Looking for solid low-end recommendations, plus some beginner questions. Should be easy.

Finally, a new excuse to lose several days of my life to AVS! I love this place.

I'm looking to buy a receiver soon; i have actually never owned one before. My 5.1 speaker setup is fairly modest, and i really don't need much from the receiver, so i'm looking at low-end models. I don't care much about audio quality, as long as it's not offensively horrible. Budget is $400/400€; let me know if i should go higher.

Requirements:

• at least 4 HDMI inputs (3 might be tolerable too)
• at least 2 digital audio inputs
• at least 1 stereo analog input
• reasonable headphone support

Would be nice, but not a hard requirement: Ability to control the AVR with the iPhone.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. The first model i looked at is the Onkyo TX-NR414, since The Wirecutter recommended it. It has all the features i need, but people on here seem to be having all kinds of horrible issues with Onkyo models and customer support. Seems like a risky buy?

Some questions:

1. 
   
2. Concerning headphones: Is it a bad idea to plug headphones into an AVR? I remember reading that it usually results in bad audio quality, but i can't find another reasonable way to comfortably use headphones with all my source devices. It just seems like it should work.
3. Generally, is input latency a problem with receivers? I'm all prepared to plug my consoles directly into the TV and run separate audio to the receiver if that's what it takes to be lag-free, but i'd rather just go all HDMI into the receiver.

Thank you for helping.

After doing some more research, i probably won't go near the Onkyo TX-NR414 any time soon. It has nice bells and whistles, but i really don't need most of those. And there are just too many reports of reliability issues with this specific model and Onkyo AVRs in general.

I ordered a Marantz NR1402 to try out. It's last year's model -- the newer Marantz NR1403 doesn't really offer anything crucial over the 1402. And more importantly, i was able to get the 1402 for 229€, which is just an awesome price.

One thing i don't like about it: It only has two digital audio inputs, one coax and one optical. I think i'll be able to make my setup work regardless, but i wouldn't mind more opticals.

Other AVRs i might try if the Marantz doesn't work out for me:

1. Denon AVR-1513 (downside: no Audyssey)
2. Harman Kardon AVR 156 (downsides: no Audyssey, only three HDMIs)

I have yet to look at Pioneer models.

If anyone has any input on this stuff or is willing to answer the questions in my initial post: Thank you.

Thanks for the replies guys!

So the Denon AVR-1713 is 499€ here (about $614), which is more than i was looking to spend. Though i might come back to it if the other options don't work out.

Last year's AVR-1712 doesn't appear to available anywhere here in Germany, including eBay. Same for the AVR-1613. However, i can get last year's AVR-1612 at 289€, which is a great price. The lack of networking features doesn't matter to me, so i'd pick this one over the newer AVR-1513 because it has Audyssey.
I did, and it does! Seems like a great pick. The price is good, it has four digital audio inputs, AirPlay, and phone apps for control (most of the competing models don't seem to have this).

On the subject of networking features though, including AirPlay: The more i think about it, the more i realize that i don't need my AVR to do these things, because they're already covered by my source devices. I'd like to try AirPlay, but i wonder how often i'd actually use it after that.

Concerning analog video upconversion: I think i'm content just running the Wii's component directly to the display. The Wii HDMI adapter jdsmoothie linked to seems pretty cool actually, maybe i'll try that. Not a big deal, either way.

Thanks for the link to the optical switcher too, i wasn't aware that they were this cheap.

So to sum up, here's my current list:

1. Marantz NR1402 - Ordered to try out, might come in tomorrow.
2. Yamaha RX-V473 - Feature-wise the best one on the list, i think.
3. Denon AVR-1612
4. Denon AVR-1513 - Keeping it on the list for now, but the 1612 seems preferable (Audyssey, lower price, also a great thread here on AVS) even though it's older.
5. Harman/Kardon AVR 156 - Downsides: Only 3 HDMIs, no Audyssey.
6. Pioneer - Haven't looked into those yet.

I also tried to find out more about the headphone concerns i described in the initial post. My current impression is that the notion of "don't hook up nice headphones to an AVR, it will sound horrible" comes from audiophiles, and that normals shouldn't worry about it because it sounds just fine. I guess i'll have to try for myself?

Thanks again for the advice.

Better late than never: Thanks for the input BeeMan. I will be looking at headphones soon.

In case anyone is still reading this thread: I've been testing the Marantz NR1402 for about a week now, and i'm really happy with it. It seems like exactly the right receiver for my needs, and i got it at a great price too. Things i like about it:

1. Does everything i need it to do without having too many superfluous features.
2. Sounds good - i'm just now realizing how bad my previous setup sounded on the same speakers.
3. It doesn't have any networking capabilities. I like that because i really don't need those from my receiver.
4. It's slim.

So i'll stick with this AVR. Thanks for the help everyone.