Pioneer VSX-1017TXVK
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4185738
i'm thinking of getting it but i can't find any reviews for it

Looks ok, I am not a Pioneer fan myself and the advertisement is a little misleading as the usuall spec to be quoted is for 8 ohm resistance which puts the receiver back to 120W. I know some people have been finding the MCACC to be not very accurate and end up resetting the speakers themselves but other than that its a good price for a 120W receiver with THX certification; not that the THX really means much when you are bying a good quality receiver like Pioneer, H/K, Denon, Yamaha, etc.

the thing about it is i'm not sure what i should look for in a receiver

The earlier versions of this receiver seem to have been pretty well regarded around here. I think the 1015 was the most recent version; might be worth searching for that...

I think the model numbers were different for silver and black; the law of averages says that 95% of the reviews in the Internet will be for the OTHER colour than the one you are looking for, so you won't find them

Most AVR's in the same price range will be pretty much the same as long as you stick with good names like Denon, HK, Pioneer, Onkyo, etc.

You really need to purchase a receiver that has the bells and whistles your needing. Some people want the ability to hook up an ipod or other mp3 player, to me that is not as important. Others may want 1080p HDMI switching to hook up all their HDMI video game systems, dvd players, etc. Still others may want the ability to pull in satellite radio.

These are just a few options. Again, it really depends on what your looking for to meet your needs. For me it was about Home Theater and music listening.

The 1017 is a fairly good receiver but if you're looking for a receiver for HDMI sound decoding this one only switches the video so you would have to use a optical or coax cable for the audio side of things. An Onkyo 605 would probably be a better value. I'm sure JohnK can hook you up.

Brandan, as with just about any modern well-designed amplifier, including those in receivers, you can take it as a given that the amplification will be audibly transparent within the designed power limit. As far as that limit goes, anything in the area of 100-150 watts typical of modern units should be more than enough in the vast majority of uses and the amount of power shouldn't be a major factor in reaching a decision.

The Pioneer 1017 apparently doesn't have any published test results, although the preceding 1015 and 1016 were generally well-received. If the features and price suit you it's unlikely that you'd be disappointed.

If you can expand the receiver budget about $200 over what the 1017 runs, I'd bring your attention to the Onkyo 705 factory refurb which has outstanding features, including the full Audyssey equalization system. About the same price as the 1017 is the Onkyo 605, which is sold out at the moment at A4L.

Nothing more to really say except that when I got my VXS-54TX, the MCACC was actually considered to be really good, but with ANY auto-calibration systems, some final tweaking to YOUR liking are always in order. Some people like more bass than others, some like more highs, others like the surround channels to be cranked, etc... It is those personal preferences that would cause you to tweak the settings, but again, you will have to do that with any auto-calibration.

I have the 1017, which I'm very pleased with, and MCACC works great (though I have no experience with competitor Audissey). It has little facility for HDMI or video processing (which I didn't need).