avr receiver help

in response to the last two posts, i saw those adds but i got to make up my mind on what brand receiver is going to work best with my infinity speakers, i do not know about the new onkyos but my brother has about a five year old onkyo 500 something in the mid price range running infinity overture 3's and he told me that it does not pick up fm signals all that well, is that a problem with the newer onkyos.
greg

I don't even use the radio in my Onkyo. I use a Squeezebox to fill my radio needs.

the only reason that i asked about the fm section on the onkyo is because i listen to fm alot, on my other system with seperates i'm using a sony st-s730es tuner and it is amazing it comes in crystal clear and there is no need for an hd tuner or a squeezbox.
greg

It's not that I use a Squeezebox out of necessity. I live in a metropolitan area and pick up tons of FM staions. I just prefer Internet radio since its offers so much more than FM. In any event, it would surprise me if the Onkyo's - or most modern receivers for that matter - wouldn't fulfill your FM needs since you appear to be in an area with a good signal.

At $1500 you should be comparing the receivers processors, room correction, transformer capacity or class D operation. Even a high quality FM tuner needs a good antenna in a good location to sound good. While modern receivers are terrific for HT processing they're still lacking when compared to the finesse of even a modest dedicated analog two channel systems ability to soundstage IMO.

Since my experience with room correcting receivers IMO it's more important to get the HT to sound its best. I would give up on the H/K and the Arcam for their dated connectivity and the lack of room correction. I find the drama of music videos and film as important as quality two channel playback. Incorporating HT and two channel can depend on the quality of your existing two channel setup.

Personally I have failed at any attempt at putting a display between my main two channel speakers and still maintain the degree of soundstage I worked so hard to attain. Consequently, I installed my HT in an small and irregular separate space and let the room correction do its job. The fidelity from classical multichannel SACD's has been the biggest surprise through the HT.