My friend fell in love with my Athena/HK system and wants to get one himself. He wants to purchase the Athena speakers but wants to buy a cheaper receiver in the $300 range. He is also paranoid about buying online and would prefer to buy from a store. What should I suggest to him? Panasonic?
He should be able to pick up the HK AVR130 (I think it's 5.1 only) for under $300 [I'm assuming you're in the US], especially now that the newer models (eg. AVR135) are out.
You might be able to convince him to try buying online direcly from HK (via the harmanaudio.com website). The refurbished AVR230 should be around $300 there, I believe the warranty is same as new.