In that case, Denon is pancake too. My 3805, while quite transparent, is unexciting compared to my Ex Sony DA4ES. Not that the Sony is totally steak knife (based on your definition) as many seem to think they are, but it did seem like more able to "get you going" as BuckeyFan1 puts it. I like my pancake, but sometimes I miss my slightly worn steak knife (yes, I mean Sony).
I also felt the Marantz are generally neutral sounding, but can be unexciting like the Denon. As for Harman Kardon, I listened to the 225, 525, 430, 630, 7200 many times, mostly with Polk Audio RTi8,10 and LSI speakers. I just don't find them all that butterly or warm. From browsing through forums, I know many reported that they are warm sounding, but to me they also sound very neutral. I don't understand why, and I know I don't have much hearing loss, yet. I have not listened to any Pioneer models lately, but I heard they use MOSFETs, and MOSFETs supposedly tend to give "warm" sounds, whatever that means.