Mike, it's been said that factory refurbished units are, if anything, even more reliable than brand-new ones. Although I haven't seen statistical evidence on this, I tend to agree because of my personal experience with them.
Several of our members have dealt with Accessories4less for refurbished Onkyo and Denon models. As to the Denon 1712 or 1713, to some extent the 1713 can be viewed as a step down from the 1712. It's an 80 watt/channel 5.1 unit compared to the 90 watt 7.1 1712 and weighs about 4 pounds less. If your budget for this is about $200-$300, the 1712 with Audyssey MultEQ XT for about $230 from
A4L here would be an excellent choice.
