jconde,
I too had seriously considered this unit as an alternative to the Denon 2900 several months ago. During my investigations, it turned out that the unit was having definite problems trying to play certain multi-layer SACDs. Yamaha finally admitted that they were planning a chipset replacement, and at that point, my dealer discontinued selling them (didn't want to hassle with returns). I have a friend that is still waiting for his chipset replacement, and it's been over 2 months since Yamaha formally announced the replacement fix. I then tried to get a Denon 2900, but those units were backordered. I ended up with a Marantz DV-8400 and absolutely love it. A bit more than the Yammie or Denon, but a superb unit, which seems to do everything well.
Good Luck,
Pat