I know what you are saying, but hearsay are not facts, and are super subjective. Sometimes all it took could be one Placebo prone fanboy to share his initial impression under certain condition, and then it got repeated enough times electronically for enough people to take it for facts. On the objective side, If you know what's inside them, and see some schematics, and bench test results, you will be saying something else now. I posted the links to Dr. Rich's article on build quality many times, and quoted what he found inside AVRs including the high price ones but did you read any of them?
If you choose to believe in hearsay instead of look at the facts and figures yourself, then nothing else can convince you otherwise. Now I would say very nice things about Anthem's lower end MCA series power amps for their light weight, quietness, good dynamic output etc., but not their AVRs, because again, they use the same and/or lower end parts than their competing models from the bigger names.
