If the sound of your system is the most important thing to you, get an Anthem, they have a great seven channel system and its very reasonably priced, I have had mine for three years now and love it, powers my AV123 GR Research LS6 Line Source speakers perfectly.
Reliable Mid-Priced 7.2 Channel Receiver
We're near move-in to a new home, sold the ancient Onkyo 5.1 receiver and am looking at 7.2 channel new options. I was looking at the Denon S960H, generally seems good power and currently down to $599, plus $50 coupon.
The bad news...reading reviews. I look at the 1 & 2-stars (of 5) reviews on Amazon and Best Buy and it gets scary...lots of issues. So I looked at Yamaha (next) and Sony and Pioneer in that price range. Almost all have numerous, serious complaints, some also poor customer support.
This will be used in the main room with 75" tv (streaming), Blu-Ray and old CD player. I would love to use it as the source selector (is that ARC?) but if an issue I would usually use just the TV sound, and if source selection became an issue, just send the sound to the receiver via optical and turn on the receiver sound / source manually as I did with the old Onkyo.
So, I am most interested in how to select a reliable 7.2 receiver in my price range. Perhaps best to order with a place with good return policy, like Best Buy, versus some random Amazon provider?
All input is most appreciated.
Paul