I'm after an A/V Receiver which supports the next-gen surround sound formats - Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MAster Audio.
Now I know not all Blu-ray films support both or maybe even one of each but for future proofing it'd be nice to have a receiver with theses capabilities. (Does the PS3 support DTS HD Master Audio?)
Yes, and nearly every single Blu-ray title comes with a DTS HD Master Audio track... some come with the original uncompressed PCM track... which is basically the same thing as the HD audio tracks, only uncompressed - explained later.
In addition, the PS3 comes with decoders for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. DTS had not finished the necessary software for the HD MA decoders, but they recently announced that they have been working with Sony to get that updated with an upcoming system software update, so in the near future the PS3 will also be able to decode DTS-HD MA signals internally.
The only reason to have an AVR with Dolby TrueHD and/or DTS-HD MA is if your player does not. In the case of the PS3 it does, so at least for use with the PS3 it isn't necessary to have an AVR with those decoders. In fact, you don't even need an AVR with HDMI 1.3 as 1.3 is only needed for transporting the compressed HD audio signals. In the case of the PS3 it will decode the audio codecs and output the signal in it's original uncompressed PCM form… now there are other reasons to want one with HDMI 1.3 but there is already a thread on that subject.
The following is an important thing to remember. Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA are just audio codecs... methods of compressing the original PCM track. The decoders convert the Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA tracks to PCM.
While you can even get the same "lossless" audio with an AVR that doesn't have HDMI, by outputting the audio over TOSLINK
(fiber optic) it will only be 2-channel. To get full discrete multi-channel PCM, you'll have to have an AVR with *HDMI.
* Some receivers with HDMI may only have HDMI pass through switching, and not actually be able to receive an audio signal from the HDMI input. This is rare, but be sure it accepts audio signals from the HDMI input.
Now there are some minor distinctions between the audio codecs, as well as the uncompressed "lossless PCM tracks found on many Blu-ray titles, but basically if they are from the same source with the same sample rate of the studio master or greater, they are identical, at least from a listeners stand point. The only reason for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA is to save disc space. It is the PCM track that is "special", which is what you get when you decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA... or in the case of some Blu-ray titles, it already comes with the PCM track.
So if I were you I would save your money, and buy an AVR with HDMI input that accepts an audio signal. Denon, Yamaha, Sony, Onkyo, and others all offer a selection of very good AVRs like that. Unlike video, the differences in audio quality between most models is most likely going to go unnoticed by most users, especially if they do not have an acoustically designed or treated room and precise high end calibrated speakers.
So among those brands, even if you just focus on features and price I'm sure in nearly every case you'll be very pleased with the results.
Let us know what you end up getting and once you experience discrete multi-channel lossless PCM audio tell us what you think.
For me the diference was so great that in most cases I have found I no longer even enjoy Dolby Digital and DTS
(core) tracks. It's like comparing SACD to CD, or CD to MP3.
That's what I get for not thoroughly checking all links. 
