Best home theater receiver for 500

I have a Denon 70Wx5 receiver, and really like it. I'm using it to drive a home theater with Joseph Audio for my mains and center. These speakers deserve to be driven by much higher end power, but the Denon really holds its own. Another nice feature (which I don't use anymore because my front speakers are way better than the others) is 5 channel stereo, which completely fills a room with sound.

A used Marantz SR-880 or Sr-880II are both a good choice in that price range.

I would avoid Denon, as they have reliability issues. You might want to look for a Marantz, maybe used.

KP

Any thoughts about NAD????

I tried NAD751. Its built-in amp is way better(?) than onkyo797 or denon3802. However I did not like the digital
sount of it. That is cd/dvd sound fed through digital input of the receiver. I tried NAD, Onkyo, Denon, and I liked the Onkyo's digital sound best, although their amp was not as good as NAD. But that is my taste. Not that I bought Onkyo. I'd love to try Marantz, given that I kind of like Philps product.

Ken