Pros: Based on the reviews of the 515 and 616 I was on the fence about ordering this unit, these units had various issues. The 717 and 818 were released much later had I did not see any of the old problems being reported with these 2. Anyway, order late Saturday night and it was delivered on Wednesday. Hook up was easy, placed it next to my old Denon AVR-2700 and transferred everything across. Powered it up, went through the quick setup and started to enjoy the sound. Overall the sound was much clearer than my Denon which surprised me, especially after the Audyssey setup up process... OSD is pretty good, gets the job done. The setup of the remote could not be easier with the codes displayed on screen instead of having to read though pages of docs. Finally a remote that can handle all my equipment including my Apple TV. Major point for me was the two HDMI outs so I could have the TV and projector hooked up at the same time, even run at the same time without having to do the cable switch. HDMI through when the unit is off is a plus as well (Most do this). Not sure I can fill all 8 HDMI inputs, but I'll have fun trying. Up-convert of the component inputs is a plus for the WII, I was able to remove a lot of cables from the setup because of this. After a week or so of using the unit a lot I have to say I am really impressed. I have known of Onkyo since the late 70's and have always wanted to see and hear what they were about, very glad I did. Next is to hook up zone 2 so I can listed to music in my living room as well.. I have yet to try the IPAD add.. see a minor con about this.. If you are thinking about this unit, go ahead you will not be disappointed..

Cons: A very minor con, the Wireless adapter is $25.00, at such a low price I am a little surprised this is not just built right in or just included with the unit. Wireless is pretty standard these days.

Overall Review: Other thoughts? -Impressive sound. -Impressive up-conversion of component inputs. -Easy of use for other family members -Straight forward operation. -Really fun to watch movies on the 125" screen and listen to the sounds produced by the 717. (With reminders to "turn it down")

Pros: All the HDMI inputs, there is no drop of video quality from source device through the receiver

Cons: I bought this unit specifically for the Powered Zones 2/3 I read many write ups but Onkyo fails (purposely) to mention that Zone 2/3 will not work on Digital which means all the HDMI inputs I have will not play Zone 2/3. Having multi zones is why I bought this unit as we do entertaining and I want to isolate the party music in the game room, deck and pool side. If having multi zones is important I would pass on this one...too late for me to return.

Pros: I was somewhat weary about buying this because of some negative reviews on many sites, but there were even more positive reviews. As a price/features buy, this unit has few competitors. Hooked it up and the latest firmware was already loaded on the unit. Cool! I have a feeling that a lot of the problems people are having are due to not uploading the latest firmware. My unit is running like a top. Ran Audessey mainly for the speaker distance/delay setting accuracy; I run my speakers at the THX 80hz setting. Had to turn down the sub, though: Audessey set if at +5db, which actually shook the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. LOL! I turned it down to +1, which pumps out plenty of well-defined base at all volumes. Also set Intellivolume for all connected components to +12 (the max - recommended by a friend) and jacked up the speaker calibration levels manually to my preferences. And I turned on the Audessey Dynamic EQ for all components but only activated Dynamic Volume at the Light setting for the NET input (seems to make a big difference on compressed Internet radio). I left all other dynamic range compression OFF on everything else. Tons and tons of settings, and most can be readjusted on the fly and go back to the user default when the unit is turned back on. I owned a JVC receiver that I bought in 2003, and it was a great unit. I think I probably put about 20,000 hours on it, and it still works, although I replaced it because it began to shut down randomly and I was afraid it might have a minor short and might cause major problems later on (I'm going to have it fixed later on - it might come in handy for a new PC in the future!) There have been a lot of advances in audio and digital technology in 10 years, and this Onkyo unit shows the differences. The soundstage is enormous, the bass is clear and well defined, highs are shimmering, midranges are solid. Try playing "Morph the Cat" by Donald Fagen. Pure audio bliss. And the Blu-Ray of "Prometheus". Yikes! Oh, and the unit passes video perfectly. The more I use this unit the more I love it!

Cons: No backlit remote! When are A/V manufacturers going to backlight ALL of ther home theater remotes? It would be a great remote if it were backlit. Luckily, I was able to transfer almost everything to an inexpensive Universal remote I always use that has backlighting. I keep the Onkyo remote in the drawer just in case.

Overall Review: First off, the service from newegg was awesome, as always. I ordered the unit on a Sunday afternoon and it was delivered to me on the following Tuesday morning. Free shipping in less than a day and a half. Download and read the manuals before you even buy the product, and if you don't use a laptop or a tablet that reads PDF files, print it out (except for the foreign language section, of course). Manuals are usually just line drawings and text, so it doesn't really take that much ink and you can also print on both sides to save paper. It really helps when calibrating and adjusting the setting to have the manual right in front of you. And always update the firmware if need be, and do it according to the instruction provided by the company. But most of all: READ THE MANUAL!!!

Pros: so I upgraded from a pioneer elite that was about 7 yrs old to the 717. so far im really impressed with such a great receiver. the sound is amazing even when im watching my girlfriends music shows. I hear soo much more than I did with the old Elite.

