First off, let me just get this out the way. I received a dud when I first ordered this from Amazon. It worked great for about 2 days but later in the second day the sound became terrible because of a strong static hissing noise that would not stop. This is where I give credit to Amazon, they took care of the problem immediately, no questions asked and I received my replacement just a couple of days later(this happened on a weekend)
Now that I have that out the way, I love this receiver. I previously owned an Onkyo 605(which was one of the first receivers to suppport 7.1 PCM, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master HD) I must say, for the price range that was a great receiver. The big negative to that was it only had three HDMI inputs and I currently had at least 5 components that I hooked up to my receiver, using an HDMI splitter in the process. The problem was the splitter was terrible and I would have to unplug it and replug it to get a signal at times. Thus, I needed a receiver that had more HDMI inputs and this fulfilled my needs on that aspect.
I have to say that I am no audiophile and I don't make the type of money to get the most high end equipment. Though, I will say that I absolutely love great sound quality. Over the last year, I doubt I used the sound coming through my TV for more than an hour, I'm always listening to movies, music and games through my receiver. I'm not cheap though but I often look for the best bang for your buck. That's where I found this model after doing some research for a couple of weeks to replace my 605. I was originally considering getting the model below this one but after doing my homework I decided it was more worthwhile spending the extra $150 to get this.
For anybody interested in what speakers I'm using with this, here it is:
Center - Bic Acousetch PL-28 Center Speaker
Front Speakers - x2 Vintage Sanwai SP - X9
Surround - x2 BIC America Venturi DV64 2-Way Tower Speaker
Surround Back - x2 Polk Audio TL2 Sat Speaker
Subwoofer - BIC America F12 12-Inch 475-Watt Front Firing Powered Subwoofer
As far as audio goes, I used it with my 360, PS3(games and Blu-Ray), Wii, PS2 and PC everything sounds excellent and noticeably better than my Onkyo 605 before it(though to be fair, I upgraded my center speaker and subwoofer when I upgraded my receiver)
Movies - Dialog is crystal clear and you get that sense of immersion when watching movies. My favorite movie I like to text my sound out on is The Incredible Hulk(2008). The scene where they are at the park by the school sounds simply amazing. I used Audyssey MultEQ XT to set up the sound before hand for about 7 different spots and it makes a world of difference.
Games - Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Crysis 2 are both great games to test this out on. To me, playing games with this system is even better than more immersive than watching movies. Even the Wii sounds great on here with Pro-Logic II.
Music - I've used my iPhone on this and it sounds great but if you can listen to FLAC, I highly suggest doing it. It's such a richer and more detailed experience.
One thing to note in all of this, you can't expect to get high quality out of sub par quality speakers. So if you plan to get the receiver and spend only around $200 for the additional speakers for a 7.1 system, this is not for you. Get this receiver if you already have good speakers or are planning on upgrading to better speakers in the future. Even if you go part by part, it's better to have a good 2.1 system than a bad 7.1 system.(Worth noting that this is a 7.2 system)
As far as video quality is concerned, I just run everything how it would look if I ran straight through my TV. I don't mess with any of the presets outside of setting my output resolution to 1080p which makes the Wii look a little sharper.
Feature wise, it does have some nice options but most I will never use such as the internet apps. As simple as it sounds, I like the fact that I can name each input and it shows on the TV. It helps make it a little easier for someone who is not used to using the receiver. You can also switch the HDMI inputs to whatever input you please which comes in handy if you need an input specifically for something that is using component(example, the only way I could hook my Wii up through component was using the Cable input which my cable was hooked up through HDMI using the same input. So I had to turn off my cable box to use the Wii. I switched my cable box to the TV input eliminating the need to turn it off when I want to use the Wii) The last thing I will say is that the remote works great as a universal remote for my TV and Cable Box. It actually feels more responsive than my Cable Box remote does.
Bottom line(Too Long; Didn't Read Version) this receiver has plenty of inputs, plenty of features and will drive a good set of speakers with ease. It gets bonus points for being THX certified and is an excellent value at the price. Onkyo makes fantastic receivers at affordable price ranges and I highly doubt you will find a better receiver within this range.