when your competing with other online vendors price everything will drop in price..

for the moment atleast I would say the 8003 would be the only option you could go, since the 998 is no show for the time being atleast, feature specs the 998 may win hands down comps, though you're still only going on a speculative of what the final specs will be for the 998..

until the 998's release, you're playing a wait and see game..

if you want something to use now, the only options I see is, if you want processor/pre-amp then the only 2 options you got is 8003 from marrantz or pr-5507 from onkyo unless you got the cash to buy the denon avp, you're going to be limited at looking for avr's with pre-outs.

looking at the current 2010 avr line up you'll be looking for high end models for pre-outs as looking this year's avr releases from onkyo, denon and yamaha most of the mid level gear likely have no pre-out support... the only difference will be wattage output..