I would agree that Onkyo has had some issues, but not so much in performance as reliability. However, those issues now seem to be more confined to specific models and designs mostly, now thankfully, in the past. One thing the Onkyo product line has that Pioneer and Denon do not is THX certification. That's actually fairly hard to get, and takes pretty solid engineering. The theory would be that THX components should perform better and last longer because they must meet some rather stringent specifications, and not just once, they have to be consistant. I'll acknowledge there are exceptions, THX stuff that ends up not being great, but on average the THX badge equals a certain quality factor. That's not to say other products aren't equally good, but it does say that the THX component has actually been tested and proven to meet the specs. Think of it as a consumer advocacy badge.
The other thing that Onkyo has is Audyssey room calibration. Now, you may prefer the Pioneer MCACC system, which is also good. My preference would be toward Audyssey. However, that's only one aspect, and I have found that when I recommend an AVR to a client there's a lot more to it than just THX, Audyssey, MCACC, or any other feature. There's an entire feature set, and everyone weighs things differently. It takes some real study to determine what's best.
What I will say with complete confidence is that on this and other forums there's entirely too much concern about matching a receiver to a particular set of speakers. That amounts to much concern about nothing. Nearly every AVR above the entry level or HTIB can deliver adequate power to any common speaker. Matching such components is actually the least of the concerns. More relevant is the feature set, number and type of inputs, network connectivity and control, room calibration and warranty. Not necessarily in that order.
So when someone asks "help me pick a receiver", perhaps what should happen next, rather than a list of surrounding equipment is an interview to determine what's most important to them. That's actually how I do it in my custom installations, but is sort of impractical here. Those looking for a receiver are looking for recommendations, but are expecting those to be based on matching components rather than matching the user's expectations. It's a whole different way to look at the situation, and I would suggest those new to the industry try to evaluate their needs and desires, and for the most part ignore the matching concept.
Stepping off the soap box now. Thanks.
