Frank,

I have an NAD T752 AVR, this is last years model now, but I really like the sound from it for both music and movies. The NAD AVR's don't have as many features and DSP's as some of the others like Denon, H/K, etc, but like H/K, their power specs are given for all channels driven. I think all of their AVR's but the 742/743 are able to drive 4 ohm loads.

Some of the cons would be that there have been some QC issues in the past, some complaints of hiss and hum as well. Also there is a digital delay on some music discs, this is also present on some H/K and Marantz models as well.

Try to demo one if you can, I really like the combo with the Ascends.