Stoney, as was said three weeks ago, your present receiver is fine; there doesn't appear to be a compelling reason to make a change. The very title of the thread isn't realistic as there's no such thing as a "best" receiver under $1,000 or at any other price. If your budget for speakers was $1,600, then that's probably what you should still spend. There's little or no correlation between price and sound quality in audio.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.