My living room system is an Integra DTR-8.2. My bedroom system is an Onkyo TX-NR801. I bought my ex- a slightly less-capable model - I think it was a TX-SR503 - not too long ago.
The receiver in my office at work is a Pioneer VSX-701.
I've owned Sony ES receivers, and I've demo'd mid-range stuff from Harmon Kardon, Denon and some of the other usual suspects.
Denon equipment is nice, but it seems overpriced/underpowered to me. I'd characterize their stuff as a safe and conservative choice. My brother (fucking insane audiophile) suggested that I start with Denon hardware, when I asked him for advice.
HK's equipment I've been less impressed with from an AV standpoint, but I will say that their hardware tends to look cool.
When I auditioned Integra equipment, I really felt like I was getting a quality that was close to hardware that was out of my price range (I liked what I heard out of my Integra receiver better than what I heard from a $2000-more-expensive Carver amplifier).
My first Onkyo receiver (TXDS-595 I think) let me upconvert Composite to Svideo to Component video, and so does the $200 Pioneer Receiver I use at work. One thing I've noticed is that upconversion of different types of cables is something that's moved UP the product lines. My Integra does it, but the hardware I have from Onkyo's current model lineup do not, or at least don't upconvert things to component.
I have no complaints about any of the Onkyo hardware I have. Well, OK. The remotes suck (Integra uses RF remotes, which are really, really cool) But I'm a big fan of the Harmony USB-programmable remotes for my systems anyway. Everyone should have Harmony remotes. They make life better.
Going back to Pioneer... Pioneer's low-end stuff makes me want to tear my hair out. "100W/Channel" Pioneer receivers can be overmatched by 55W/channel Onkyo stuff (yes, I know, peak vs. RMS, except Pioneer says theirs is RMS, too). I notice that Pioneer hardware (and my Sony ES receiver did this too) tends to drop digital signals much, much, much more often. You guys all know that when an analog signal degrades, you get static. Well, losing digital just means that you get a noiseless gap. When my Onkyo equipment cuts out, it tends to be just a "blip" (like when I turn on the Microwave or power up one of my bigger PCs). My Pioneer amp sometimes cuts out for 10 seconds. Crummy power filters? No caps for extra juice? No clue. Just a complaint I have about that hardware.
Pioneer also has what I feel to be a really moronic system for reassigning inputs. It seems to be the same on low- and midrange models, and it involves pressing a button that's only on the front of the unit, not on the remote. Bleh.
On the other hand, I paid $200 for a Pioneer receiver about 3 years ago, for an HTPC I was selling. My buyer stiffed me, and I've had it for all that time. It's underpowered, but it DOES switch signals fine, and it DOES upconvert fine. It's been a good little piece of equipment for the money.
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Russound makes AV Distribution hardware. I looked at their offerings when I bought my Integra receiver (my particular model has an ABus distribution system built in, although I ultimately bought a different panel, anyway), since at the time I wanted to do AV distribution through my house. The installers I talked to at my local AV showplace kind of badmouthed their equipment for do-it-yourselfers, for a lot of the same reasons we don't like Compaq and Dell... some of their hardware is proprietary and very hard to upgrade.
One brand that you have not mentioned, and that I really, really like for AV applications is
Escient.
Escient hardware is all about standalone media integration. Their products can index the contents of CD and DVD jukeboxes or rip and distribute audio throught a house. Almost everything they make can talk to PCs, so files can be copied to and from, and it's all internet-aware (my Escient Fireball, as it indexed my CDs, copied and stored the album art and track listing and stored everything locally - it has a video output so I can choose what tracks I want to play and manage playlists pretty much just like a PC-based player, except that it's aware of 1200 discs across 3 jukeboxes). If I could spare a few more grand I'd be all over an Escient DVDM300.
