I am about to head to the store to pick up one of these:
Yamaha RXV650
Denon 1804

Anyone have any thoughts? This is for my M22s

WOW, tough decision. i would first say, dont make any hasty decisions..

the whole key here is, buy the receiver that will best suit YOUR needs, and has a good sound to YOUR ears. the DENON guys are gonna say, get the DENON.. and the YAMAHA guys are gonna say, get the YAMAHA..

both are good companies, and both make good receivers.. the best you can do is go to the companies respective websites, and pull down the specs for each receiver.. compare watts per channel, inputs/outputs, decoding capabilities, calibration features, sound stage set-up features, etc..

i personally have heard the 1804, and i like it. very rich, smooth sound. i cant say on the yamaha cause i have never heard it. but yamaha makes excellent products..

BOTTOMLINE-- just see which receiver has the functions to do what you want, and buy it.. and dont second guess your decision once its made.. that will plant the evil seed of 'upgradeitis', and its just a downhill spiral from there!!

bigjohn

My advice, put both on a credit card, bring them home, try them out for a few days, and return the one you don't want. If you're going to the store, you can go back to the store right?

Features and price.

I have an 1804 and like it very much. I almost bought the Yamaha RXV640, but thought that the Denon had better Zone 2 capabilities. Plus, I still have this fantasy about converting a big stack of vinyl to digital, and the Denon has a phono input. Denon also has on-screen display, which I really like. Don't know about the newer Yamaha. I liked the Yamaha remote a little better.

Either one would be fine. I have an old Yamaha upstairs that still runs great after many, many years. And I'm very happy with the 1804.

This HK guy says go with Denon, I'll just keep my reasons to myself.

Well, you probably can't go wrong with either one. Both have excellent reputations that are very well-deserved. I myself am a Denon guy, mainly because I think they give you more value for the money with build quality and technology at least equal to that of Yamaha. Both will sound excellent. The best advice I can give you is, all other things being equal, get the unit with the best power rating you can afford.