Thanks in advance for any help on the subject. I am currently kid proofing the basement and have moved the wiring for my speakers into the wall before I mount them up off the ground and am also moving the av equipment into my new av closet. To streamline the cabling I only want one hdmi running from my receiver to the tv but have many different sources to supply it.
All that being said, I have looked at these 3 choices extensively and have found some reviews saying the marantz is the end all be all of sound quality and some (like this sight) that say it lacks a little in comparing to others in this price range.
I have always heard good things about Denon and am looking at a refurb from DAK. The Onkyo I am considering because I found a great deal and it supposedly can move my video scaling better (until I buy a better set that doesn't need it) though it may be too hot for my tastes.
My budget is between 900 and 1500 and any help would be greatly appreciated!
Yes you can recommend Yamaha's too. I liked my old one before I bought the Pioneer 1015TX I have now.
I just bought a 3808 for $1274
new. As far as features, the Onkyo has it beat in the video and amp department, but it runs really hot. The Denon has a nicer graphical user interface, AFAIK, and is easier to network with your computers if so desired. I also prefer Denon because I have had and installed
tons of them and have never had a single problem.
The Denon has decent video processing, but the Frajouda technology they use is old, and the Onkyo uses Reon processing, which is supposedly great. I don't care about processing because the Anchor Bay chip in my HD DVD player does a great job of upscaling regular DVDs, and so the only source I will probably ever watch that isn't 1080p is 1080i from the TV, but I don't worry about TV too much, and I really don't like to mess with the Xbox signal because it messes up the timing/sync of audio, video, and controller response too much for my liking.
Anyway, I went with the Denon because
A) It runs cooler and I plan to get a separate amp not too far down the road
B) I don't really want or in some cases like video scaling past what my HD DVD player can already do
C) I have had (and heard) nothing but good experiences from Denon, especially their 380* line (I started with a 3803

)
I hope this info helps.
EDIT: Check to see if the deal I used still works if you are interested, it works for most AVRs they have:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52129