I have Futaba, Hitec, and Tower receivers. All work well. The Futabas are the R127DF (no longer made, replaced by an 8 channel receiver). The Hitecs are the Electron 6, nice and small. The Towers are their 7 channel System 3000 ones that are supposed to be a Futaba R127DF with different stickers. At $39.99 with crystal, it's a great value, but I see few channels available. They have a new one that's got 8 channels and only costs $46.99 with crystal.

In simple terms, cause I'm a simple guy , dual conversion receivers filter the signal twice. This helps remove interference and should provide better results than a single conversion receiver.

Edit: you didn't mention what you're running for a transmitter...