AV receivers to stay away from??

Thanks to everyone for the input.What about Marantz? Iknow they used to be considered great. Hifi.com has the sr3000 av receiver on sale 40wx3; 25w surround. Are the Marantz receivers up there with Denon and Onkyo??? Chris

I would also reccomend a Denon. The avr-3300 is the best all around receiver made considering price and performance. Is replacement, the 3801 is definitly awsome, but I doubt you can find one within your budget. they retail at about $1200. My local dealer has an older avr-3200 in their pre-owned stock for around 3 or 4 hundred. That is nearly identical to the 3300. the 3200 does not have dts.

What about Nakamichi? There are now on sale. The AV-8. This product used to cost 800 and now only 499. You can occasionally find them for 400 on Ebay, New! They got good reviews as well

Pisani..... It looks like all of the brands you have listed are all decent brands. I wouldn't have a problem with you going with either one of them. If you were to ask me what my preferences were among the four brands you have listed, that would depend on what speakers you would use with them. If you have "bass heavy" type of speakers, then I would go with Yamaha or Onkyo. If you have "bass shy" type of speakers, then I would lean toward Denon or Harman/Kardon. Also, I would give NAD some consideration as well. The brands I would stay away from are Sony (their non-ES stuff), Pioneer (unless it's their Elite stuff), and definitely, don't EVEN attempt to mention Technics and my name in the same sentence. Those would be the brands I would stay away from. Beyond that, it's your call. --Charles--