General Quality (Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer)

[cmessin1]

Sorry for the nube question, but I am looking for comments on general quality of these 3 brands. I am in need of a good quality reciever in the $500 - $1000 range, preferably on the low side of that. It will be used about half and half for HT and Audio. I listen to a bit of jazz and like a nice crisp sound, hence my Super 2 fronts. I would like a full 7.1 setup with some decent amperage but quality for the dollar is of upmost importance. In my range I have come up up with offerings from the 3 above brands. With out getting in to a ton of specifics I would love to here thoughts on overall quallity and sound. Also thoughts on the useability and value of this Yamaha auto configuration mike system would be apreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Garrardman]

They are all quality manufacturers of fine equipment and I'm sure you won't be disappointed with a receiver from any of them - the best thing to do would be to listen to examples of all 3 and go with what your ears tell you!
However, if it were my money being spent i'd go for a Yamaha - I've always thought they were the best of the Jap manufacturers in 2 channel equipment and their A/V stuff is superb. The auto-mic setup is pretty nifty, but it's still best done manually using an SPL meter IMHO!

Adam.

[kexodusc]

I'll second the vote of confidence for Yamaha. You'll find Yamaha and Denon to be the two most popular brands of receivers in these forums in the price range you are looking at. Quality wise, I think both are probably fairly close, but Yamaha seems to have enjoyed the best history in that area.
I've had problems with a Yamaha receiver, though, just goes to show nobody's perfect.

I have a different take on the auto-setup feature. My SPL meter, a setup disc, and hours of tweaking can sometimes do as good a job as YPAO does at setting the levels and delays in a few quick minutes. I'm no newbie with an SPL meter, either. This is a great feature IMO, and you should definitely ensure your next receiver has one.

[cmessin1]

Thanks much for the replies so far guys.