Hey Dennis,
I'm not sure what "Bells & Whistles" the other models have over the Denons? Most AVR's in the same price range are fairly comparable. Sure, one manufacturer may call their technology something different (for ex. YPAQ, AutoSetup/RoomEQ, MCACC, etc). For the most part they do the same thing. They all handle the same surround decoding for the most part: DD, DTS, PLIIx, DTS Neo, etc... They may have their own unique built in DSP options: Widescreen, Concert Hall, Stadium, etc.... however, in my experience I don't use those features anyway.
Many people that have 4ohm speakers like the m80ti's like to use Denon, HK, NAD, Onkyo, Seperates, etc...this is because they have been proven to have no issues driving a 4ohm speaker.
Historically, the "Guts" of the Denons have been very beefy and they are a High Current Full Bandwidth design. However, many other receivers like Onkyo are also very well built and use top quality amps, for example.
I think some of the newer high end Pioneers and Yamahas may now have no problems either, but there was a time when people had issues, especially when trying to drive 4 ohm speakers.
If your talking about 80watts versus 100watts, that really is not a issue either.
I would say purchase an AVR that is in your budget, and has the "Bells & Whistles" you think YOU need, and you'll be fine.
If you get a chance to do any In-Home demo's in your area, that is even better. Check the audition thread in the "Hearing Things" section to see if anyone will help ya out....
