I think the 4500 might be a step down in terms of performance.If you are trying to tidy up the look, source some amps (beolab 150 or 200 or maybe even one of those MCL2_ units) for those Pentas. I bet they play better with more power. Or get some 3rd party stand alone amp (onkyo, marantz, nakamichi, Niles... Etc) that has a DC trigger and use the powerlink to control that from the new 4500. Steve @ sounds heavenly made my cable.I feel like I should have used PowerPoint for this post!