go most of ur budget to speaker (estimate 1600-1800) then balance for avr.

What about treat yourself a pair of XLS Encore? You can add in a center XCS Encore when you are ready. 

yamaha 477, denon  x1000, pioneer & onkyo im not sure the models

i think unicorn electronics in amcorp mall are letting go some opened box but new yet discontinued mission speakers as they are no longer the distributor... rm1.2k for mv8e and rm1.8k for m34i if i am not wrong... just front floorstanders alone...

mv8e dates back a couple of years i think... but i think m34i is still listed on mission's site...

speakers are very preferential... it can be top notch on paper specs but if you don't like it's sound, there is no point buying it...

Agreed.

you should go ask if you can at least listen to it even though it might be connected via different amp and players... if you then think that it all sounds the same and you cannot differentiate which to buy... then you look at what is of more value 
a lot of things to us might be of necessary... but it might not be of necessary to you if you get what i mean... i don't think you want to spend money on un-necessary stuff...

Its a very logical approach. However. its highly improbable that I could audition more than a handful of options, hence my desire to get input from knowledgeable forumers to create a shortlist.

By necessary, im actually asking what features are really worth it and what are just hype. I understand that its subjective and highly dependant on present and future plans as well as budget.

so, at least i guess you would need to understand what can an avr do and then go from there and establish what you have in plans for it.. like how you plan to set it up... is it as simple as watching blurays with it or you have other bright ideas that you want to implement... those are factors that can play into the outcome of your choices...