Prefer to pay less than 2k, need hdmi 2.1 with Dirac support. I don’t care for an AMP stage.
But it seems to me such AVR is like $6k or more ? Like marantz AV10 etc.
I can’t believe I can get a 100” TV for less .
Monoprice or emotiva are you listening?
May be I should just use TV to decode and use Minidsp HT flex ?. I wish it could do more channels like 15 .
You don't care for an amp stage, but the sad reality is that for a $2,000 budget, the AVP that meets your criteria except for XLR outputs are something like the AVR-X4800H, or the Cinema 40, or 50 if you are in Europe. Just run the thing in preamp mode and pretend it is an AVP and you are good to go. As mentioned by others, there is no real need for XLR outputs for most HT users, though I would add that if you do have to have long runs of interconnects such as more than 2 meters, then there may be some benefits but it still depends on other factors. Otherwise, even if your power amps will take only XLR inputs, there are RCA to XLR cables specifically made for the purpose, and will offer almost the same commode noise reduction benefits.
By the way, just for common mode noise reduction, you don't need to have the so called "truly", or "fully" balanced schemes that typically mean differential balanced connections from input through output. The so called "balanced" output derived from the single ended output stage will do the same (again, for CMNR, but not in terms of even harmonics cancellation).