Pisani, all 4 brands you mention have good units that can be had used in your price range. I favor the Denon myself. I owned a Denon 3300 for about a year(went to separates). It was a great unit. I saw one today for $400 at AudioReview.com market place. Just over your budget, but 105 wpc and DD/dts. I not familiar with the new pricing on Denon 1801 and other units. I have listened to the Yamaha, H/K, and Onkyo and once again all are good units. A/B all four in the same system would possible bring one to the top, but I never did such. Denon IMO looked the best and always sounded very musical. Hope this helps......Happy Listening.......LR
AV receivers to stay away from??
I am looking for an entry level (ie. cheap $200-350 used)AV receiver that I will use for 50/50 movies/music. What of the mainstream brands (Onkyo, Harmon K., Denon, Yamaha)are decent and which should I stay away from. I would like it to sound decent in stereo mode also. Thanks, in advance for any input!! Chris