I love my Marantz setup. I did have to buy a 2 channel amp to get 7.1.4. You could also look at Anthem MRX 1120 it has all the amps you need for 7.1.4. I have heard great things from the people I know that run them.
I know there has been conversations about what speakers to use, etc.. A friend of mine post a chunk of the installers guide from Dolby.
I thought it had some moments to back-up some of my comments around Timbre matching. Also that you should go out and buy the cheapest speaker you can fine.