TCM - I suggest you look at the Denon 590 or 1610 which are very similar models marketed through different channels. One of my neighbors asked for advice in replacing his very old Pioneer pro-logic receiver with a new 5.1 receiver. I started looking at Pioneer and Onkyo but stumbled across the Denon while reading customer reviews on Amazon. Check out the Amazon customer reviews for models from all three companies to see what I mean.

Those Denon models are the lowest priced new units that matrix all inputs onto the HDMI output. They don't upscale the non hdmi inputs, but usually an expensive TV does that better than a low end receiver. I installed a Denon 1610 for my neighbor and can say that it's very impressive for the price. The only complaint is that the manual is hard to follow. I have a Pioneer VSX-45 but I'm sort of jealous now of my nieghbor's Denon. Let me know if you have any questions.

Bill