Chrisedge

Don't need a million bells and whistles as this is hooked up to 4 in ceiling speakers. (may do 5.1 at some point)...but I want HDMI switching.

cseyer

Budget? With ceiling speakers installed you could do a nice Dolby Atmos setup? That would require more speakers though. As far as I can tell there are pluses and minuses to every brand now but most have very similar features. I would look at the features and your budget and maximize what you can get, there are deals on open box receivers, last year models, etc.

Fry's promo code deals are worth signing up for this week they have this receiver for $299 with promo code:

http://www.frys.com/product/8471848

jjcool

I've had good experiences with Yamaha receivers. I know a lot of people that like Onkyo as well. I think there are some decent deals on refurbed Onkyo straight from them pretty frequently.

printerati

Many people on SlickDeals have found the Pioneer VSX-45 in-store at Best Buy (perhaps only at the stores with Magnolia sections?) for $249.98, which might be something to consider if you have Reward Zone certificates you can use towards the purchase.

I was recently in the market for a new receiver since my H/K AVR2600 died, but I needed at least 7.1 or 7.2 for my existing setup, so the Pioneer didn't fit the bill. I ended up getting a factory refurbished Denon AVR-X2100W for $350 shipped from Accessories4Less, although it appears to have gone up by $50 since then. They have several Yamaha and Onkyo models as well, but I have read too many horror stories about HDMI port/board failures with Onkyo. I almost went with one of the Yamaha AVENTAGE models instead, but decided to go with the higher output of the Denon for an extra $20 (at the time).

I have no complaints so far, although Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo:6 still don't sound quite right to me after listening to stereo sources through H/K's Logic 7 for so long. I wasn't sure I would get any use out of its networking features since I already have a Roku and an HTPC, but the internet radio stations (mostly streaming versions of terrestrial stations nationwide/worldwide) are quite handy and quite easy to access, and my wife loves the ability to easily listen to stations from her hometown in Louisiana. I gather it makes firmware updates much easier as well, although I haven't tested that yet since mine shipped fully up to date. We also haven't tested AirPlay or Bluetooth yet, but I'm sure those will come in handy at some point as well.

tripplej

I have in ceiling speakers (7) as well as 2 subs and I use NAD receiver. Works perfectly. NAD are a bit more costly than others but well worth it.