Although the listed specifications appear to be strong I am concerned about the overall clarity of the output with regard to THD...any thoughts number #2?

Yeah, uh, well, crap, damn it, you put me on the spot, too much pressure, can't think

If I may chime in, I think the clarity of output might have to do with jitter in the digital portion of the circuit as it is converted to analog. But I could be wrong.

#4 you are on next. what do you think?

This is a great receiver. Handles multichannel pcm well.

Have not been able to test bitstreamed true hd yet but im sure it works fine.

This is an amazing receiver from the AVS forums. It does upconversion for all to HDMI (only to 720p) and also upconversion over component (if you don't want to do it via HDMI). A receiver of that caliber would run you well into the $500 range. I've been looking for one sub 350 for a while and this deal clinched it for me. I spent a bit more and got the black model as everything else in my cabinet is black. Snap this thing up if you are in the market for a nice mid grade receiver for your home theater.

Seriously Im in the market for a new receiver. Onkyo doesnt strike me as a high end brand. Are they reliable?

onkuo is a high end brand..

This receiver is a monster. hdmi 1.3 compatible

I need to go pee.

Onkyo isn't a high end receiver. I consider MacIntosh, Pioneer Elite and Integra (note, Integra is the high end version of Onkyo) to be high end. Onkyo receivers ranks with Sony, Pioneer, Harmon Kardon and Denon receivers that are 50%-100% higher in price.

I own two Onkyo receivers, one of which I've had for five years. I rank them as reliable and am considering using this 5% off to pick up a 705.

After reading what #9 said, I need to go pee too...

#9
that's stupid

I have this receiver -- bought it to replace an older Denon, as I didn't want to spend Denon's prices to get HDMI 1.3 and equivalent options (would have cost me almost a grand more).

I've been absolutely nothing but pleased. As everyone says in the reviews, though, this sucker gets HOT. Do not stack anything on top of it. Keep a couple of inches of airflow above it and consider investing in an ultra-quiet fan assembly to keep it cool. The 705 incorporates a fan built in, but the 705 has some lip-sync issues (and no, I'm not talking about the sync-delay that comes configured by default -- I'm talking about the fact that the video and audio via the HDMI have two different speeds of processing through the DSP chips in the 705, and so it's next to impossible to get sync working for things like the PS3) that caused me to return it for this one.

If this thing had a nice set of boobies, I'd marry it and make sweet, sweet love to it all night long. Then I'd wash up and go over to my girlfriend's place and watch her TV hooked up to a Denon system, get a quick BJ and a sammich and drive out to the farm to shoot monkeys. But that's just me.

I'm going monkey hunting with pecwin....

If this thing had a nice set of boobies, I'd marry it and make sweet, sweet love to it all night long. Then I'd wash up and go over to my girlfriend's place and watch her TV hooked up to a Denon system, get a quick BJ and a sammich and drive out to the farm to shoot monkeys. But that's just me.

"Onkyo isn't a high end receiver. I consider MacIntosh, Pioneer Elite and Integra (note, Integra is the high end version of Onkyo) to be high end. Onkyo receivers ranks with Sony, Pioneer, Harmon Kardon and Denon receivers that are 50%-100% higher in price. "

Harman Kardon, Denon, and Onkyo are a level above the non-ES Sony and non-Elite Pioneer offerings in terms of build quality and amplifier quality IMHO. I certainly would not group them together.

The Onkyos, particularly the 805's and up are levels above the Pioneer Elites in clarity as illuminated by Pioneer's high THD levels (take a look at the Elite 94 for reference) , which are almost twice as high as Onkyo's (in the 805,875, and 905). The differences in clarity is phantom, as they can be heard with mid level to high grade speakers. I really like the look of the Pioneer elites, but i think they are overrated, especially when compared to the Denon 3808 and higher and the Onkyos (805 and higher). I've not had the priviledge to listen to the 605 admittedly.

Okay...now I'm laughing so hard I really do have to pee...nicely done with the monkey-hunting bit. #'s 1, 2, & 3, that was CLASSIC Ben's Bargains right there!