What mid priced receiver sounds best?

Arcam?

At the time I was buying, that Onkyo was one of my favorites in its price range. I got a good deal on an open-box Yamaha Aventage 1020, which I also liked a lot, and having had good experiences with Yamaha's reliability, I went with the Yamaha.

At its current street price of around $700, I'm not sure what I'd prefer over that Onkyo. It is strong all around - video, sound, processing, it's all well done.

The Onkyo 818 receiver was well reviewed in the British press (Hi Fi News, What Hi Fi, etc.).

The Onkyo has a phono input, if it makes a difference.

I never had trouble with Onkyo products. At $800 or so, it seems like a steal, given it was released less than a year ago.

Rich

Are you looking for a better sound than your Yamaha or newer features, or both?

Thanks guys for the input. I didn't go for Nad because of the price point. I know Nad builds quality, but I couldn't step into the realm of it's price. I took a chance and bought the Onyko TX-NR818 to replace my Yamaha RX-V1900 the sound quality
is warmer and doesn't make my Paradigm Monitor 11's and 9's V6 scream out at the tweeters any more. I'm getting a bit more bass, but am more impressed with getting more of the mids. I'm playing everything from records, sacd's, cd'c, stereo, and internet radio and have been extremely happy playing everything flat without having to alter the sound in any way. I'll be selling my Yamaha very soon if anyone is interested. Again thanks for the response, it meant alot.