As an update, I picked up a Denon AVR-S660H, refurbished from their site. It was probably a little more than I needed at this juncture, but it has some nice stuff like AirPlay. It also does 4K/120Hz pass-through for a few of the HDMI inputs, a useful future-proofing thing if we ever pick up a PS5 or replace the 11 year old 42" 1080p/60Hz TV we're using.
As for speakers, unfortunately, no where around me had a place to test listen. However, Best Buy has a 15-day return window, including if the item has been opened, so I grabbed a pair of Sony SS-CS3 floor speakers, which kept coming up in my research as a good value set of speakers. So far, they sound pretty good to me (but granted, almost anything would sound better than 6-year-old sound bar that was purchased for $80). Granted, they weren't on sale, but if I see a substantial price drop somewhere within the next 120 days, the credit card I used is one of the few remaining cards with price protection.
Bookshelf speakers may have also been another alternative, but the look also needed to pass the spouse test, and many speaker stands were viewed as ugly.
Edit: and like clockwork, BB (and Amazon) both lowered the price of the speakers on Monday, so I was able to get a credit since I'm still in the return period. Still keeping an eye out for a price protection claim though, just to make it even sweeter.
www.audiogon.com
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