Hi Tomb020871. I have a quick question for you. When you auditioned those two receivers did you get to listen to the Denon or Harmon as well? It would be great if you could demo them all one after the other. Pretty much everyone on this site will tell you that all of the receivers you are looking into are strong choices, and that your final decision should be based on a few things:
1. Does this receiver posess the features that I need, ie: power, number/type of inputs and outputs, upgradeablility, etc
2. How does it sound to you?: You are the one that has to live with this receiver in your home, and at the price range all these receivers fall into I would assume that you are planning to have it around for a while. Sound is subjective and when you are the one that has to live with it your opinion is really the only one that matters.
3. Cost benifit ratio. If you can get one receiver way cheaper than the others that may be a deciding factor. All of the receivers you have picked out are excellent buys and loaded with very similar features, so cost will probably be a big factor. However if one of these receivers has a feature that you can not do without, like the Denon's compatability with Creston devices, or the Yamaha's plethora of DSP modes then it may be worth shilling out a little more.
4. Will the neighbors and friends be jealous
? If you have answered no then it may be time to start the search all over again. Just kidding.
For what it's worth I have been doing alot of receiver listening myself lately and have to say that I would go for the Denon. But that is just me, and these are all really good reveivers that represent good value for the money.
Hope it helps.