Here is my 2 cents worth-

each manufacturer's receiver sounds better or worse with a given set of speakers.

For instance, I had a Yamaha RX-V890 that sounded very good with my
Paradigm monitor 9's. I now have a Denon Avr-4800 that sounds good with my Snell E-5's. BUT when I switched Snells to Yamaha, and Monitor 9 to Denon, they did not sound so good.

Don't really know why ??? Both Denon and Yamaha were great units.

WAK