Denon or Marantz? Home theater beginner.

+1 for Denon. I've owned Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo and Marantz. I respect Marantz and their products, but my Denon 4310CI is money.

Features and power are the normal added attractions as you move up in the line.

...and six months from now or less... there'll be another model taking the place of the one you buy now with still mo' stuff on or in it.... or so say the manufacturers.

Is a Porsche better than a Jaguar? A BMW better than a Lexus?

It all depends on how they feel to me and what I can afford at the time.

Past the esthetics their performance differences at that point will be measured usually in fractions.... not night and day lengths.

Please do get what you feel is best for you and not what some other person likes. That's always a very good approach... with just about anything. it's not life or death or anything near it, and I do understand the trepidation. IN the budget disclosed, good to very good is about all one can expect.

sold both brands for years. Denon....

I had Onkyo and HK AVR85 . I thought the HK was the bomb. I ended up buying a Hafler Dh200 to power the HK front channels. Everything was ok. Then to make matters worse I bought an old Lexicon CP3 just for kicks. OMG. The difference was staggering. It brought tears to my eyes how good this thing sounded. Now keep in mind that the Lexicon did not support DD. It didn't matter. It beat out that HK by huge margins in every sense. Never even thought about a receiver again. But in the end that upgrade fever cost me about $18,000

For most bells and whistles, Onkyo or Denon is way to go. For some bells and whistles and superior 2 channel performance, Marantz SR8002 is a better choice.

Bill