Another Onkyo 807 vs. 707 vs. 608 for $

If you do not need 3D get the 807. It is a beast and i love it. the extra 35 watts per channel is worth it just on it's own. then u got firmware updates and internet streaming plus the Multi EQ which that alone is worth it aswell as the 3 additional calibrations willl give your room a more detailed and optimum calibration. another good thing is that the 807 is rated at 0.1% distortion at 105.5 watts and 1% distortion at 122.0 watts on five channel driven. the 608 is rated at 0.1% distortion at 82.3 watts and 1% distortion at 84.7 watts at 5 channel driven. oh and the 807 can be configured for 11.2 (different configurations) with zone 2 and zone 3. something the 608 cannot do other than zone 2 and DPLIIz and DSX. the 807 costs around $550 refurbished and not worth spending an extra $100 just to say it's brand new and only get 1 additional year out of it. as to the question about the 608 handling future speakers down the road. that will depend on how many speakers you talking about because it can handle up to 7.2 and that's it. while the 807 can handle 7.2 plus height and wide channels to provide an 11.2 config. that is where the additional future speakers you are referring to will come in handy (with the 807). just remember no matter what AVR u buy do not forget to put an external fan next to it to keep it cool as they get hot without one. any home fan will work or you could buy a "professional" AVR/PC Fan. even though the 608 has a built in fan most people still use a external fan because it is still hot even with the built in fan. A $10 fan is an investment to prolong the life of the AVR.

I know the warranty is the only difference because they are Onkyo Factory Refurbished and not a 3rd party refurbished. if you do decide to buy it get it shoponkyo.com or accessories4less.com i bought mine on the 4th of july sale from shop onkyo for $502 shipped and i love it and it works and looks like if it was factory sealed. as for those speakers working with the 608 i am not sure i would say yes they probably will but you may want to do some research and read people who own those speakers and see if they have it running with a 608. but like i said i would rather lose 1 year warranty and pay $50-$100 to upgrade from a 608 to a 807. the 807 will also retain higher resell value while the 608 will plummit in resell value as alot of people buy it and next year they will practically cost around $250 brand new on clearance so the 608 will have a resale value of like $100-$150 next year while the 807 will maintain a $250+ resale value next year. now you notice theres a $100 price difference between new and refubished but what you don't realize is that most credit cards will double the warranty for you and if you want to be on the safe side you can always buy an extended warranty much cheaper than $100. when i purchased the 807 from shop onkyo i was offered 1-2 years (i don't remember how many years it was) of extended warranty for $80, so that was not only the same as factory seal but it was also $20 cheaper and if it was 2 years you would also be getting an additional year while saving $20 so yeah refurbished > factory seal anyday of the week. i still however do not recommended getting the additional years. factory refurbished is basically factory seal minus 1 year. the AVR should last 2 years minimum and if it does die on you the day after the 1 year warranty expires you still have $100 in your pocket to help you buy another one. now looked at it like this... if you paid the additional $80-$100 for more years of warranty and you AVR worked flawlessly and never needed repair you will feel ripped off. which is exactly what happens to most people because extended warranties are ripoffs designed to milk you out of more money for something that has a 1% fail rate. extended warranties is where companies make their profits because it is a piece of paper that is worth nothing and more than likely your unit will work fine during that extended warranty period thereby ripping you off as a consumer.

Edit: upon going to the shop onkyo right now i could get 2 years of extended warranty for $85 that is $15 cheaper than what you pay for factory sealed and you get a total of 3 years with a refurbished 807 vs a 2 year factory sealed 807. and if you look at accessories4less.com that also have multiple extended warranties. i like the 3 years for $33 which basically equals $11 per year which is not too bad at all (less than $1 per month) and it's a total of 4 years. much better option and cheaper there so i suggest buying from accessories4less and not shop onkyo.

The 608 does not have the new Audyssey DSX ability. DSX allows for wide and height speakers employing new surround processing modes.

http://www.audyssey.com/technology/dsx.html

I have a 707 with wide speakers set up. I love the improvement in the front soundstage for movies, tv, and music. If you have the room to set up wide speakers, I doubt you would regret buying the 707 or 807.

You can compare the three on the Onkyo website:

http://www.onkyousa.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Receiver

Gary

it's funny how the audyssey site shows that the 608 has audyssey dsx then u look at the onkyo site and the information page for the 608 has a audyssey dsx logo but then when you compare it with the 707 and 808 under the audyssey dsx feature both the 707 and 807 have a check mark next to it while the 608 does not.

Great write up guys just what I needed for a decision. Just one question about the 807, I've been reading comments that it has a clicking problem with switching btwn audio sources, does the 608 have the same problem. And where do I get this fan for $10 to add on :-)

Another option that may be worth considering (if you do NOT want/need 3D or HDMI 1.4) is the HT-RC180. Running about $508 from Amazon.

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=...s=Receiver&p=i

Very comparable to the 708 & 808 feature-wise. Just lacks HDMI 1.4/3D support (vs. 708) and lacks the power of the 808(25w less per ch). Also has networking capability which is an added bonus over the 608.

i do not hear any clicking problems on my 807. as for the fan any small home fan will work. go to walmart and pick one (a personal fan and not a table fan will work perfectly) that is around $10-$15 with at least 2 speeds or more and has a blade diameter of at least 4 inches (101mm) or more but preferably at least 6 inches (152mm) or more. the bigger the blade the more air will flow to the AVR keeping it cooler and faster but you don't want nor need a 12 inch blade fan either. you will be putting it next to the AVR and not on top aiming at the AVR with half the blade aiming at the side of the AVR and the other half of the blade aiming at the holes on top of the AVR so that the heat that comes out of the holes get pushed by the fan away from the AVR and the other half is throwing cool air to the side of the AVR therby giving the AVR a cooler "body" temperature. And if your AC duct is directly above the fan that will be even better.



it's actually the little brother of the 807 and you still lose 25 watts per channel among other things. it is a step up from the 608 but it practically costs the same as the 807 so he might aswell go all the way for a few more dollars.