Chris
The model that I have is a Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX. Its a two year old model. The quality of receiver is very good, but then again this is my first receiver. Pioneer's line of Elite is excellent and never fails (actually, I had a problem with a board in the receiver..my DTS was not working..but waranty took care of that). The new line of receivers look very nice since it has more power, is THX Ultra certified and allows you to run your components video through the receiver. Prior to my purchase, I did not test out other receivers cause I got a good deal on the pioneer (I use to work in electronics retail while I was in college). Now Im contemplating the fact to get a NAD 218THX amplifier and using my pioneer elite as a sub-amp so that I can give more power to my baby's (M80's). But so far Im very happy and people say...you must be crazy to put more power. If you ahve any questions, let me know.
By the way, these speakers are night and day different than my Polk RT800's!!
