I had a JVC 884VBK (which I just upgraded to a Yamaha DSP-A1, but that's another story) which is fundamentally the same as the 888 without the DTS. I'm sure someone will flame me for saying this, but most of the receivers in your price range sound pretty similar in stereo, DD, and DTS. JVC's receivers have tons of features (s-video switching, low impedance speaker driving capability for all channels, a lot of power, etc.) and are easy to set up and use day to day. The DSP modes on them are terrible, though. For decent DSP modes you'll have to move up to Sony's ES line or Yamaha's better models.

Good luck! Please post a response here lettting us know what you decide.