Hi Don
I picked up the Rotel Pre/Pro RSX 965 and the RB985 MKII 5x100 Amp for around 2K. I am not sure what the replacements for those models are but I know that Rotel is a very affordable high mid end MFG.

Hoffdog-I understand your point, however how many more speakers are we expected to be putting up? Also, it is only 6.1 officially. 7.1 is something that Mfgs are putting together-personally I prefer to listen to the Movies and music the way they were originally encoded. I am not a fan of matrixing channels to get new channels.
I would think a good 5 or 6 channel amp plus a second 2 channel would suffice in most instances. Unless of course you get into Bi-Amping your speakers....Tony