i went thru the same analysis. here's is why i decided on the Yam 2500--
- could not find a sony 7100 anywhere in atlanta; did not want to mailorder one for that kind of money. sony did not appear to be as widely regarded for home theater as yamaha, denon or pioneer (just an observation from scouring message boards and web sites, not a factual statement; i am sure sony's perform admirably); could not find ANYTHING on sony's web site disucssing the ES line; called sony and they disavowed any knowledge of specs for the ES line. this all just seemed a little weird. had i been able to put my hands on a 7100 before committing, i would have given this more serious consideration as i historically like sony products.
- did not like the pioneers. won't go into detail since it was just a matter of taste, i guess. felt as if they were trying to be too flashy and i always avoid things that are trying to be too flashy on the outside for fear of what they are trying to make up for that might be missing on the inside, if you know what i mean.
- denon seems to have brand-panache, sort of like BMWs. as much as i like status symbols, i don't like to pay a premium to be able to say i own a denon or whatever brand. they seemed to offer a good product, but, as you'll read below, i was quickly pulled away from denon by what i perceived to be better value for similar performance in the yamaha's.
- as the yamaha 2600's were on the horizon, i found the 2500's being sold in the $700-800 range. since i have no need for HDMI, XM, etc., i decided i could save about $500 for essentially the same receiver (2500 v. 2600). i always get a generally knowledgeable human on the phone at Yam customer support; my gut feel and research was that Yam has a good reputation for home theater receivers and excellent build quality. with the lower price of the 2500's, and considering all the above, i jumped in with the 2500 and am very happy thus far.
with the money i saved, i bought a new pair of Boston Acoustic VR3 speakers which i love.
