the problem. I then got my hands on a Yamaha RX-A1080 which was a big upgrade, cut the EQ adjustments in half and I started to like the M80 on walls. I now have the CX-A5200 with external amplification and it's miles better in sound. Very little EQ adjustment and the V4 tweeters are much better now! I had no idea just how much a difference a receiver could make on the sound. From what i've heard a good DAC makes all the difference. If you don't want to go pre/pro I've heard that the DAC on the RX-A3080 is the same as the 5200. The 3080 is the smarter purchase, you can use the internal amps and always add external later with the pre amp outs. Neither units are truly balanced though.
