Rich, full-bodied sound on music and movies.
Most of the essential inputs are here
Metal Volume and Input knobs
Binding posts on all channels
3 yr warranty

Runs hot- you need to keep it well ventilated.
Crappy remote- get a universal.
No phono section.
No HDMI or Satellite Radio connectivity

For several years I had a Denon AVR 1801 as my HT receiver. I decided to get my brother the Marantz SR4500 for his college graduation ($400). I bought it several months before I was to give it to him, and I decided to test it out in case there was any problem with it. I was very impressed with it, but I didn't realize how impressed I was until I had to switch back to my Denon-- I missed the Marantz a lot. The Marantz had a fuller sound with just a touch of warmth. The Denon sounded lean by comparison.
The following year, the SR4600 came out- only difference from the SR4500 was a detachable power cord and HDCD decoding. Amp is exactly the same to the best of my knowledge. It took a couple of weeks to run it in- out of the box it was a little lean sounding, but in the end it was exactly what I had been craving. AND I got it on clearance- new for $270! I was not thrilled about getting silver at first, but I like that the knobs are metal (black model has plastic knobs).
The receiver sounds great with music and movies, has all standard-DVD surround formats, 7.1 pre-outs and 7.1 ext input, and component video switching, and a 3 yr warranty. The price I paid was an absolute steal. The power is very sufficient (80x7) but not the last word in dynamic slam. It has a rich, slightly warm sound, so I like it with neutral sounding speakers. A speaker that goes to the warm side might end up sounding fat and muddy with this amp.

My system:
Marantz SR4600 receiver
PSB Alpha B fronts
PSB Alpha C center
Polk RC60i rears (in-ceiling)
B&W ASW600 sub
Toshiba SD2800 DVD player
Toshiba 32A32 CRT TV (4:3 unfortunately)
Furman PL8-II Power conditioner
Interconnects mostly AR, some Radio Shack Gold Series

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR 1801
Harman Kardon AVR 65
Onkyo SR 502
Marantz SR 4500