Gene, I want to thank you especially for your comments on the ECO mode!
The last time I tried to find info on this (maybe 2 months ago),the internet seemed strangely quiet! (I actually think it was a casual mention in one of your reviews that indicated it would not affect the sound when external amps were used that was the best info I could find!)
You may want to consider a side article on the topic of how ECO mode affects performance and suggestions on use - a lot of people will Google this as they run across the option as they set up their AVR.
Personally, I wish you would emphasize more in your write up that
one good thing it does is offer a way to lower temperature
if you are using external amplification! I find keeping it on lowers the temperature at the top of my 6010 by 8 to 10 degrees which I consider a significant benefit. That is an advantage for those of us who use an AVR as a pre-pro. Of course, your suggestion to have a pre-pro only mode is the best solution, but in the mean time we want to make the best of what we have!
I would like to know your thoughts on this in the context that many consider adding external amplification might use ext amp for the 5 or 7 traditional HT channels. In these cases, would the ECO mode still typically be a bad idea for the height speakers? (I don't know how much content gets directed to these channels).
Last question -
Auto mode is supposed to disable the ECO mode when the power demand exceeds the limits imposed by ECO mode. Is this a viable alternative? Do you have any knowledge of how well it works or if there is switching interference?
