Pioneer Elite works swell for me...
I have an Elite VSX-82TSX (or whatever: it's a ridiculous nomenclature). Aside from the goofy name, I'm very satisfied with the power and the sound of the receiver. Mine drives B&W 603s S3s, a B&W LCR600, and a couple of old NHT 1.3As in the rear spots. My weak link is an old (and crappy) sub, but my wife was about ready to kill me when I brought home the receiver and the B&W speakers).
The sound is detailed, rich, open, airy, etc... whatever the cool buzzwords are. In particular, what I like about the combination is how good 2-channel CDs sound on it. I've gotten up more than once to see if the center channel was playing, the sound stage is so good.
That's all the more impressive because I know that my left and right main speakers are probably way too far apart, but it's a concession that I've made for my wife.
How much of this is the speakers and how much is the receiver? I dunno. The speakers (I think, anyway) are pretty awesome and do a lot.
I have a ton of power (I bi-wire and bi-amp the left and right mains) at 130 wpc. I like the MCACC room calibration, though I haven't gotten real obsessive about it. I like having three HDMI inputs, although I wish they were HDMI version 1.3 (they're 1.2).
The remote sucks. Just way too much stuff on it. I would have preferred if if they would have created two remotes (they do on the 84 and 94, but their functionality isn't split up the way I would do it). I think they could set up one remote for calibrating your system, and then a second for day-to-day operations. That would greatly simplify the remote. Sure, it'd add some cost, but it'd be worth it. As it is, I use a universal remote to control my system.
Overall, though, once you get into receivers in this price range, you probably aren't going to be able to hear a lot of difference that the electronics bring to the party. Someone else said earlier that you ought to check out the feature list and get the one that goes with that. I agree.
