Onkyo 605 or 705?

[acommonsoul]

I am looking for a budget receiver that has 1.3 HDMI and obvisouly trueHD and DTS HD. I was looking at the Onkyo 605 or 705...is there a big difference between the two? Also, is there any other receiver in there price category that might be a better choice?

[Kal Rubinson]

The advantages of the 705, aside from power, are a much more advanced version of Audyssey and preamp outputs, afaik.

Kal

[acommonsoul]

Thanks for the input, I will probably never need to add an amp and if I do I will just buy seperate components. I am more concerned with the quality of the sound, so the Audyssey does come into play

[acommonsoul]

Is there a better receiver than the 605 or 705 that I can find for under $500? Which models to take a look at? My biggest concern is the HDMI inputs that send video and audio

[Sonnie]

Did you check out the 6th Avenue deals on the two Marantz receivers?

The Pioneer VSX-1017TXV-K may be another to consider... good reviews.

[tonyvdb]

Given the deal on the Marantz that Sonnie links you to that is a very good option. Personally I like Onkyo but for that price the Marantz SR5002 may be the way to go if you can squeeze just a little bit more out of your budget.
EDIT: I just read a review of the Marantz and it doesn't pass through HDMI 1.3 only 1.1 so if that matters to you then the Onkyo 705 would still be the best choice.

[Jerm357]

Have a look here....
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=935808

Scroll down to #7 on "Why should I get a 705 over the 605?"

General
- THX Select 2 Certification (605 has no THX)
- additional 10 watts per channel
- onboard fans for cooling
- Blue backlighting around the volume knob!!
- Advanced remote control - fully backlit with learning/programming abilities

Audio Processing
- 3 DSPs and more listening modes
- Audyssey MultiEQ vs 2EQ on the 605. MultiEQ is more advanced and supports 8 listening positions rather than 2
- 7 band equaliser vs 5 band
- expanded range of crossover frequencies (70Hz and 90Hz)
- ability to post process 5.1 channel PCM signals (ie from internally decoding BD/HDDVD players) to 6.1 or 7.1 (605 apparently cant do this on 5.1ch PCM)
- accepts DSD format (from SACDs) over multi channel inputs

Inputs/Outputs
- +1 HDMI input
- +1 digital coax audio input
- +1 optical audio output
- 7.1 channel RCA pre-outs
- Phono input
- 12V trigger out
- IR in (for infrared repeater systems)
- RS232 COM port
- zone 2 speaker connections have proper binding posts

[acommonsoul]

Thanks for the info, it is very helpful