Which receiver would be best for me?

budget?

if you will be using hdmi, why would you need so many optical inputs?

the video processing in your display is likely to be as good (if not better) than anything in the avr.

Depending on your budget, I would highly recommend harman/kardon. Their specifications in w/ch seem modest, but when bench tested frequently exceed the published rating. Most other receivers (other than NAD and a few others) almost never deliver the published power output.

The harman/kardon has good setup menus, excellent features and great sound IMO. You can check pricing on the AVR254 or AVR354 on amazon.com, but they will probably be in the $400 to $500 range, including shipping.

http://www.harmankardon.com/product_...=&prod=AVR+254
http://www.harmankardon.com/product_...=&prod=AVR+354

If you don"t mind paying a little extra, and want exceptional sound, then IMO some of the NAD generation Txx5 receivers (starting with the T755) would be an excellent choice. Again, the power ratings may seem modest, but in reality, my experience with a NAD T754 would seem to suggest that it will deliver far better sound than entry level seperates. Better sound in my case means more detail, much tighter bass, and exceptional surround processing, as well as a few unusual nice features and/or remote commands. A good place to start with NAD is Spearit Sound. With NAD, you would have to pay about $900 for a refurb, or $1,300 brand new.

http://www.nadelectronics.com/img/da...s/NAD_T755.pdf
http://www.spearitsound.com/nad/nadspec.htm

Other than those, you have a lot of choices from Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer and others, depending on your priorities. My experience is limited to Yamaha, Denon, harman/kardon, NAD and Emotiva.

Onkyo TX-SR706

I have no direct experience with Onkyo, but they are very popular for their features, and pricing as refurbs from shoponkyo.com. I would expect the h/k to have a warmer, fuller sound. Some would say the Onkyo is more neutral sounding, others would say the Onkyo is too bright. Despite the published specifications, I would expect the h/k to be the more powerful unit. YMMV.

+1. Spearit Sound is a great A/V store. I always visit them when I'm in Boston.

I don't think anyone should be buying Harmon Kardon right now with all the problems the receivers are having. I was looking at the 254 but now looking at a Denon 789, Yamaha 663 or Onkyo 606. Harmon Kardons are great but too many bugs.

I just upgraded my Denon 3803 to a Harmon 354. The Denon was over-kill on the power side and a little too old for the HDMI switching that I needed.

So far I love, love, love the Harmon. It will do all the criteria that you listed above and I got it from amazon for right at $500. I thought that was a terrific price for what I got.

The 354 has 3 HDMI and 3 component ins, all of which will be upconverted and sent to the tv via HDMI.

It doesn't matter which brand you choose, they are all far more complex than in the past, and are all prone to possible glitches. These are usually resolved by firmware updates, if they arise. Any of the brands you mention may have similar issues (or worse, if they cannot be resolved by a firmware upgrade). In any case, as with the other brands you mention, there are far more happy h/k owners, with not a single issue, ever (such as myself) than there are unhappy owners.

I would recomment the Onkyo 876 if you dont mind spending the money. They retail at $1800 but if you become a member you get $10 off and over the thanksgiving holiday weekend they have refurbished ones for $1100 and then an additional 10% off. Its a THX Ultra2 Plus certified receiver with 7.1 Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA and it has 1080p upscaling and plenty of I/Os. It has a power rating of 140 watts rms continuous/channel. Many many features.

I don't know about that, there's a thread here all about the HK problems and doesn't seem like many happy owners there.. reading that made me not buy a HK. Onkyo only issue is they may buzz, and I haven't really read anything wrong with the Denon, just that they're hard to set up. HK look the best by far but you have over 50% chance on getting one with a problem and that was said by a guy that sells them.

Owner's threads are a good place to post problems, so it's normal that they generate some buzz. There are owner's threads for Onkyo too, with owners complaining about overheating and other issues, but that does not indicate to me that Onkyo are less reliable than h/k or others.

I do not recommend h/k on the basis of good looks either, but because of genuinely good sound and conservative power ratings that deliver more than they promise, not less.

If the OP is worried about issues, then he can choose any brand he thinks may be more reliable (you suggested Denon might be the most reliable of all, in that case) and the chances are overwhelmingly in his favor that he will get a good unit, with no issues. There are plenty of positive reviews all over the internet to support this. The h/k warranty is also two years, if the need did arise, but of the owners I know personally, none have had to make use of it.

As for the "guy that sells them", he might even be "a guy that sells a competing product" for all we know, just like I could be "a guy selling h/k" without anybody being able to know that either. Such blanket statements out of context are of limited value IMO.