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If you really care about sound quality however, and will use it for music, as well - get a Marantz or a Denon (within this price range). The bottom line is - a very nice receiver from a decent company. We tried both the digital and the analog inputs.
He hooked it up to a pair of Paradigm Titans. Then we compared it to an older Marantz stereo reciever (selling for $350 15 years ago) that I still use in my den. I helped a friend who wanted an inexpensive yet decent receiver.
The Marantz was clearly better - more detailed, more dynamical, but still smooth. It will cost a bit more but it is worth it. The Onkyo sounded very nice - smooth and not fatiguing, both with music and movies.
I own a more upscale audio system, and this receiver is a no match for it - as I expected.
Overall, this receiver is Money in the Bank. I have heard an HD master track, and the difference is too minute for me to discern. It is equipped with 3 optical inputs, and optical is capable of reproducing any sound quality with the exception of Dolby HD Master.
With 1080p passthrough, 3 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output, 7.1 channel surround sound, and all the dolby and dts decoding, this is a sweet home theater receiver at an amazing price. This means that you can hook up 3 pieces of equipment via HDMI and output it all to your tv, but you will have to hookup the audio sources separately. This receiver has a ton going for it, and little holding it back.
At first, this might seem ridiculous, but here is the scoop. literally, at this price I have mine hooked up with a blue ray player, a 50" 1080p plasma, and a bose surround sound system, and it couldn't get much better.
The ONLY beef that I have with this receiver, is the hdmi inputs only pass through video, no audio.
If you don't attend to add a bluray, this is the unit to buy. You can't be Onkyo when it comes to "bang for your buck". I bought this for the bedroom. My wife wanted something to play music, and I figured I might as well install a 5.1 system.
It's a lot of receiver for the buck. The zone A fiber optics digital sound is superb. The price is right. A good choice for my home entertainment center. Zone B or 2 takes a bit of time to get sound and is only analog.
Audessy is a nice plus for easy setup. I'm strictly using it for amplification so I'm not concerned with the lack of audio through HDMI. I would definitely recommend this receiver as long as it is not a center piece for a home theater setup with HDMI. This is a good basic A/V receiver. I got this for my computer to drive the 7.1 speakers I already had.
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