Ahh, then perhaps you'd like the bottom-of-the-line Onkyo HT-RC460?



Seven channels of real beefy terminals, eight HDMI inputs (one in front), two HDMI outputs, and they even have room equalization. All that, and more, for the really quite remarkably low price of $250. So tell me again why somebody might want to buy a $2000 receiver?

Anyway, since I'm apparently on a roll here, one other gadget caught my eye. Samsung makes a $600 receiver with integrated Bluray player -- probably a good thing if you're setting up a home theater for somebody who hates boxes.

Otherwise, it seems the world of the low-cost receiver has contracted remarkably. Back in the day, you had tons of vendors competing to sell craptastic receivers. If you go to a place like Crutchfield, you won't see much at all at low prices beyond what used to be the second-tier fancy vendors (Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon), who have apparently moved down as others have abandoned the market segment. (Notably unfortunate: Panasonic used to make some great, low-cost receivers with class-D amplifiers. Gone.)

It's all very sad.