706S vs 805B vs 806S as Pre

[geobee]

i am trying to decide on a refurb unit from onkyo"

706 silver
805 black
806 silver

All similar priced. Will be paired with a emotiva xpa5 and a l/r/c sierra1 combo.

any thoughts on which unit I should purchase.

 

[Chopin_Guy]

I would definitely go with the 805 as it has the DACs that can be found on flagship models from Onkyo and Denon...It will without a doubt be the best choice if you are going to be using it simply as a pre-pro....

 

[jostenmeat]

Here is my recent post regarding 805 vs 806.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=482865&postcount=4

I think the choice could actually come down to the Audyssey features. OTOH, someone I trust recently said that the 805 has the edge in audio, and the 806 has it in video. Dunno about that.

Honestly, I'd probably be pretty happy with a 706 if the savings were substantial. If the cost difference is minimal, Id get the 805 I suppose.

However, please note that the 805 is a BEAST. Its really big, and its really heavy. Since it will be a pre/pro only, you can set the impedance to 4 ohms to drop the rail voltage by about 40w I think, and it will run a bit cooler.

Really, the thing that separates the 805 is the amplifier section, which you don't need (unless you run dedicated surrounds per row or something crazy like that). Good luck.