I have a friend looking into receivers for his HT/music system and i just dont' have the time right now to research them for him.
Hopefully someone here is having a slower day at work then i am.

His criteria:
$300-$400 USD price range

Preference in order of importance (from his email):
(1) clean LOUD sound (distortion free at high levels - for 6ohm & 8ohm speakers),
(2) bells and whistles (ie. accepts latest formats, good decoder... etc.),
(3) aesthetics (black is cool with me)

I think it is easy to say that #3 is covered on almost all bases.

His present choices (others are welcome):
Pioneer VSX-D812
Sony STRDE695
Denon (not sure of model - in same price range - 1803?)
Yamaha HTR-5640
Panasonic SAHE100K

Personally i would lean towards the Denon but he is somewhat wattage blind such that the more watts, the more he is tending to buy (regardless of my explanations on dB attained vs wattage used, etc.).
Anyway, opinions and suggestions are much appreciated. I could set this up as a poll i suppose...might clock the results faster....

Before I bought my receiver I e-mailed Alan for his opinion on Kenwood and Kenwood Elite receivers. He recommended avoiding them, but the factory refurbished models available at the factory outlet store had all the bells and whistles, THX cert., latest formats, and claimed to be powerful. They were going very cheap. Maybe they're also available online? The sound didn't impress me too much, but there wasn't a proper listening room, just this big old store.

I'd go with the H/K 325, if it wasn't for the wattage thing. They are very full featured for the price.

Ken

I've been shopping that same price range to death lately. I have a nice older Yamaha setup that does not do the modern decoding.

Here's what I'm looking at:
Yamaha htr-5660 (about $360 shipped online from bndonline or crazyeddie). Seems to have it all.
Denon 1803 - refurb sometimes available from ecost for $300 msrp $499. No preouts. I don't like the looks of the remote. You have to choose between the 6th speaker and Zone 2; can't run both. I don't think the 1603 does discrete 6.1.
Onkyo tx-sr501 - $299 msrp. No preouts. Only 65 wpc. But lots of other bells.
Marantz 4300 - $300 refurb sometimes at accessories4less. No zone 2. No front inputs.

I'm still shopping. hth.

I'd look for a used or B-stock Outlaw 1050.

Chess, for around $300, the Pioneer 912 if he wants the MCACC automatic speaker calibration, or the JVC 8030.

Thanks to everyone for the quick opinions.
I will add the listed receivers to the research list for him to check out.
Certainly i think the Denon, Pioneers, Yamaha, Onkyo and maybe the JVC, Outlaw will be on his list.
Unfortunately, he wants to buy new, not B stock nor ebay sales and is keeping to a strict limit of about $300-$400 USD so anything more expensive just gets the cut.

Just for those who are curious as to the ending, my friend has purchased the Pioneer 812 and a Denon 1603 for home comparison and will return one of the two later.
Incidentallly his Sound Dynamics speakers are apparently 4 ohm rated so the new Pioneer changes to their auto protection-shutdown circuitry will get another test this week.

Chess, you might point out to him that if he gets the 812 rather than the 912 he's passing up the automatic MCACC speaker calibration, a notable feature without which the 812 is rather routine.

John,
I have told him about the sushi touted MCACC but he is REALLY being a trooper and sticking to his original cost limit.
He is not willing to pay even twenty bucks beyond his set value and the 912 would be about $50-100 more i'm assuming over the 812 model.
He likes to tinker though so i don't think the 'manual' MCACC will bother him much.

Chess, the 912 is available for around $300.

That makes him the FIRST person who didn't stretch his budget. Damn this hobby

Frank

In reply to:

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That makes him the FIRST person who didn't stretch his budget. Damn this hobby

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I have to admire his self control. It is astounding. But he did just purchase a new house in West Palm Beach and lives alone so perhaps that is where his budget is really going into lately.

You're telling me. I started out intrigued by about $2k worth of Deff Tech speakers at a nearby store. About a year later and I've dropped well over $6k on this crap and I still want to replace my screen!

Well as it turns out, the upgraditis virus has struck again, this time in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The lad had now renounced his earlier receiver decisions and is looking at the $500 range of receivers, a demo Pioneer VSX-36TX and an old, but brand new boxed Denon 1802.
There is a Yamaha in the mix but i never got the model number.

You want to hear about lack of any scientific criteria in testing one unit vs. another?
There is an ugly story from the Sound Advice salesman who pitched him the pitch. It made me cringe.
Apparently this salesman told him that Yamaha receivers were his preference and that they outperform the likes of Pioneer and Denon. He then turned each of the volume knobs on the 2 receivers (Pioneer and Yamaha) to the -25dB mark and noted to him how the Yamaha played louder and therefore was a more powerful receiver.

That's just awful. I can't begin to describe the number of things wrong with that 'test'.