yeah, I found that decision by Denon a bit odd as well.
I picked up a Denon AVR-1913 last night from best buy and they match a Fry's electronics sale at $399 for the unit. Got it installed and ran the calibration. After running some sample music and movies, I can only describe it as sounding more technically accurate and precise but there is something missing. It sounds like the TX-NR609 I had produced better low and mids with my Paradigm bookshelf speakers than the Denon. I'll have to try tweaking some settings over the next couple days and see if this is going to work out. Build quality is important but if I can't get the system to sound the way I like, then it's not going to be a good fit.
FYI... The reason I was looking at the Onkyo TX-NR616 as a possibility is that Fry's has it on sale for $369 right now. If I picked it up though, I'd probably try to locate it at a Best Buy and get their warranty on it so I wouldn't have to ship it for repairs. Out of curiosity, would you guys have any other recommendations that are in the same class as the AVR-1913 and TX-NR616? I'm open to suggestions.
As to the down Onkyo TX-NR609 unit, I'll probably take avengineer's advice and get it repaired. I'll either give it to my parents for their vacation condo or sell it off through craigslist/ebay.
Thanks
Phill