Just how do you expect a new avr to be a huge improvement? The Dirac feature alone (in the Onkyo, or XT32 in the D&M models) or the addition of Atmos capabilities or ?
-Any one of these AVR's is going to me additional channels, my current setup is only capable of 5.1.2 so I have two speakers not in use. There also is no pre-out option
-The room correction as you mentioned jumping from AccuEQ to either Dirac(Onkyo) or XT32(D&M models).
- Currently my receiver only supports 4K/60HZ so I have my XBOX Series S hooked up to my LG CX directly and it sounds noticeably different going through ARC from the TV instead of being plugged in directly to the receiver whereas all the newer models support 8K/60HZ or 4K/120HZ.
- Supporting EARC will allow more access to other uncompressed formats that aren't supported by ARC.
- Lastly the current receiver runs at 95W per channel so there will a slight improvement in power even though down the road I plan to have external amplification.
All of these things combined together is why I see it as a huge improvement.