I seem to remember seeing a really good thread on this topic a while back, but my searches have turned up nothing. If there is a good thread point it out and we can lock this up, otherwise...

I'm finally upgrading my surround sound (currently have a $200 wal-mart/Phillips setup) and wanted to get thoughts on this receiver. It might be a bit pricey for what I need but...

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_580TXN708B/Onkyo-TX-NR708.html?tp=33

The biggest things I want (besides the obvious HDMI inputs, etc etc) are:
1) Simultaneous 5.1 surround in the living room and stereo on my deck w/ separate sources
2) auto speaker calibration


Coming pre-network enabled is nice (although I'm not really sure to what extent this is true, does it just allow me to access my comp drive as a music folder? It would be bad ass if it had a software interface I could control the system through w/ my computer, but I doubt that's the case)

Also, any recommendations for speakers is appreciated. I'm not a super audiophile so I'll probably get something in the mid-low price range.

9/6/2010 10:31:40 PM

http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=600817

9/6/2010 11:13:49 PM

i have always found it cheaper to get one nice single room receiver for 5.1 setups and a receiver that used to be nice in terms of power/sq for the "lesser" setup. they can be had on craigslist, tww, ebay, etc for <$40

9/7/2010 7:52:51 AM