I can't speak about the particular receivers you listed (other than the 1050) but can say that from other high end products that friends have, here are some thoughts:

Yamaha: Strong, robust, but can be over driven. The particular friend has taken his in for service 3 times for blown channels in just under a year. He got a new one due to the 'no lemon' policy and it has been OK for at least 6 months. He drives 4 ohm speakers. Maybe the first one really just was a lemon.

HK: I own an old Prologic receiver which is used in my bedroom. It is not in the same league as the 1050 with 2 channel material or in Prologic, even though it was referred to as a high current receiver 4 years ago when I bought it. If you're going to buy from Circuit City or somebody like that, HK may be the best they have, but the 1050, to me, would be a much stronger value. The HK amp section in that receiver just doesn't hold up the same. Maybe things are different today.

Pioneer: Had an old Pioneer right before I bought the HK. It was in the same price bracket with similar specs and features, but was completely unacceptable. If the HK's amp section is weak, then the Pioneer's didn't even exist. It could have been a bad piece, but one week told me to take it back. I assume that Pioneer is much stronger now than they were then, or they wouldn't hold a chance.

Sony: A friend bought a Sony (can't remember the model. . .100wx5, DD, DTS etc) for around $300 about 2 years ago. I am still amazed by this little thing. It's not heavy (i.e. small transformer/little heat sinking), it has about a thousand features and it sounds 'pretty' clean. The bass management wasn't too good, but otherwise, it is a good receiver for the casual home theater player. This was actually the receiver that made me get out of Prologic and into digital. But I still chose the 1050 at more than double the money (at the time) and am glad I did.

So that's what I have. Not really very helpful. I guess it shows more of a gut feeling than an actual info.


S.