Just my 2 cents, but I wouldnt buy Onkyo, especially a lower end model. Ive had 4 Onkyos of which 3 blew up and 1 twice!! Once is bad luck, twice a coincidence and thrice a trend. No more Onkyo for me. I would go to a Best Buy Magnolia and listen to the 4 makes they have there and decide which you like the best. I listened to a Denon, a Yamaha, a MArantz and a Pioneer over the weekend through some B&W 686 speakers. I noticed that the Pioneer was a bit bright. The Denon and Marantz were similar in some respects being much warmer than the pioneer with a wide sound stage. The Denon however had a bit of distortion or background noise. The Marantz was smoother and a bit nicer. But all in all the Denon and Marantz were very similar with the edge in music to the Marantz. The Yamaha on the other hand was similar in sound, but the soundstage was completely different. Where the Denon and Marantz had a wide stage the Yamaha's stage was narrower while filling in the middle much more than did the other 3 receivers. I couldnt tell if I liked that or preferred the other way. Can anyone else comment on what I heard? All the receivers were set on 2 channel direct. Once youve listened to the 4 makes they have there, it'll hopefully help you make a choice as to what make suits your ear then you can get one of their lower models that fits the budget youre trying to abide buy.
