in newer receivers, you're pretty much buying modest-mediocre amplification and lots of unnecessary features

just go for the features you NEED from a reliable brand and spend your budget on better speakers


here is why some features might not be any beneficial to you

dobly pro logic 2: if you've got a typical apartment w/ 8foot ceiling, having extra "heighted" speakers up front won't help w/ the soundstage
7.2 in a typical 15x18 living room, where do you place all the extra surrounds?
dual subs = bleh, you can just daisy chain or use splitters
auto calibration (audyssey alike systems) - though it isn't necessarily bad to have, but DRC will not overcome the deficiency of badly designed speakers, if anything, you're just distorting the speaker drivers for an even frequency response