Well we had our trip out. We listened to HiFi speakers (full surround systems not available ) Monitor RS8, Dali Ikon 6 and we took along my 15 year old 'fallen of the stand a few times' Tannoy 6o5s. We played some pop and classical music and we found we really had to listen hard to tell the difference between any of the 3 systems. Listening blind we just managed to state the correct speakers 3 out of 5 times- which probably indicates how poor our hearing is rather than a reflection on the equipment!. On balance we preferred the brighter Ikons to the Monitors with our Tannoys coming a distant 3rd (mostly!). However since we still want sound surround and the Ikons system would kill 2 birds with one stone (HiFi upgrade and surround sound) we are going to go for it. Cheapest price I have seen is £2,090k for the Ikon 6 system.
The excellent man at the shop said he though Marantz avs were more musically inclined than other avs. Though we have heard good things about the Onkyo 876 (which we have seen for £650). So last (hopefully) questions..
1. If ,when, we get the Onkyo we decide we still want to use a HiFi amp, is the 876 capable of being connected to an amp for HiFi purposes? Who knows one day I might be able to afford a good HiFi amp.
2. Will the Onkyo, if used as a hifi amp, still produce a good hifi sound (compared to our 15 year old Denon PMA 250 III)
3. Comments on the Marantz SR6003 as an alternative would be welcome (or any other musical av amp).
4. As my budget is long since blown I intend to go for QED silver anniversary cable to try and save a little cash (and we have demonstrated our hearing is not great). Our longest runs will be about 12 metres (room is 8m long). OK?
5. Tuners. If the av tuner is as good as my old Denon 15 year old tuner then that gets rid of another box from my hifi system? Thoughts?
Many thanks to all of you so far for what has been really helpful advice.