I am one of the only 9% using Pioneer (Elite), but I really like it. Here is the short and sweet of it. Alan from Axiom gave me some good advice about receivers. He said that once you get above about $500, you are in to the good receivers, above $750 and you are in to the really good ones, above $1000 and you are either looking at cutting edge technology, or some of the more "exclusive" brands that are for those people that don't care how much items cost because they can afford it.
He also commented that the nice things about receivers is that in these "above $500" price range, they are all pretty good, and it just comes down to personal preference and features. So don't worry too much about it. Do some looking and comparing of features and price and pick one of the "name brand" ones and you'll do great.
