Pardon me, makasabat nga,
It's so difficult recommending good AVRs or decoders with a budget in mind. Sa experience ko in the past, nagsimula ako na may budet , say P40k in cash, and ended up spending almost twice that. Dahil magaling kasi yung sales talk na nakuha ko sa Apple sa Makati Cinema Square. Dagdag lang ng konti dito, mas OK. Problem was I had to buy a DVD player, a speaker set and an amp or avr. components. So add a little to this and that, suma total na doble yung nagastos ko. Thanks to my credit card and my lack of self-control.
To those contemplating to get a Pioneer AVR, take a second look, especially at the back panel. Maaring hindi issue ang power consumption to a moneyed audio purist, but for the budget conscious, the Pioneer models I've seen boasts of an electric power consumption rating of 900 to 1100 watts. Isang plantsa yan!!!! E yung ibang brands like Yamaha at Onkyio, only 500 watts. for the same audio power rating of 80-100watts RMS per ch.
Kung tunog din lang,or DD/DTS/DL2 capabilities, there is hardly any difference among them., except this power consumption thing. I suggest you visit
www.epinions.com for equipment reviews. Very informative.