I concur with Edster that the Marantz is a better unit all the way around, but of the three you posted, the Pioneer is the only one which can actually get to its rated power across all channels, so I would endorse it over the Denon and the Yamaha.
See the discussion on "Pwr Ratings exposed" on this forum, it will be down the board from this thread--you will be very surprised at what you read.
It really depends on what future upgrades may take place and what your neeeds are from the receiver. If you intend to add an external amp for the fronts the Denon has as clean a front as you'll find in an inexpensive AVR. Also depends on what features you want. The XM tuner in the Yamaha is invaluable in my system. And as I now use it as a tuner only I'm glad I kept it and sold my Marantz and had technical problems with the NAD.
You never said what you will be driving with the receiver and for what purposes. That would help us make informed recommendations.
I understand the XM benefit..However, IMO the XM sound quality negates the quality of the source. I do like what Polk has done in bringing the best quality to XM possible..But, anytime I have heard XM, I have been a bit unhappy with the sound quality...however, it is a great alternative to regular radio...I'll give you that...but for "audiophile" listening, it falls short..
Depends on what channel you listen to. Many have very poor quality other are acceptable quality for the programming. My 2 favorite channels are 70 and 110 and both of those sound far better than for instance the classic soul and funk channels. I enjoy some of the programming like the live concerts on 110 and Wynton Marsalis' program on Saturday morning. If you live in an area where good FM reception is impossible (like the famed Willamette Valley) XM is a godsend.
i can honestly speak for the Pioneer 1015. it is a great sounding receiver and you will probably have a hard time looking for this receiver since it has been discontinued, but dont panic, our friends at Pioneer are replacing that receiver with the 1016 and on that receiver it, will have the HDMI connections on the back of it.
Thanks to all of you for your input. I am currently trying a Marantz SR-5600. I have the option to bring it back to the dealer for exchange. They also carry Denon. So far the sound is terrific but it could be a little more user friendly. The manual is not great either.
That pioneer is not bad, but ive owned the same version of that in the elite model and was not impressed with it at all. Sound was good but nothing that made me happy I bought the receiver.
The denon that i now own is much better for movies and music with my radiient speakers.
yep Marantz does not have a very intuitive user interface nor a well written manual. I went from an Onkyo to a Marantz and loved its SQ but missed the Onkyo's ease of use. However, for a traditional analog receiver in its price range it does give you very good SQ.
So far the receiver is great! The one thing I don't like is the use of the speakers in a second room. My old Yamaha it was just the flick of a button to go from A to B or A&B, but on the Marantz it is a little more complicated and not well explained in the manual. Maybe I am missing something, if anyone can help I would appreciate it.
Pat, you are correct about the M. Speaker B button on the front, but it is not as straight forward as just turning it on and off to move the sound around. You have to do a little juggling with the source and the volume. The problem I am having is that I can get my FM radio to work no problem but I am having difficulty with the other sources like the DVD/CD player. I have been away for a while and have not spent much time playing with it.Hopefully, I will get to play with it over the next week before my 30 return period is over.