Sina172

Sina172: @sina172 Jason, if video processing is your major focus, then you want the Onkyo 906. It's not THAT much more than the 876 and it's gonna give you FAR more pleasure in customizing your video and the sound quality differences are HUGE in comparison to BOTH models.

Here's the thing you have to look at between the 876 and 3900, if you wanna see it from this point of view: If you went with the 876 you'd get better video processing than the 3900. But if you went with the 3900, you'd get FAR better sound quality, slightly lower THD levels, and MORE power. But your video isn't gonna look as good because, well, Yamaha isn't known for their video circuitry. They are known as an audiophile company that brought out many innovations through the past 5 decades that they've been producing audio products.

But, go with the 906 and not ONLY are you gonna get an AMAZING video processor, but it's gonna sound even BETTER than the Yamaha! Why? Because the '906 is has some NR1000 circuitry in it that when you listen to it in comparison to the '876 and '3900, you'd get a warmer and smoother kind of natural sound. Yamaha is known for their sound quality. But Onkyo has them beat with the '906 simply because the circuitry really is THAT much better than the aforementioned two.

Go with the '906 and thank me later when you do. Trust me. Your focus is on video and you should get the BEST receiver that has the video processing power you need, ESPECIALLY since you have a PS3! If you set that PS3 up the right way, your gonna experience that box all over again! Plus the '906 has ethernet capability so you can network your PS3 and '906 and stream audio between the 2 units at gigabit speeds! Those 2 can then sync up to your Mac or Windows network and you'll even be able to set up the PS3 to browse the web without having to get up and go the computer! That's a BIG bonus in my book! The '906 WILL upscale to 1080P natively, so you can even convert that old SNES to a 1080P picture and you have FULL video calibration, too! Now you can calibrate your TV with the Receiver to get the perfect match in colors, contrast, etc.

This is an AMAZING receiver for the money. It may be more than what you need right now, but having more is better than having less in almost all cases, feature wise. You'll get more control and more enjoyment.

Plus, shop around. The '906 is $2300 in comparison to the '876's $1800 price tag. But let me clue you in on a secret:

The markup on these receivers is around 40% for all retailers. Which means that cost is around 50% in markup value. See, retailers buy at cost, which they then put a 40% markup on it. That 10% reminder goes to the manufacturer as profit. The retailers are making the rest of the money. There's a LOT of room for negotiation. The retailers just won't admit it. I worked in retail for 2 years so I know how their game plan works.

Here's how I see it: If you can negotiate a good deal based on what I told you, you can probably walk out with a brand new '906 for not much more than the '876. In other words, that '906 would be around $1900 - $2000 instead of $2300.

Based on the info you gave me, you want the '906. Trust me.

Let me know what you choose.

Sina Dec 13, 08