This was definately the best $350 I ever spent. I originally bought a Kenwood VR-208 but it produced a strange clicking sound and the front speakers would occasionally cut out. I exchanged it for a second Kenwood VR208. Again, the same problem. I then returned that and bought a Sony STR-DE725. I returned it the following day because it was trash. I then bought this Onkyo receiver and love it. The sound is great. It has tons of power. I have not had a single problem with it. Granted, I'm no audio expert, but what my untrained ears hear impresses me. My only gripe is that it comes with an ugly remote.

Adaptability: individual speaker adjustment, not too much bass, will dish it out for hours without any heat issues

None found in over a years worth of use

This unit cranks it out from my Sony 560D DVD player with no qualms. Current set-up includes all Infinity: Overture Ones for Front, CC-3 for Center, BU-120 for the Sub, and RS-2s for the rears. No Problems from ANY of this equipment in one year of usage.
What more could you ask for? It brings Digital sound with crisp highs and floor jostling lows, and everything in between without any discernable static, hum, or otherwise..

Combination of 5.1 inputs and internal Dolby Digital decoder.

Noisy digital volume control (hiss)

I bought this receiver to use in a multimedia PC application, rather than home theater. I am pleased with its flexibility. Having the AC-3 decoder built-in along with coax and optical inputs means that it'll work nicely with future soundcards. Having the 5.1 analog inputs means that it works well with the new 4-channel cards (like the Aureal Vortex 2-based models). You can independently set the level of each channel while in 5.1 mode; something that most ~$300 units cannot do (I tried every one I could find).

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The Sound is clean and Crisp, Spk output control, price

No S Video

This was my first venture into the DD world. After much tweaking and reading the somewhat useless manual, got it so the Sound was fantastic. I have the receiver connected to a Polk RM5400 set with powered Sub. All in all I think that the system is fairly well matched, and compares quite favorably with systems I auditioned at Circuit City costing much more. I still have a a number of adjustments to make but for a start point in Home Theater, I think I found a comfortable bump in the road.---The manual and remote are useless!

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Pioneer 498, and briefly tried a Sony, for Stereo Carver M1.0t.

Good all rounder.

A little light on in the bass department.

I'm very happy with this receiver. I use it for HT and for listening to music and it handles both well. I also like that it has clipping protection, which kicked in once while playing Dragon Heart. That'll teach me for trying to show off!

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Yamaha

Ease of use, price

gets very hot (with my speakers)

My first DD reciever. I was a bit worried b/c of my slim wallet, plus that my Dali 107's are quite demanding speakers (4ohm). My center speaker is 8 ohm, and my surround speakers are 6ohm, this altogether seems to make a slight hum/hiss in all speakers. I haven't noticed this at louder levels, the humming is noticeable only with no(or little) sound output. Since i know a bit about electronics, the first thing i did was to mount a fan right on top of the cooling ribs. This made a HUGE difference, my dalis play the pictures of my walls, and the amp doesn't get hot at all anymore. I'm sure that with smaller speakers and a active sub this reciever is one of the best buys you can make. It's amasingly easy to use, and has enought features for an entry level home cinema experience. I look forward to test the DD part soon when I've bought a DVD-player.

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a wide range of stereo amps...

very good clean power,ease of use and set-up,excellent remote,speaker set-up is unique and very effective for immediate use at the remote

there are not enough outputs,i'd like to have a pre-out(not for sub),banana plugs all the way around would be great,ugly feet,i hate dsp modes in general-get rid of them,5.1 multi-channel is excellent,make this into an integrated digital amp and get rid of the tuner,receivers suck!!!!!!!!!!

i am using this receiver as the basis for my surround system and an onkyo rv-410 to power my main speakers only (polk sda-1a system). both ampflifiers are tremendous units. very clean sound, with lots of power. my polks are fairly inefficient and i have had the 410 at 3/4 volume with no problem. the 474,the same,good clean sound. these guys talking about hum and hiss must have there heads in the ground, i hear NONE. but i have all 4 ohm speakers, and i think onkyo likes low imp. speakers !!! i have everything plugged into the 474, using the 5.1 inputs for dvd. and then output to the 410. the 410 is directly connected to my toshiba dvd player via dvd output, putting out the full audio signal as the main front to the polks, the 474 is putting out to 4 advent sats for surround sound and a full range center channel and also a powered sub. the system is awesome. sounds better than some theaters i've been in !!!!!!!!!!!! onkyo is absolutely the best amp ont the market, in my opinion. i could go on and on, but i'm afraid i'll run out of room. if you want to spend a lot of money, check out the 989, you can't get any better than that...............

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onkyo a-rv410 'stereo' integrated amp (excellent) kenwood 105vr receiver

Nice sound, good styling

Build quality, weird clicking/cracking noise coming from the receiver itself, slight electric force field (no kidding, I would often get a small electric shock...a rub the shoe on a carpet type...when I tried to touch the thing)

I have been using Onkyo products (receivers, CD players, and tape decks) for 10 years and have not had a problem until I bought the 474.

My first unit had lousy build quality, there was a big lump in the front of the case on the top of the unit, and there was a gap between the faceplate and the case that you could actually see part of the blue display through the top of the reciever. This unit had the clicking/cracking/shock problem that I mentioned in the weaknesses section above right out of the box. I exchanged this unit after one month.

My second unit worked fine for awhile, but now has developed the same problem after 6 months. It's currently in for service.

It's too bad that the build quality is poor on these products as I feel the sound quality is quite good. I guess they don't make Onkyo recievers like they used to.

Look&sound

Noisy !

My 474 is noisy when listening stereo at -60 dB. Service can't help with it. They says that noise is caused by digital volume control. And RDS is not to good to - sometimes it displays text from other station, when switching to a station without RDS. If somebody know how to fight the noisy volume control, please write me.

What a pity. Good-looking, nice soundproducer.

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