I would select Denon or Onkyo in your price range. For the most part they will all have HDMI conversion and features/inputs for most users. Also, Audyssey over the other setup tools should be a consideration in my opinion. Contrary to what many say, it really makes a world of difference and even Axiom speakers sound better using it. It also does a wonderful job for subwoofer calibration, actually is strong in that area. In my opinion, Audyssey should not be placed in the same "stay away from auto calibration" mentality as years past.
