I am in need of my first A/V Reciever. I'd like to spend no more than $600 if possible. I've gotten a Sony 60" LCD rear projection (only one bad pixel that I can find on the whole screen, and I can only see that out to about 12") and a set of Sony SS-LA300 speakers (I listened to a lot and, especially for the size, these really sonded good.) I already have a decent Toshiba PS DVD player. Now I need the reciever. There are a lot of postings out there and it's a little overwhelming to sift through it all. I'd appreciate any informed opinions.
The best deal out there (and I've bought this myself) is a refurbed (but fully guaranteed) Marantz SR-7200 from accessories4less.com. I'm not pimping this site--I have nothing to do with them. But the service was excellent, the unit is fantastic, and they're the only authorized place on the web to buy refurbed Marantz stuff. This unit has gobs of power, superb D/A converters, lots of fiber/coax digital inputs, s-video switching, COMPONENT video switching, DolbyDigital, DTS, ProLogic II, the works. Very well built. I think it's about $500. For the money, it's simply unbeatable. I've compared it side by side to a top-end Yamaha, and it's every bit as good, if not better. Very intuitive and easy to learn.