The tuner doesn't really get in the way in most units. So, internally a pre/pro/amp won't be much different than a receiver. TIC's suggestion of the Arcam is great. It and the B&K 507 are way beyond most of the average receivers.
If you are using this for tv (cable or dish) DPL II should be a priority! Your system will end up defaulting to DPL II any time a signal isn't 5.1. DPL II is way beyond DPL. For that reason, some of the components that you may consider to be of lesser audio quality may do a nice job with TV than some older high end units (ie B&K 202 vs a new NAD/Denon/Marantz/Rotel/Adcom/sony ES). Also, newer units seem to have a lot more power these days.
One thing to be careful of is size. Check your cabinet or shelf first. Many units are so wide and deep that once you hook up all of the connections, they don't fit. Sqeezing everything into 1 box makes it huge. Seperates are usually a little more compact and can be split up.
My last comment is that almost any newer receiver for $1000 will crush your older onkyo. Borrow a demo and see what you are missing.
If you are using this for tv (cable or dish) DPL II should be a priority! Your system will end up defaulting to DPL II any time a signal isn't 5.1. DPL II is way beyond DPL. For that reason, some of the components that you may consider to be of lesser audio quality may do a nice job with TV than some older high end units (ie B&K 202 vs a new NAD/Denon/Marantz/Rotel/Adcom/sony ES). Also, newer units seem to have a lot more power these days.
One thing to be careful of is size. Check your cabinet or shelf first. Many units are so wide and deep that once you hook up all of the connections, they don't fit. Sqeezing everything into 1 box makes it huge. Seperates are usually a little more compact and can be split up.
My last comment is that almost any newer receiver for $1000 will crush your older onkyo. Borrow a demo and see what you are missing.