Onkyo txnr 818 or Onkyo txnr 1009 (need everyone's input)

[ja0713]

im caught in a hard decision. i have the opportunity to purchase a brand new onkyo 1009 for $599.00 or Onkyo 818 for $849. is it worth it for me to spend the extra 250 dollars on the Onkyo 818? i have not found one review that compares both or whether the 818 is worth the extra 250 dollars in this case. i have read every single review imaginable on all the websites but cant really come up with an answer. Can anyone give their input and or experience with these? so far it seems to me that the 1009 is the better choice based on the price i can pick it up for, but someone told me at the store that the 818 is a better unit? is it THAT MUCH better that it justifies the extra 250 dollars?
thanks for any advice you can give me!

[ja0713]

anybody?

[hidefamateur]

Hi Ja0713,

I don't own any of the above listed Receivers,but I am interested in the nr1009 too. 1009 has Audyssey's MultEQ XT room correction and speaker calibration system (not the newer XT32 version that can EQ dual subs and has increased FIR resolution) on board as well as all the usual decoding (Dolby PLIIz, Audyssey DSX/Dynamic EQ/Dynamic Volume, DTS HD, Dolby TrueHD, etc.).
If you are interested in hi res audio the 1009 might be a better choise because of the Dac's, also it has a analog board 7.1 connection for SACD and DVD-A.
There is a review of this model here please check the forum.
I am curious about the deal you've found for the 1009, could you please tell me the store or give me a link. Thanks a lot.

[CALIBER]

Here are the differences I have found.
The 1009 is 9.2 the 818 is 7.2
The 1009 has a solid aluminum face plate the 818 does not.
The 818 has Audyssey MultiEQXT32 the 1009 has Audyssey MultEQ XT. So with the 818 you more advanced room correction.
The 1009 is THX certified while the 818 is THX select2 plus.
The 1009's amp has the push pull design the 818 does not. The 1009 also has an independent power supply and the 818 does not.

If you pop up two web pages and go to onkyo usa you can do a side by side comparison. To me the bottom line is the 1009 has a bit better power supply, but the 818 has a bit more features, neither of which will make an enormous impact on sound once it is all set up. Honestly one isn't better than the other IMO they both just have little tiny differences. For some reason Onkyo feels the need to release a new AVR once a month and make them the same as another one they already have, but with just a few little differences. I don't know why they do this, they must love to confuse the consumer I guess. If it were me I would save the $250 and go with the 1009 unless you are dying to have MultiEQ XT 32.