Denon AVR 4306 7.1 channel Receiver

The Denon AVR-4306 offers the best combination of cutting-edge features and superb sound quality of any receiver that i've ever seen and tested.

One if it's only downsides is that it's rather expensive and intimidating complexity may put off home-theater newbies. There is also no built-in decoding for next-gen HD-DVD and Blu-ray audio formats and no HD Radio.

If I had a bone to pick with Denon's hugely popular A/V receiver lineup, it would be the lack of upper-midrange models. So the $1,999 Denon AVR-4306's mission was clear: fill the price and performance gap that existed between the highly acclaimed AVR-3806 ($1,299) and the decidedly high-end AVR-4806 ($3,500) receivers. Visually, the 4306 is a near clone of the 3806, but the connectivity quotient bumps the number of HDMI inputs from two to three, adds upscaling to 480p/720p/1080i, supports connectivity to USB MP3 players and iPods, and tosses in an Ethernet port for streaming digital audio from your PC or from the Internet.

Simply put, the Denon AVR-4306 packs in just about every audio and video feature you could possibly want--I actually award it a 10 in Features--and it sounds even better than the 3806. It easily wins my vote hands down, but if it's a bit too rich for your blood, you may want to hold on until Denon's forthcoming AVR-2807, which offers many--but not nearly all--of the 4306's key features at a more wallet-friendly $1,099 price. If, on the other hand, the AVR-4306 falls within your price range, I couldn't make a stronger recommendation.