Great sound for those on a budget

I bought my receiver as the centerpiece of the new home theater system I was building, and after comparing prices and straying from my typical choice, Pioneer, I settled on the 475.
I loved the looks and functions on the unit when I saw it in the store. What I didn't realize was the difficulty in hooking it up. I'm no pro, but I've had my experience in hooking up stereo components before. To make a long story short, I hooked it up according to the manuals directions with my TV and DVD player. When my friend came over to listen, he spent about five seconds listening before he pulled the deck away from the wall and exclaimed "what did you do back here".
Evidently there are better ways to hook up the unit than what the manual says. And yes, it make a huge difference. But you still have to go through and configure your DVD player as well, so make sure you do that.
As for the receiver itself, it has a wide variety of choices as to what you want your sound to be. My favorite feature is the "A.F.D." button, which allows the unit to select the best sound (Dolby, 5.1, etc) for what the movie is recorded in. So don't expect surround on every movie you watch if it wasn't recorded in that. You can also choose from Jazz, Game, Hall, Theatre, and other configurations to listen to your music, and I would say that all of them sound just like you were there.