Integra vs Onkyo

[headshrinker2]

Greetings everyone,
In the process of upgrading my HT system. There are some fabulous deals out there on AV Receivers.

Can anybody advise me on choosing between Integra and Onkyo? I am currently leaning towards purchasing either Integra 6.9 or Onkyo 706.

Thanks in advance.

[Alaric]

Integra is Onkyo's top-o-the-line. Worst thing about them is the speaker binding posts.

[John Holmes]

I heard an older Integra unit (don't recall the model). It was a receiver setup with B&W 802 across the front and and a set of B&W wall mounted sides.

This was around 2001 or 02 when I heard them. And to this day, I still remember how good the sound was. Though I didn't listen to any music, I did watch about 20 min of Toy Story 2. The scence when they were crossing the street to get to "Al's Toy Barn", was just breathtaking.

My point, I was listening at pretty high levels in a large demo room. The screen was 120" IIRC. Never once did the Integra sound overhelmed. And it was very detailed.

[Ovation]

Think of Integra as Lexus to Onkyo's Toyota. You can get a well appointed Toyota that will perform well--but it won't be quite as luxurious as a Lexus. I have an Integra receiver and I chose it over its Onkyo equivalent because it had a few features (and an extra year's warranty) that I felt were worth the extra money. I don't think I would have been disappointed by the Onkyo, but I would have missed one feature in particular--the ability to apply bass management and time alignment to my MCH analogue inputs.