I bought this after we moved to Europe as a replacement for a Pioneer AV with pre-outs running to an NAD amp for my fronts back in the US. I have it driving all my speakers currently but plan on buying a Marantz amp soon for the fronts. I have Gallo Nucleaus 3.1s as the main fronts with surrounds and front Divas. I also have a pair of Sonus Faber Concerto's as a second set of fronts used for certain music. The Marantz is powerful enough to fill a small living room pretty easily without strain with my speaker load. Sound is nicely detailed and I think more open than with the Pioneer/NAD combo. In fact I now find the Gallos good for everything where I used to switch to the SFs for acoustic, some jazz and light classical. I still like the SF but don't find it necessary to switch like I used to. Sound effects are steered with good authority, bass is hefty (no sub just the Gallos straight). The auto set up seems less advanced compared to the Pioneer MACC but I am not sure if that is the case as the sound is good and I don't know if the Pioneer tried to sompensate for the room acoustics, seemed like it was with all the goings on it does during set up? Some other things I like are the pre-outs that will allow me to add a separate amp for the fronts, the slimline form factor, the network integration and the ability to tweak almost any parameter via the extensive (although sometimes confusing) menus. I got it for 333 Euro since the NR1603 had just been announced. Highly recommend it even up to the MSRP for the new NR1603 assuming similar performance..