Another "receiver advice" thread, under $500, certain criteria, please help!

[pens2423]

Hey everyone! Longtime lurker, first post here at this wonderful site!

anyways, i've been doing a lot of research and auditioning and whatnot.

i need to find a receiver preferably in the $350 range (street), absolute max of about $500 (street)

here's a list of what i need:

1. 3 component ins/1 out (must be hd-compatible)

2. 8ch analog input (for whenever i upgrade to a hd-dvd or br player, future-proofing so to speak)

3. 8ch analog preout (for external amps in case i decide i need more power, which never hurt anybody :cool: )

4. at least 2 or 3 optical and 1 or 2 coax.

4. would prefer it in a silver color, although this is not critical.

5. thx certification would be nice, although i realize highly unlikely at this price point.

6. auto-setup/auto-eq functions would also be really beneficial, something like yamaha's ypao or pioneer's mcacc would help out a lot.

refurbs or used models are perfectly ok with me.

as i stated, i'm really looking to keep it around $350 street, but can stretch my budget to a max of $500 if need be.

i'm going to most likely be using this with athena b1's or b2's up front, r1's as surrounds, c1 center, and dayton 12" sub. room size as of yet undetermined (not sure yet where i'm moving to, but probably not a huge room, probably a medium sized room)

45% cable/hd programming, 45% movies, 10% music

models i'm already looking at:

denon avr-985s

h/k avr-435z refurb

any input will be greatly appreciated! i know you guys will come through for me...

[zero the hero]

in my similar searches I found that 3 component inputs are hard to come by in that price range. I finally settled on the Yamaha RXV2500, albeit a bit higher than your price range is an unbelievable recieiver IMO.
How about the Pioneer 1015?

[phisch]

I have the Denon 985s and I believe that it meets all of your requirements, except for the THX. It does a great job with movies and with music as well. I would highly recommend it. I also had a Yamaha rx-v2500 that I liked a lot. It had a feature set similar to the Denon. You can pick up a refurb on ubid.com for well under $500.

[agb2529]

Check out the Yamaha 5860 - you can get it new and factory authorized at B&H Photo right in your price range. It has everything you're looking for except for THX and the 3rd component input - you can even get it in silver. I've had mine for about 2 months & love it, great sound and very flexible as far as connections & operation.