Well, I'm starting my search for an AVR and the Onkyo 805 is the first up. Here are my initial thoughts.

A Few Specs: (Copied from an AVS thread, yes I'm lazy)

*Full A/V Processing via HDMI 1.3a with Upconversion (3 in 1 out)
*HDMI Deep Color Capable (36bit)
*Component Video Upconversion and HDTV-Capable (100 MHZ) Video Switching (3 in 1 out)
*WRAT/ Optimum Gain Volume Circuitry/ Non-Scaling Configuration/ A-Form Listening Mode Memory/ RI
*Faroudja DCDi
*Audyssey MultEQ XT Room Acoustics Correction
*7.1 Multichannel Inputs for PCM Delivery of Hi-Def Audio Sources
*DOLBY Decoder - PLIIx, DD, DD-EX, DD+, TrueHD
*DTS Decoder - DTS, ES, NEO:6, 96/24, HD Master Audio
*THX Ultra2 Certified
*Burr-Brown 192/24-bit DAC on all Channels (TI Architecture (PCM1796))
*S-Video (6 in 1 out)
*Digital Audio IN (OPT/COAX) 3/3; OUT (OPT) 1
*Composite (6 in 1 out)
*7.1 Preouts
*Power 130W/Ch
*Powered Zone 2 with Balance Volume and tone control
*Powered Zone 3
*Bi-Amp Capable
*XM and Sirius ports
*XM HD Surround Sound through Neural Surround
*RIHD (Remote Interactive over HDMI) communication protocol
*Upconversion and Upscaling Information
a. Analog transcoding
Takes native composite & S-video streams and transcodes through Component Video Out
b. Digital processing
Takes a native composite, S-video, component video and outputs to HDMI Out @ 720p
c. Deinterlacing & Up-Scaling
Takes a 480i & 480p native video stream and outputs to HDMI Out @ 720p
d. 720p, 1080i and 1080p capabilities
Takes a 720p or 1080i or 1080p native digital video stream and passes these through to HDMI Out.

First Look:

Well first off, this unit is a monster coming in at about 51 pounds. A lot larger and heavier than my 2805 but loses in the looks dept. My wife thinks it looks OK so that's a good thing I guess. This unit has an individual button for each available input. I kinda like the source knob on my Denon but these are small things I can live with.



Set Up:

Set up was a breeze. Since my unit is sitting on top of my wall unit it was just a simple matter of popping in all the connections and facing the unit foward. The back of this unit is spaced out pretty well and the use of banana plugs made my life that much easier. Be warned, this unit only has 2 optical inputs in the back and the 3rd is in the front. Good news is it sports 3 coaxial to go along with them. Not a big deal for me.

I'm running my PS3 via HDMI, my 2910 via HDMI/optical and my cable tv runs directly to my TV via HDMI/optical to AVR. Well after the connections were complete I gave Audyssey a run (I measured from 3 seating locations but I think you can do as many as 6) and was ready to go. More on Audyssey later.



Testing/Settings:

HDMI switching works like a charm and everything was fine. OSD is easy to navigate through and is output via HDMI. It only took a couple of minutes to make sure my video sources would pass thru untouched and everything was in sync. Played some tunes, a BR, a DVD, SACD......well you get it. Everything was hooked up correctly and was working properly with no problems.

Audyssey:

Ok back to Audyssey. After I ran my auto setup, Audyssey had all my speakers set to full band. I said what the heck and gave it try and it sounded like crap. Went back in and changed my xover to 80 for each speaker (you can run individual xover for each speaker), pulled out my SPL meter and gave my levels a check. If anyone remembers my 2805 had trouble running auto setup in my large room but Audyssey had my distances and levels right on. Not bad.

I have to say that Audyssey does exactly as advertised. Changing seating position did not dramatically change the sound. It was very uniform.

Sound:

I noticed an immediate difference in sound compared to my 2805. The sound was smooth and fuller. I heard details in music I haven't heard before. There was definately an improvement in bass response as well. My wife noticed this also. Dialog comes in crystal clear and can be heard easily at low volumes. I turned Audyssey off and gave it try with no EQ engaged. The sound was still good, but lightened up a little and sounded similar to my 2805 (I ran my 2805 with no room EQ). I put the Audyssey back on and have left it that way. I will try to do some measurements this weekend because I'm very curious to see what's going on with my lower freq. I also wanna do some more tweaking.

Uncompressed Audio:

For my first uncompressed PCM experience I put on POTC 1. This was some of the best video I have seen from BR so far. Demo matl easily. Anyways, back to sound. The sound was freakin' amazing. It was just seamless throughout the room. Very deep and smooth. Too much detail to talk about, but it wasn't overwhelming. Bass filled my room nicely. This has been some of the best sound I've heard from my system.

The Remote:

The remote is almost identical to the remote that came with my Onkyo 603 so I was able to just pick it up and start using it no problem. It's large but has a nice button layout and fits in your hand nicely. It's also backlit and has 3 macro buttons. The only problem I have is that once you put in new batteries you loose all setting and have to reprogram it

My wife was just getting use to the Denon remote and is completely lost again so I may be getting an 880 soon.

The Bad:

Well I had to come up with something. This unit takes about a second and a half longer to process incoming signals than my Denon. When flipping through HD channels and the signal changes from DD to DD stereo, you get a slight pause before sounds comes on.

When going from HD to SD video on a BR disc (I guess the warnings and some previews are in SD) you get a similar pause, some clicking going on while the unit switches back and fourth and sometimes a slight popping sound from the speakers. This is mentioned by Onkyo in a paper packed with the unit and they state this is normal, not a malfunction.

The unit get very hot.

Not real problems but I had to list something.

Final Thoughts:

This unit is very solid and does everything it is advertised to do. For the price of $899 this one will be hard to beat considering the amount of features this baby comes packed with. I had also considered the Denon 3808 which comes out in about a month. But with a MSRP of $1599, the Onkyo is gonna be extremely hard to beat. This one may be keeper. I have 3 more weeks to decide.