Sony DH500?
ONKYO TX SR307?
YAMAHA RXV365?
HARMAN KARDON AVR155?

Oh, an does anyone know if any AV receivers can be hooked up so that the sound for the front two speakers goes through a different amp i.e. it does its surround sound processing and outputs at line level to another (better) amp?

"Oh, an does anyone know if any AV receivers can be hooked up so that the sound for the front two speakers goes through a different amp i.e. it does its surround sound processing and outputs at line level to another (better) amp? "

Don't know any current ones, but I do that with mine,look for one that has left and right pre outs on the back. Mines an old yamaha so the current ones might be worth rooting around the back of.

Another way of doing it would be to get a dvd with a 6 ch out and an amp with a 6 ch in and just feed the l + r from the dvd to the hifi amp and everything else to the av amp. hope that helps……

I can't fault my Cambridge Audio Azur 540R v3. Pretty sure you could get one for under £200 now. I paid about £300 three years ago. I wanted a budget-ish setup, but after having listened to it I don't reckon my ears are good enough to ever warrant upgrading to something more pricey.
Does everything I want, sounds awesome and it has the fancy 2-channel pre-out thing you're on about.

After much trawling the internet/forums/magazines I ended up with a Yahama DSP AX763, which I believe has now been superseded.

It's a cracking amp and by deleting an FM radio (which I wouldn't use), they've managed to offer a better quality product at the price point. It is a level up from where you're looking and has all the HD sound codecs though.

What are your intentions with regards Blu-Ray and HD sound?

HD sound would be nice, at the moment we've got just a sky box (old skool scart cable) and PS3, but I want to put my hi-fi (CD, Tuner, amp) in the living room as well so the plan was…………..

PS3 and SKY into the AV receiver, then line out into the hi-fi amp, with all the hi-fi stuff plugged straight in and output to the front 2 speakers. AV receiver outputting to the TV and the centre/rear/sub speakers.

A trip to richer rounds beckons………………