This TX-NR709 is an exciting product to me. In terms of just sheer features and inputs/outputs for the price, I don't think there are any competing receivers from other manufacturers that can actually go toe-to-toe on every single checklist item.
Of course, it remains to be seen if it runs hot ( a notorious issue with Onkyo) and whether all of those features actually work without issues (another common issue with Onkyo), but strictly in terms of the feature set and slew of input/output options, this 709 has just about everything you could possibly think of!
I'm really happy to see MultEQ XT back in the 7xx series. Onkyo included way back when in the 705, but then dropped down to vanilla MultEQ with the 706 through 708. I'd love to see MultEQ XT32 and MultEQ Pro, but I guess for $900 MSRP / $800 street, that's still asking a bit much (not to mention, what could they offer that would get anyone to upgrade to a higher-priced model)