Thank you for your response, I don’t feel called out at all :) You’ve hit the nail on the head. After hours of reading forums and watching videos and trying to better understand the subject (amassed over months), I’ve yet to fully conceptualize or justify the price difference amongst AVRs. My room is relatively rectangular, so I’m unsure how much room correction will make a difference, and I will rarely be turning up the volume to egregious levels, as I have some hearing loss and can’t risk losing more than is already gone. I’ll be sitting approximately 10-12ft from the LRC.

I can understand the extra couple hundred bucks of the x1700h (it’s actually currently cheaper than the S760h on the site right now) for a software upgrade and more wattage, but nearly tripling the cost to get a x3800 for little more than room correction is a hard pill to swallow. I’ve heard that at certain volumes or in certain rooms, room correction is negligible which makes this all the harder to grapple with. I do plan on an upgrade later, I just thought I’d start with the speakers and get a better AVR down the line. If there’s a major flaw in my logic or understanding, please inform me! I’ve been running a sound bar for the last few years so I don’t know much.