In search of advice on receivers (need help selecting)

[hateme]

This would be for a home theater setup. The receivers I'm looking at are:

Denon AVR-2807
Yamaha HTR-5990 or RX-V1600(is there a difference?)
Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS

I've been able to find all of these for about the same price, +/- $120. I need something that can upconvert and has HDMI I/O. Any suggestions and opinions would be very helpful. Any other brands that I should look at will also be helpful. Since, I have your attention, any suggestions on speakers would be great as well (5.1 set-up for an 18 x 13 room). I've been to Tweeter, Abt Electronics (Chicago) and (please don't burry this thread!!!!!) Magnolia centers at Best Buy and I am having a hard time figuring out what to get. Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated

[noddin0ff]

With the Yamaha HTR vs RX-V there is no difference between comparable units other than cosmetic. Yamaha even says this somewhere. HTR is usually less expensive.

Personally, I'd go with the one that feels more intuitive to you. I think they are all good choices. I tend to like the feel of Denon but prefer Yamaha because it just makes more sense to me. Yamaha may have the edge on DSP modes if you like such things.

[GMichael]

These 3 brands are very close at the same price point. But I do think that the Yamaha's you are looking at cost a little more.

[hateme]

Thanks for the input i've gotten so far. I figured there wasn't much difference in the Yamahas. My one concern is upscaling of other inputs to HDMI. Seems like some do it at 480p and others go to 720p. BTW I was able to find the Yamah HTR-5990 for about $640 at a retail store of all places! (Fry's)