I would go with Emotiva. I'm a big fan of Anthem or at least have been in the past but Emotiva really offers a lot for the money. I have an Anthem D2 processor in my HT and I still have two Anthem MCA 3 ch amplifiers driving the subwoofers but I also have three Emotiva UPA-7 amplifiers in the theatre plus an Usher Audio 6 ch for surrounds.
Originally I was using an Anthem PVA5 for my center speaker and Statement P2's one each on the main line arrays. Design changes caused my center speaker to require a 7-ch amplifier so I decided to try the Emotiva UPA-7 as opposed to Anthem. I never looked back. Later when I added Hann Shading to my main line arrays I replaced the Statement P2's with UPA-7's. I have no issue with the Emotiva at all, it performs at least as good as any of my Anthem amplifiers. I still have the PVA-5 laying around here some place but I sold the P2's on E-bay.
The XPA line is Emotiva's higher power line, in fact they unfortunately no longer make the UPA-7. They have just come out with the UPA-500 which for $399 will be a great option for lower power applications. I got to see/hear the XPA line at T.H.E. home entertainment show in New Port Beach recently and I believe it's just as good if not better than my UPA 7's. I don't think you can go wrong with it. It's cheap enough that if you decide you don't like it you can get most of your money back whereas if you buy the Anthem say goodbye to half your investment when you carry it out of the store.
As for Anthem's calibration system (ARC) that's a sore subject for me. I tried it, it was very poorly designed and it dropped my opinion of Anthem dramatically. Originally you could not use ARC without using the subwoofer output otherwise you were limited to 25 Hz. With the ARC on, the mains were rolled off even if you selected "large speaker". This was a problem for me because I use stereo subwoofers connected to the main preamp outputs not the sub output. Since then they have changed this and you can now use it the way I needed to use it but I had such a bad experience with their technical support that I really don't want to deal with them anymore. Yes they make good products but my next processor will more likely be Classe instead of Anthem. Don't let me drive you away from Anthem however, they do have good products and have since rectified the problem with ARC but I just don't have an interest in them anymore. It's like when you bite into a spoiled burger... you can never bring yourself to eat at that place again even though you know it was a one time thing.
I say get the Emotiva, I think you will be very impressed with the performance.
mk