What is the best Stereo Receiver under $300?

I want to buy a decent stereo receiver for my in-laws as a Christmas gift, as their old one is almost totally shot. My budget is under $300.

Ideally, I want something simple and reliable that sounds great. Preferably with big, legible buttons. They will want to hook it up to a tape deck, cd player, turntable and listen to the radio.

I'd rather get a reliable used audiophile quality receiver, than something new that sounds awful. (But getting something too "vintage" scares me!) My first choice was to find a used Rotel RX-975 on eBay, but they seem to be somewhat rare. And unfortunately I know nothing about other low-end audiophile brands.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks,
Tonya

Yes, I am looking for a stereo receiver. But I'd like one that sounds really good - like a Rotel - and has a nice, easy to use interface. That is, something w/out all the tiny little buttons that newer receivers tend to have.

I'm exposing my complete ignorance here - but looking at the back of the Onkyo I see analog inputs for Phono, but I don't know if that means it has a preamp or not. I *think* it does though - because looking at the specs on the Onkyo website the Amplifier Section says "Phono(MM) 80 dB (IHF-A, 5 mV input)". But I don't know what (MM) means!

The Onkyo looks like it has a cleaner interface, to me, too.