Cons: none so far

Overall Review: I really need to take a moment and say how great New Eggs customer service is. See, I tried to order this unit through my phone when the sale was going on but couldnt. it wasnt new eggs apps fault, it was my phones issue. Today I called and the CSR for new egg and explained that I would buy this from them regardless but would be so greatful if she would honor the sale price that just expired. after a few minutes she got back to me and said yes!!!! ive always liked buying from new egg, but now they have a customer for life!!!! Thank you new egg, you made me very happy!!

Pros: I realized that this receiver was a major upgrade for me when I heard the sound. It supports a wide range of high end formats. It was easy to setup. It let me know that one of my speakers had an issue when my last one didn't. The auto sound management features make a huge difference. I no longer need to up the volume to hear dialog and rush to lower the volume before the explosions blow my speakers. I always hated that. It has two HDMI outputs which was the deciding factor for me. I have a TV and a projector. I would have had to pay about $300 more to get 2 output by another brand.

Cons: The only issue I have is the delay with format syncing. When the input signal changes resolution (for example, 1080 to 720 or Dolby to DTS), there is about 3 seconds of no screen or sound until it figures out what the output should be. This usually only happens when you first start a movie, but it will happen when Netflix dynamically downgrades or upgrades the quality during a showing. That is when it gets annoying. Doesn't happen often and it may not happen to you if you have a better Internet connection. There is also a 1-2 second delay for the sound to return after pausing a movie. The video continues, but the sound has that short delay.

Overall Review: I only broke one egg for the cons I stated since all other aspects of the receiver are awesome. Perhaps Onkyo can fix it with a firmware update, dunno. I would buy this receiver again.

Pros: Sound quality is good compared to other recent Onkyos and anything else in the price range. Easy setup. Lots of codecs. Lots of HDMI. The app is an acceptable around the house remote, while your listening in a second room without an ir repeater. Modern look, nice large vol knob. Backlight

Cons: DOES NOT SUPPORT my high resolution FLAC files. Network playback, and other apps on the device are not finished quality. Poor network playback (on gigabit wired/AC wireless, large file playback like lossless is very jittery, have tried from MANY different sources all the way up to my main workstation) Lack of connectors other than HDMI. Advertising of hd photo playback would make you think there is some way to achieve this without expensive separate dlna software (But you can use the ones that come on certain phones like Samsung Galaxies, doesn't help from your pc / laptop / hard disk / whatever else though). The onkyo android app only works with certain local audio files on the phone, no streaming (google play would be a nice start), and no photos or video, lossless audio doesn't work in most cases, or chokes (5Ghz 1.3Gb/s AC wireless). Front audio in is digital only (usb and coaxial), and miniplug setup mic. They could have at least let the setup mic port work also for line in or something. Digital would be great if it would read my FLAC files, but it doesn't. Doesn't read from any cloud sources.

Overall Review: Hoping Firmware updates make the unit much more solid, as most of the problems are with the execution/implementation of the software. This unit should solve problems for me and allow me NOT to have 5 different playback devices decoding everything for it, instead in is a half finished ideal. This is my second unit. First one the network was DOA, second one its obvious the network is SLOW (poor quality nic) which is not good for high quality audio streaming. Works ok for compressed audio, but still stops to buffer every 2 songs (even on pandora sometimes) (get some memory buffer in there guys) I have 36Mb/s download for internet and an asus rt-ac66u router with all CAT 6 through the house, this shouldn't be happening. Backlight on vol knob doesn't seem to come on. Really, theres not a lot else in this price range that has all this. But will you get much more for spending twice as much? I bought this to use for its network features. That is where I am most dissapointed. If you don't care about that, its great other than the lack of certain connections.

Pros: Worked right out of box, easy to setup. Setup mike worked great, easy to make fine tuning adjustments.

Cons: Would have been nice to have a printed manual included. No big deal, easy to print PDF that came on CD.

Overall Review: I was somewhat worried reading reviews at a few sites claiming that Onkyo receivers aren't as good as they once were. This is my third Onkyo receiver (this one replaces my old one without HDMI, and I have a 5.1 running in my basement) and I'm definitely not disappointed.

Pros: Flexibility: This receiver comes with a plethora of features and seemed to be a great price. Additionally, Onkyo have a great history when it comes to build and sound quality.

Cons: Build Quality and reliability: Apparently all the good histories that Onkyo adhered to are just that - history. There has been an inexorable deterioration in this receiver's performance. It started with the network capability failing, thereby rendering all those juicy apps irrelevant. The latest problem has been the increasingly slow audio switching between inputs which is so bad that that there is actually no audio switching at all most of the time. In order to get any sound at all (other than my profane ravings) the receiver has to be turned on and off and fiddled with like a man trying to crank start a 1920's bi-plane - repeatedly.

Overall Review: My previous receiver purchase was an Onkyo also and it lasted longer than this one (a hair), until the DSP chip started to fail. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing this brand again...