I've owned various Denon AVR's and they have all performed nicely in stereo and surround sound. My latest piece is an Onkyo TS-XR806. I'm very happy with it as a stereo receiver for my LP's, CD's and tapes but its also a very competent H/T surround unit with all the latest CODECS. It's my first Onkyo and I have no serious issues other than I wish I could completely dim out its display (short of using pure direct mode which does) but in any other mode the display dims but not completely.
If I were looking to buy a new receiver I'd have to give a serious look and listen to the ICE powered (class-D) receivers from Pioneer even though they are not inexpensive.
If I were looking to buy a new receiver I'd have to give a serious look and listen to the ICE powered (class-D) receivers from Pioneer even though they are not inexpensive.