Would you buy a demo?

Personally I don't have problems with demos as I have bought a floormodel speakers myself, just make sure things on it aren't missing. The products should be under warrenty I believe, a real plus I would double check the warrenty (my Rti6s were under warrenty, but then again, Polk is amazing), but if it works, I'd go for it.

My home is filled with used, demoed, and refurbished audio equipment. Never had a problem. Got a pair of floor model RTi10's for about one-third of the MSRP price. The only thing I'm missing are the boxes. If it's a good deal, go for it.

Demo models are typically beat up and abused. Hooked up incorrectly (depending on the store) or just flat out cranked by moron customers who love to turn knobs, no matter what they do. I'd say you need to get a better deal on that 2805 though, I sell them all day long at $850, under $800 when they're on sale (typically $781.99)

The only dealer I know of even remotely close to me (50 miles) is still selling the 2400 for $1,000. They say it will probably stay at that price until they have the 2500 in stock. If you can get it for $638.21 ($800 CAD), I would say go for it. If it's a dealer, you'll have full warranty if anything goes wrong.

Oops, just read your last post. Try online. You'll probably want to buy a warranty though. Yam won't honor a non-dealer purchased unit's warranty

The 2400, although only having 10 more watts than the 1400, has 50% larger caps. The 2400 has 2 15,000 microfarad caps, the 1400 has 2 10,000 microfarad caps. Everything I have ever read said that when you are looking at amps, you want a minimum of 30,000 microfarads. To put that into perspective, an HK AVR 310 I bought used a while back had two 7,400's! HA!

Other feature the 2400 has that the 1400 does not....
2 more DSP's (not that anybody cares!)
A record-out selector
Zone 2 video out
2 12 volt triggers instead of one (used to turn on amps etc.)
2 remote control IR inputs instead of one
The almighty serial RS-232C port (turn a PC into the coolest remote ever!)
The same killer remote that ships with the RX-Z9 flagship (mucho bettero)
And 10 more watts per channel!!!! WOOT!!!! hehe

Are those feature worth a couple hundred bucks? I dunno, I thought they were. Truth be told, I would have paid that for the serial port alone. Let's face it, a laptop remote is just super cool!

The 2400 has more than enough power to power your entire system cleanly to simply stupid loud. Before amps, and with one sub firing, I could hit 109db with no problem, and more to go if you wanted to push it. The only point here is the 12's are damn fine speakers, they will sound stunning with just the 2400. They won't sound bad without another amp by any stretch of the imagination, it's only that they have EVEN MORE to offer with some serious power.

The best thing you could do with the 2400 is to use it as is, and if you want more, amp up the 12's. Maybe even amp the front three channels. Then your 2400 will have much more power to spread around the rest of your channels. You don't need to amp them ALL. You would use the amp on the 12's all the time.

The RTi28 is recommended to 125 watts. For ratings, you are on the bubble (good). You can go a lot higher if it's clean power.

Yes, the Yammy will play 2 channel music (CD's and the like) out of all 7 channels (+ the sub). For that, you have 7 channel stereo, and Dolby IIx. Dolby is kinda cool, a neat effect. 7 channel stereo sucks. It's good for "environmental" or "background" but that's it. Figure this, the center plays L and R, all the R side speakers play the same thing, and the L does the same. Sounds pretty bad. Trust me, you will never use it. Even if you do, it's only even tolerable at low volume so power matters not. With DPLIIx, you're back to the same "different sounds for different speakers" thing so you aren't driving them all full tilt at the same time. It generates 7.1 channels from 2.

I would get the 2400 new. When I was doing my shopping, I demoed every competing model I could get my hands on Elite, Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, etc. etc. etc. The 2400 is the one I decided to keep. That's the strongest recommendation I can give it. Amazingly, I wasn't even considering Yamaha at the beginning. Fireshoes turned me on to the 2400, the rest is history.

I also demoed it straight against the 1400. The 2400 sounded better. Maybe because of the bigger caps, I dunno. It just did. It is amazing how cheaply you can get them anymore.

If you really wanted to compare Yamaha and Denon models, it's more like this.......

Yamaha - Denon
1400 - 2803
2400 - 3803
1500 - 2805
2500 - 3805

To compare the 2400, and the 3805, in an unfair comparison. They are from 2 different model years. Even so, the only feature the 3805 has that 2400 doesn't is 1 more component input, and the Denon Link. Even with that, you really should hear the two. They both sound great. But when you do a direct comparison, the Denon has a sizzle in the highs. Kind of an analytical, digital-like sound. It doesn't have the neutrality the Yammy does. The Yammy has the most neutral un-colored tonality I have heard in a reciever. And the Denon doesn't have 16 dac's like they say it does, it has 8 in a differential configuration (sneaky). The closest thing I have heard to the Denon is Pioneer Elite. Tonally, they are very similar. The Yammy sounds more like separates.

The 2400 and 2500 are essentially the same animal, the 2500 has added a few more features. The layout and amp sections are the same. I think they will sound essentially the same. It's a matter of, do you think the new features are worth the extra money. If you think they are, wait. If you don't, grab the 2400. As cheap as the 2400's have gotten, I would grab the 2400.