I'm a huge Pioneer fan; owning their last Elite flagship DVD player, the DV-79AVi, their current top of the line non-Elite receiver the VSX-1018AH-K, and their last 50" plasma the PDP-5020FD.
I (this is a personal opinion) question Denon's value for money. There's no doubt they build good equipment, but I think at this point part of the price is the name on the box. A real glimpse at the way their marketing department thinks is in the fact that they are selling a $500 Ethernet cable--that's just offensive to me.
But if I were in the market for a $1500-$2000 receiver in the next couple months, I'd really be looking closely at the Sherwood Newcastle R-972 (
http://www.sherwoodamerica.com/site/newcastle/receivers/R972.html ), which Axiom will be selling when it becomes available.
And I'm not just recommending this because I'm an Axiom fan boy either. I found out about this receiver because of Outlaw, and only later discovered that Axiom sells Sherwood Newcastle equipment.
