Having PREVIOUSLY owned the Yamaha RX-V1500 I can tell you...its not a marriage made in heaven. Because the Axiom's are so "revealing" you will hear all of the Yamaha's "digital nuances". Meaning...it don't sound too analog. Now, if digital is your thing, by all means, get the Yamaha. Plenty of DSPs for the whole family. And by whole family I mean extended family and their extended family. But as has already been pointed out, you will soon find yourself drawn to the basics...and not dancing to the boogie woogie of the Disco beat.
In fact, Straight mode was my favorite. What mode is that? Where all the DSPs get out of the damn way. Great clean, sound. Ashamed to pay all that money for 5000 DSPs and never use one. But...Straight was where it was at for me. Needless to say I wanted to play A LITTLE...but when I did I found myself cringing at the digital sound, compressed sound. So sad.
I am now a happy Arcam AVR-300 owner.
But in that price range, I'd look towards H/K or Denon.
