How about a well-thought-out and organized onscreen menu system? Prepros have become way too sophisticated now to be held back by these clunky, nonintuitive interfaces you see out there. I don't mean just nice and shiny - the Denon 3808 in my BR has a nice looking interface that's still confusing as hell. It's all about finding what you need without looking through every submenu out there.

And while we're on the subject...an iphone/ipod touch app (like the one that Pioneer has for their upcoming line of receivers) would be soooo nice. Not likely, I know...but who wouldn't buy the 998 if one was made available?