Thanks for your help. I would have the amp connected a few inches away from the receiver. I currently have a 7.3 setup and am thinking of upgrading to either 9.3 or 11.3, or possibly remaining at 7.3. I plan on having the LCR speakers connected to the amp, along with a pair of either surround, surround back, front wide, or front height speakers. I was thinking of putting 5 or 7 channels on an amp and leaving the rest for the receiver.

So for me the 7700 would not provide much benefit over the 7200? Also, would I get much benefit over having the amp do 7 of the channels, instead of just 5, if the amp was already doing the main LCR channels? I will be doing almost 100% movie watching, btw. Thanks again.