Just last night, Amazon had the 605 for $403.

OK...$255 vs. $403.

Ok....

You need tech articles shown to you to know that? Sorry, "that doesn't make any sense at all." HDMI has a lot more bandwidth than a digital optical/coax connection. Lossless audio of any kind, including multi channel PCM, is not possible over optical or digital. You need HDMI (or multi channel analog outs) for lossless audio. You have to know this already. You're the one who was claiming that for $299, the 505 will decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA, no?

The argument for the 505 IS basic. The problem is, you were throwing out false info about it. To someone who doesn't know very much, it may confuse them into buying a product they didn't really want. Sure, everyone should do their research, but you don't help matters by claiming it has things it doesn't, and then comparing it to the 604 except for the 15 watts/channel less output. The whole "two steps behind" shit is an exercise in semantics, and frankly, I couldn't give less of a shit if I tried. I didn't coin that term in this thread to begin with. I merely agreed with MEJ that the 505 is a step back from the 604, and a fairly significant one, in my mind. Whether you share that opinion is something I frankly don't give a fuck about.

I don't necessarily think you are taking a stand at all. I do, however, think you often come off as a smarmy know it all, and I find it a little humorous when you act like an authority but you are spouting off with false information.

It's the arguments like the one over the last page or two that make us audiophile n00bs all the more clueless over what's the "best" HDMI receiver to get. :(

It was $255 at Fry's (Portland Oregon) over the holiday weekend. Someone posted that they found one at a different Fry's for the same price a few days later. So it's looking like less of a sale and more of a clearing out to make way for this years models.

If that fails, Circuit City seems to have them for $350. Not as good a deal, but still not bad. Although at that price, I'd probably look for a 605 instead.

http://aswiftkick.mu.nu/Images/I%20d...39;s%20ass.jpg

http://cache.wonkette.com/images/200...20gestures.JPG

http://www.hiphopslam.com/shop/g/but...tGiveAFuck.jpg

That depends on your needs. I'm using mine with a Toshiba HD player. And it works great for what it is. The new models will decode all kinds of new HD formats, but at this time, that is a useless feature (since at this point the players are decoding the HD tracks and sending them as PCM to the receiver).

I'd say something like the 604 will do everything you need it to today. It's possible that in the future it won't have the features you need. Or not. We can only guess at this point. If that concerns you, a lot of people are very excited about the 605.

And I know nothing about the Blu-ray side.

Wow, Josh, you are incredibly clever. You still didn't make a lick of sense in your earlier posts, though. You can get back on your high horse now, though, ok?

Do you know if the 604 will matrix 5.1 into 7.1 for PCM? I have been hearing that the 605 actually doesn't, so that may be a dealbreaker for some.

That's the very reason I'm leaning more toward the Yahama v661 over the Onkyo 605.

-rolleyes- This is how seriously I take you and your ridiculous personal attacks:

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2007/mar/29sld1.jpg

I think KVRdave has been using the Yammy for awhile. Might want to e-mail him for his thoughts.

I probably should've closed this a while ago.

Feel free to start a new receiver discussion, but don't let the same flaming carry over.