Hi All. I am upgrading my home theater system and for my budget, I think I have narrowed my receiver options down to these three, which I can get for around $600 This will be for a 5.1 system used 90% for movies and 10% music (rock). Speakers will likely end up being either Infinity Primus or Wharfedale Diamonds. I would appreciate any suggestions as to which of these 3 or others would be the best choice for this price range and use.
Get the Denon AVR-2310CI. Just bought one for $600 brand new and it sounds amazing. I had an Onkyo SR-606 and this amp blows it out of the water. Sound is much fuller, detailed, and musical. It's almost like listening to a whole new set of speakers.
pioneer elite = warm and smooth, will probably make the wharfedales sound fruity, but be a decent match for the infinities
denon will be a decent match for either
onkyo will be a better match IMHO for the wharfedale than the infinity.
in my opinion what you are attempting to do is going to be a crapshoot. You are going to be better off listening to the above components and put together a system as a whole, not piecemeal when you have not listened to them together. We can tell you what they sound, but adjectives can only tell you so much, not let you know what it sounds like to your soul. I may hate the sound of a Bose Acoustmass system fronted by cheap sony electronics... but you may like it better than what we have in our own homes.
My point is that our recommendations will likely fall on our personal preferences, and these likely will not fall in line with yours.