In my opinion and experience, the influence of Dirac on the audible sound quality is so potent that it will wipe out the differences between AVRs and therefore suggest that you base your AVR purchasing decision on whether the unit has the features you want and the price. In the past, I used the (apparently controversial) Pioneer LX-505 with excellent results (around 1000 Euros in Europe I believe); others here seem to prefer the Denon AVRs (Dirac is an added cost option).
I replaced the Pioneer because I wanted a 9.1.6 system. The Pioneer is still in use in a secondary system; the 9.1.6 system has a better sound, but I attribute that to the fact that I am using seven Revel F206 floor standing speakers, not anything to do with the electronics. AVRs in my view are appliances, look for the best price with the features that you need.
My comment is based on audible sound quality, not test bench results. I am not aware of any test bench reports of any electronics where they were tested with Dirac enabled, and I don’t consider audio quality without Dirac to be relevant. My system with the Revel speakers sounds mediocre when I have checked it with Dirac off, compared to the old Pioneer system with Dirac enabled. The quality of your speakers and use of Dirac (or perhaps other correction systems though I prefer Dirac by far) are the critical components. Buy any AVR that has your feature set and at the best price.
Edit: if you purchase an AVR with Dirac you should also purchase a separate microphone, such as a UMIK-1 or 2, for taking measurements and implement Dirac on your computer. You will get a better result.
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