What is Good Quality & Simple to use AV receiver?

You can't go wrong at all with the Marantz SR6003. New/refurbished with factory warranty.

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/MARSR6003/Marantz/Sr6003-Dolby-Truehd/Dts-hd-Master-Audio-Av-Receiver/1.html

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/content/marantz-sr6003-av-receiver

Plenty of muscle. It bench tests close to your requirements even in 7.1.

Bill

I like my cambridge 540R v1 got it for about 235$

NAD products tend to have more of whats important and less of what is tinsel.

Yes Marantz and NAD are excellent choices, also Rotel. Can't go wrong with these. Just keep in mind one important point about power ratings on AVRs. Marantz rates their per channel power based on 2 channels not all 5 or 7 even if it says 100w X 7, 20hz-20khz in to 8 ohms. So do many other AVR manufacturers. You have to see "All Channels Driven". Rotel and NAD will state this, Marantz does not. There is no industry standard requiring this to be stated (all channels driven). My very first AVR was a Marantz SR5600 and I loved it. It was rated at 90W/channel x 5. I learned later that this was based on 2 channels driven in to 8 ohms, 20hz-20khz. When all 5 are on, Marantz derates this to 70% of the stated power. They told me this directly after contacting them. Also another point, it's going to be difficult to find a "simple" AVR today because they all so many features and programming. Be prepared to sit down with the owners manual.

Pdn,

What you have stated with most consumer level receivers is true. The link that I referenced for the Marantz SR6003 shows that it benches at 96w/ch with 7 channels driven and 111w/ch with 5 channnels driven. In stereo it benched at 130w/ch. Marantz rates it at 100w/ch in stereo. In this case, this receiver far exceeds it's stated power rating.

I just so happen to have a NAD T773 AVR that is rated at 110w/ch(all channels driven) that is the best sounding most powerful HT receiver I have ever heard. It is also very user friendly. I took a step down(in features only) when I swapped my midlevel HDMI receiver for the NAD.

Bill