The 818 was my first A/V receiver. I bought it on sale about a year ago for 350 bones. It has been a good entry level receiver, complete with pro-logic, 100w/ch., and plenty of DSP and fine tuning modes. My main complaint with the unit is that it does not have separate adgustments for treble/bass. All you can do is settle for a pre-set graphic equalizer mode(SEA). These are modes such as: rock, jazz, country, and movie. This doesn't cut it for someone like me who likes to fine tune the levels often. I have enjoyed many movies on pro-logic but am upgrading to dolby digital. Don't pay more that 300$.