New receiver or ditch the separates?

[SirConfused]

I realise it's pretty subjective, but I'm looking for some advice on options for upgrading my current tv audio setup.

Currently I have an old Arcam AV8 and P7 processor/power amp in a 5.1 setup and I would like to get with the modern times (something that has HDMI etc would be nice).

The question boils down to whether I should replace the processor and keep the amp (which is completely fine still) or get an all in one unit and try to sell the pair. So far it looks like resale value on the Arcam kit isn't great which isn't helping the case.

I've been looking at processors but non amplifying ones seem to only exist at the extreme high end these days. The Yamaha CX-A5200 seems like the best option with some spectacular reviews but even used they're nearly £2k. Alternatively, something like the RX-A6A (or A4A?) or Arcam AVR20 seem like good options for the same kind of quality for an all in one unit but are a step up in cost again.

Any advice or pointers to things I've missed would be greatly appreciated. Or even a good place to lok for this stuff second hand that isn't fleabay!

 

[SirConfused]

Thanks for the response, it certainly is a lot to keep track of.
It would just be good to know how far audio quality is traded off as you go down the scale to things like the Denon AVC-X3700? It processes more channels in case I want to add more speakers in the future but it's cheaper than even the A4A.

Any ideas on where to look for 2nd hand options for these?

 

[SirConfused]

Wow, that's a pretty bleak picture you pain there Lucid! Thanks for the history though, that definitely puts it into perspective. I guess the answer is to keep enjoying what I have and putting pennies in the piggy bank until I can justify a big spend on an upgrade!

@hornetstinger no, just the one P7 and the whole point of the potential upgrade was to look at something with a modern featureset like HDMI 2.1, eARC, Atmos etc etc which is the sort of thing that's going to set me back as much as I was expecting, but not what I'd hoped.

 

[SirConfused]

I think Atmos was probably more of a nice to have currently as I'm in a flat and won't be getting ceiling speakers any time soon!

I could probably also live without HDMI 2.1 support as long as there's eARC as I'm not going to be running a dozen different devices and my TV will be able to support everything I want to plug in. It seems like that would get me down to a price range where I could possibly find something higher end on the 2nd hand market, so back to the drawing board with research I go!

Thanks a lot for the input folks, it's been a journey of discovery

 

[SirConfused]

What kind of issues were you having with eARC @hornetstinger ? I've not read or seen anything about it in any of the reviews or breakdowns of the various receivers I've been looking at over the last couple of weeks.

I'm not looking to add any channels in less than a year and getting HDMI passthrough/eARC was the only thing I wanted to upgrade for immediately. I appreciate the link to the ToneWinner option, but from the comments in this thread I think I'll just hold off for now, keep what I've got and look to upgrade in a year or 2 when I want to buy a thousand speakers and have them all set up in precisely the right location at the optimal heights . Thanks for your help folks.