Love the sound of Harmon Kardon, and if can, give a serious listen to the marantz line of recievers. The sr7400 should be offered at a good price because the sr7500 is due out soon. If you are going to look in the $1500 range then the sr8500 marantz will be as feature rich and sweet sounding as any
Yamaha recievers tend to be on the bright side, not warm. You should audition one and see if it is to your liking. Warmer sounding recievers would be Harmon Kardon, Marantz, and Rotel. The Onkyo would be more neutral. The key would be to audition for sound in your home if possible with music and...
I am the owner of an integra dtr6.3. Nice receiver. The dtr6.4 has thx cert. and maybe a modest power upgrade (I am not sure though) No issues so far. Give it an audition.
sr8200 owner. Dropout just at the beginning of material thru toslink hookup to my pioneer elite 45a dvd player. will probably do the software upgrade to make it the same as the 8300. Other than that, I love this receiver. As good as some separates. BTW, I happen to like the source direct mode...
I do not have heat issues with my marantz because of proper ventilation. However I do receive a 3 second audio delay at the begining of digital sources. I beleive it will be corrected when I send the unit in for the upgrade.
I have the problem with my marantz 8200 at the beginning of disks for about 3 seconds. It is hooked up to a pioneer elite dvd player. I do not have the problem with my Integra dtr6.3 receiver which is hooked up to a panasonic rp56 dvd player.
Killer setup. Very loud. You definitely need to audition system in your home because this is in your face loud and your room (absorbive/reflective)will go a long way in determining if this is what you want for the long haul :b