Just a thought--even though you say this is the best placement you have found, many speakers, particularly if they are rear ported, will not sound their best if placed next to a boundary,such as a wall,if they were not designed for this purpose. You might want to experiment with placement away from the wall, if you can.
As far as simplifying your system, *and* keeping in mind all the good suggestions posted so far, the processors and receivers of today have so many features and choices offered, they are just going to take a little work to get you to the source and desired format you want. The 950 is as easy as most out there, however. IMO-- to get where you (and me) would like to go -- we are going to need something like IEEE 1394 "FireWire" or similar, so's we can finally daisy-chain all this stuff together for a "real" easy to operate digital system. Good luck Mr_D-- always lots of good suggestions and friendly help here if you decide to go with Outlaw equipment. Best wishes...