Does your friend really need a receiver? There are few bigger fans of the receiver out there than I and even I am hard pressed to recommend receivers today.
If you friend really needs the receiver, which means he needs FM, then I would suggest the Outlaw RR2150. The RR 2150 is on sale currently on the Outlaw website for $600. I have owned one since its introduction in 2005 and it is still going strong all these years later. Of all the current receivers out there, its FM tuner is superior in sound to those currently of HK, Denon, Onkyo, and Yamaha . The others on his list are not worth considering.
15 years ago I might have recommended to him to look at vintage or older model receivers, specifically the Marantz 22XX line or the Pioneer x2x line. I took the bite myself. But that was 15 years ago. Those receivers are now 35 years old and any receiver that he would pick up would require at least $300 or so to be gone over by a competent tech and replacing caps and lamps, etc.
I would look at integrated amps ... the NAD D3020 looks interesting if he is keeping to a single source, the Marantz 5004 can be had for $350 at Music Direct and it has phono capability, the Marantz 6005 (made in Japan) for $500 on eBay if he digs a bit, the Yamaha A-S500 has been well reviewed. Better choices out there than a receiver.
Keep in mind two things about the Emotiva CD player ... it has a warm, not quite dark sound to it, which can be pleasing, but you don't want an amp that is voiced the same. Also, the Emotiva is not the most forgiving CD player that I have ever owned and it requires quality components around it to sound its best, it is especially sensitive to interconnect choices (go figure).
I have used both the ERC II and III cd players in smaller systems. Each time the Emotiva was used with an Outlaw RR2100 receiver and the speakers varied from Totem Mites to Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1 to the current Omega 3Ts.
Rich
