Exactly. I would prefer the receivers worked better all the time.

The HK's I've done have looked nice, sounded well, and performed very poorly when it came time for a little good old fashioned AM/FM reception.

Not all the time, but when was the last time I had a typical instalation???

Ditto, Those wrecievers are winners in that category. Lots of flexibility, features, and above average fidelity in that price range

Ok..now lets open another can of worms..taking the rx2500 as example..you can buy it online for around $650...of course most of these retailers are in NYC..I know you guys say to buy from a auth. dealer..but you have to admit the prices at these places are tempting..the funny thing is..taking nextag for example..with the ratings of them..most have 4 stars out of five..sounds good doesnt it..except it is only 80% no matter how you look at it..so out of a 1000 customers ..200 are unhappy..pretty sad!..ive dealt with Vanns.J&R AND others..no problem//good prices..

You will not have a warranty. You may get a refurb or other form of B unit. They may try to upsell you on crap cables at Monster prices or some other form of worthless accessory. You may even get the runaround and never actually get a product.

Look to resellerratings.com, not the shopping sites with their cute little 5 stars, for ratings. Often those shopping sites (cnet, pricegrabber, etc.) have the best stores with crap ratings and the ripoff joints with perfect 5 stars. Why? Because those ripoff joints pad the ratings for themselves. And the real stores occasionally have the unhappy customer syndrome on such places, where only the unhappy people write anything. It really skews everything.

Yep..i know better than to buy from unauthorized dealers..but you see their prices and well..you just wish you could get it safely for that price..so..who has best online prices for the aforementioned name brands??..factory authorized that is..

any offer for sale under MAP comes from an UNauthorized retailer/etailer.

Nobody. They should all be following MAP pricing for these better brands. For HT electronics it may actually be MSRP, not just MAP. Digital cameras is a little different. I bought my Denon DVDp at GoodGuys back when they were authorized. I got a "coupon" for 10% off. They did that a lot, I have a feeling that's why they are no longer web-authorized for Denon.

You could try JandR to see if they have better pricing, but I wouldn't expect much. Ultimate Electronics will usually give 10% off, and they are going out of business this month. If you have one nearby...

Elite is a great receiver, as I said before ... I have one in my home setup ... looks is just a side benefit (like I said) ... Integra is a great receiver too .... Onkyo ... good choice ... HK ... OK ... Denon ... OK ... there are lots of choices out there ... pick your poison ... I'll say this ... Buy from a reputable dealer with support ...

I intend to do just that..just want to get the best price if possible..i e-mailed Vanns and they arent getting any more 2500s...there is one local place that has higher end stuff..im going to go look at and hear some others ..thanks for all the advice guys!