Thanks for the warm welcome gonk. I've been reading through the forums here and just gotta' say that WOW you really know your stuff!

Glad you're enjoying the Paradigms, I'm not too far from the NRC location where they did their research:
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/RandD/RandD/NRC_Research.html

Your point about allowing for more power in the future is well taken. When I moved my A/V setup from a small living room to a large basement, I noticed there was a substantial difference in sound reproduction. I think at this point I've pretty well written off the AVR250 for lack of pre-amp outputs.

*EDIT UPDATE* Just looked up the $CDN price for the Arcam AVR250. MSRP is C$2300. I just about fell off my stool at the ol' Outlaw bar. I figure with shipping/taxes/duties the 1070 should come in around C$1350. That's pretty darn close to what I paid for my H/K AVR30 back in the day. Just a matter of time now...