Curtis, et al; the speaker review mentioned is hopelessly out of touch with reality, but the "sound" of a receiver deserves some further comment. There certainly are many "bright" recordings in the pop area and a very live listening room can certainly have a major effect in not taming this, since well-engineered speakers have their drivers and crossovers designed for "typical" listening rooms. Tone controls and equalizers are meant to be used in such situations. Receivers, however, don't change the situation and are transparent, with no "sound" of their own unless driven beyond their designed operating limits. I'm sure that over the years both sushi and I have listened to setups with possibly hundreds of different amplifiers and at least I can say that as theory would indicate, a Yamaha doesn't make a speaker sound any different than say, a Marantz, when both are adjusted to exactly the same volume.
Unfortunately, despite the frequently heard mantra, you can't "just trust your ears" . Blind listening tests have shown that flat response, which nearly all receivers and separates have, is flat response and no difference can be heard, regardless of the nameplate or price tag.
