The Best AV Receiver Under $600

[avnovice]

I'm looking for some advice on an av receiver. I've narrowed the list down
to the Harman Kardon 330, Yamaha 750, Denon 1804, and Marantz 5400.
I'm basically trying to find the best av receiver for under $600. It
will be used in our basement (11x19). The receiver will primarily be
used for tv watching/listening but I also plan on running our cd player
through it as well. Any advice you can offer would be great. Thanks.

[Redbeard]

Having owned all the recievers that you discuss I would personally recommend the HK 330, tremendous power, great musicality and a cool look. If you would rather something else I read last year in almost every magainze I picked up even the UK mags that the Denon 2802 was a real winner with its SHARk and Burr Brown decoders.

[makoman]

You could try a refurbished Denon AVR-883 (same as the 1803) for $219 + free shipping and a $6 handling fee. I've heard no complaints from people in the audioreview newsgroups about refurbished equipment from Denon!

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=188174

There are two left, so act fast and no, I don't work for ecost. They actually had them hidden on their web page, and I found them this morning!

Thanks to the group for helping in the decision on my receiver upgrade (no more Sony products)!

[illwill]

look at the Cambridge Audio Azur 540r, the Integra DTR-5.4 (or alternatively the Onkyo TX-SR602). The cambridge lacks a few of the features of the others, but is supposed to make up for it with some absolutely killer sound.
-will

[kexodusc]

Having owned all the recievers that you discuss I would personally recommend the HK 330, tremendous power, great musicality and a cool look. If you would rather something else I read last year in almost every magainze I picked up even the UK mags that the Denon 2802 was a real winner with its SHARk and Burr Brown decoders.

Are you telling us that you've owned all of these current model receivers, some of which have only been available for 3 months or so?

Avnovice: Sound wise, these receivers will all sound incredibly similar. I wouldn't listen to anyone that tells you there's a whopping difference in sound quality between them. They've all got plenty of power, though I would expect the H/K to have just a bit more (they seem to be the most conservative in their ratings in my experience). But at this point a few watts shouldn't be the deal breaker.
If I were you, I'd look at the features these models offer, the features you NEED, the features you want, and the price. They're all winners, though the Denon and Yamaha are probably the most popular on these boards. If you don't own a turntable and don't expect to listen to LP's, I'd recommend the RX-V650 or HTR-5760 from Yamaha. The YPAO calibration feature is great, and there's more than enough power for most applications. I've seen this priced as low as $350 from authorized dealers. Yamaha is generally regarded to be the most reliable product at this price level (though even Yamaha can make lemon).