Best HT Receiver Under 1000$

I'll second the recommendation of the Onkyo TX-SR805 or 806. The Onkyos have been very good values at their respective price points for the last several generations. IMHO, the offer a great combination of sound quality, features and ease of use.

Enjoy,

TIC

accessories4less.com has the TX-SR805 and 806 for $499.00-$599.00 for new and factory refurbished. And thanks for the question, I'm looking for the same thing myself.

See if you can find a used Denon 4806 around that $1K mark. I have one and it's great. It has a true 1.2KVA toroidal transformer instead of the garbage in most of these receivers.

Sprink

$500 & $600??
There's a no brainer. Sheesh. in Jan '08 I paid $800 for a new one shipped, from JR Music!

Oil well... they were over a grand at the brick & mortar joints then too.

Thanks all for your feedback. I decided to give HK another chance and also decided that fiscal prudence was the right appraoch given the economy. I picked up an HK AVR 146. This unit is not highly powered, but with a small room I think it will be fine. A preliminary listen of my Thoren TD 145, w MP11 cart, McLelland MQS-35 preamp, via Sony headphones was not a let down. I heard a very pleasing sound with some very rich textures, tonal clarity, warmth and many notes that I hadn't heard from some 20+ year old vynil (Jazz Messangers circa 1970).