I currently have a SR-601. It sounds fine, but has no HDMI's. I just bought a UN55B8500 and a Sony Blu-Ray N460. I use this in a den with Orb speakers in a 5.1 setup. I do not see using 7.1 with this receiver ever. I also have no interest in any 3D capabilities from the 608, so I don't see a need for that. I think the 601 will pass through the video through the component video input/output, and I'd rather have the Samsung TV do any processing of video than any receiver in my price range. The number of HDMI inputs probably doesn't matter to me either - I will have the blu-ray and comcast box going into the receiver by HDMI. I can picture using one or maybe two more at some point (e.g. XBox360), but just can't see using more than 4 of the HDMI's.
I can get them for the following prices as far as I can tell:
TXSR507 $260
TXSR508 $270
TXSR607 $385
TXSR608 $400
I have a few choices -
1) Use the 601, and run the component cables from the Blu-Ray to the receiver and then into the UN55B8500. There is nothing wrong with my current system, so if this will work I don't see any reason not to continue to do it. I WOULD PREFER TO DO THIS UNLESS THERE IS A REAL NEED NOT TO FOR THE MOMENT - THE $3k + I just dropped on the video needs to be back in the bank account....
2) I could buy a 507 or 607, now that they are in "run-off" and probably get it pretty cheap.
3) I could buy a 508, which seems to be a bit of an improvement over the 507. It sort of seems close to the 607, though, so I'm wondering why not buy a 508 after it starts shipping and discounting if the 607 is the answer to #2 above.
4) I just don't see a reason to get the 608. Am I missing something?
Thoughts?
PS I will ONLY buy Onkyo - I am just that way. I also won't spend the extra few hundred for a 700 series right now, although if I stick with the 601 for a while I can buy a 708 some time later this year.