after you hook the speakers up, run the auto setup, as the previous poster suggested. before running that though, make sure you select (within the autosetup menu) your preference of "natural", "front" or "flat". personally, i found the "flat" option to be a little bright or "harsh" as the manual suggests it might be. i have good speakers up front, so i chose the "front" option and it works well for me. music is warm and rich. on the other hand, the "flat" setting, with its brightness, was a tad better for movies where brightness can be an asset. best bet is to try each setting and see which you like better.
take advantage of the remote's macro capability and universal capability. though not as pretty looking or as easy to use as some stand-alone universal remotes, the one that came with your receiver is pretty powerful for a receiver remote. it will do most things the average user needs and you can put all your other remotes away in a drawer.
as far as settings, just play around when you watch movies and listen to music to see which you like. only you can decide what sounds good to you. at the risk of biasing your opinions, i find that the THX movie mode is actually a little too quiet or subdued for my tastes. the DSP modes such as Adventure can be fun, especially with good movies like jurassic park, raiders of the lost ark, etc., but i find myself in standard DTS or Dolby Digital modes more often than not.
on that note, DTS is GREAT. when at all possible, buy movies that have both the dolby digital and DTS soundtracks and play them in DTS. of course, you need a DVD player that will play DTS.
good luck. it's a very good receiver, in my opinion.
