Need help deciding between these 5 receivers

If every one of those models offers the features you need, then it boils down to which EQ process you prefer: YPAO (Yamaha), Audyssey (Denon, Marantz, Onkyo), or MCACC (Pioneer). Of the Audyssey models, the Onkyo offers the highest version of XT32 with likely a noticeable difference over the XT version used in the 6007 and 2313CI and your 705. You really need to demo for yourself to determine which you would prefer.

As often as folks ask that question the same answer still applies ... only YOU can decide which you prefer ... YPAO, Audyssey, MCACC.

Unbelievable similarities. I am also replacing my 705 and after months have narrowed it down to sc65 or 818. As for me i am looking to go 9.1 speakers and have listened to the elite sc67 and loved it. Cant find the 818 anywhere to demo though so im leaning toward the pioneer. I will keep up with your thread to see what the concensus is. Good luck.

I replaced my Onkyo 705 with a Yamaha A820 about two months ago. I used it for a month and decided to give the Onkyo 818 or Denon 3313 a try. I ended up ordering the Onkyo 818 because I liked the way my 705 sounded plus I needed a zone 2 feature only Onkyo and Yamaha provided in my price range.

Good luck.

I know it is not on your list but I just got a Denon 3312 2 weeks ago and it was well discounted because it was an old model. I know there are still some futureshops trying to get rid of them. I really like the sound from it, it drives my polk RTI-10's fairly well. What is your speaker setup like? Some receivers sound better with certain speakers. I.E. I tried a Yamaha with my polk's and it sounded pretty harsh, it only took about 1 day to decide it was not the correct amp for my system.

Well, you are looking a little ways above what the mrs would let me spend... so I cannot be of any help. I listened to the SC-65 and SC-67 about a year ago, I wish I hd anough money for them, they are very very ncie receivers, from the tests someone linked me earlier they come closer to thier advetised wattage output than pretty much any receiver in thier price range. I recently had to chose between the denon AVR 3312ci and the futureshop rebrand of the SC-65, i went with the denon because it ended up being $300 less, and I am very happy with the sound. It does not output 125 watts per channel but it has 7 ore outs. It also has 2 HDMI outs so I can hook up my 50" plasma and my projector, no switching cables or anything when i want to start up the projector to watch a movie.

Audyssey XT 32 is the best of the 3 in my opinion but like jd said, you need to decide what you like best.

A shame that it might be and I know this is a nit and I'm not arguing with the brevity of your above but I'm sure we'd all agree that expectedly, it would be really, really hard to demo three different room analyzing programs in a retail store environment.

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Edited by BeeMan458 - 9/22/12 at 12:23pm

I made a post before about the differences between Audessey and McACC. if you want it to just work and not abel to tweek much go with the Audessey, if you like to tweek go with the McACC. MCaCC does a pretty good job but the big difference is you can go in and change every single setting it makes. Audessey has very few settings you can change, the one thing I love about Audessey is you can have a seperate Crossover set for each speaker set. Ie. I set my mains to 60hz crossover and my surrounds and center to 80hz. If it was my choice and I had the cash i would go for the SC-55.

I ended up getting the Pioneer elite sc65. Its been setup a few of weeks now and I love it. The sound is incredible, i didnt change anything in the theater except swap out the onkyo with this and I have permasmile every time I use it. It does a great job with my directv signal, it cleaned up the video and made football sound incredible. I do have front heights setup and it is subtle but noticeable, have to play with it some more to get the best settings for heights.

Review of the SC-68 which would be similar to the 65. Looks like the new Pioneers are winners.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/pioneer-elite-sc-68-av-receiver

What do you think of the 818 compared to the A820?