Onkyo 7.2 Dolby Atmos Ready Network A/V Receiver

Personally I am in love with this unit. But then I was in love with my TX-NR509 until approx 2 years later when the HDMI board failed and I had to send it in for repair. Other than the few minor scratches the repair people put on the outside case, they seemed to fix it as if it were better than brand new. The only reason why I updated to this 636 was because of the built in Wi-fi and Bluetooth. I also updated because with the 509 I needed an extra small amp to amplify sound to send to the back surround speaker. This unit has both a right and left speaker output for the rear surround. I felt this to be a much improvement. Also, this unit's graphical interface for all the settings is real nice. The 509 had more text based menus and readouts. I love that it uses a mic to listen to the speakers as it sends white noise to each one to determine various settings. I read comments about someone was unhappy with the fact that the unit doesn't provide separate equalizer settings for the sound. It does provide a few different settings for bass control and one for treble. With the way that the unit sets up it's dynamic EQ sound settings, honestly, I don't see why you need anything else. The only real thing that I'm extremely worried about is, as I have had the unit in operation for only a few months now, it still is beginning to exhibit signs that the 509 did a short while before it died altogether. Items such as when the TV is turned off, the unit will usually detect that and it will automatically turn off but, a few times now, the TV has turned off but the unit has remained on and I have had to turn it off manually. Also, It is starting to stay on initializing for a minute or two when switching to the NET mode. When it was brand new, it used to hardly go to initializing at all. But I did find that after you give the unit complete time to "boot up" and then choose the NET mode, it seems to go there without much initializing time at all. So...here's hoping there are not HDMI issues. Also when it was new, it didn't take much time for the HDMI to initialize at all and now it takes a bit longer. So, all in all, the unit is wonderful as far as how ONKYO engineers how different items such as music and movies should truly sound. I have my unit in a small single wide manufactured home. But for the size of my living room and kitchen area and the 6 speakers attached, it really calculated for all that and it truly fills my room with sound and performs absolutely amazing! I'm going to hang on to the 509 at least for the next 6 months or so before I try to sell it just in case the 636 fails the HDMI board. I'm not so sure that ONKYO will be willing to do another HDMI repair program for free and I certainly don't want to go through that again. As far as the person that mentioned he felt there was too much remote control button pressing....I say...that's what remotes are for. You can't expect an electronic unit just to perform every task you want automatically and have it remember it all every time to turn on the system. I found you do have to use it alot while playing music but then, I switch around songs and the items I use to listen to music any way so it doesn't bother me. I feel, if you're just using it to go along for nice sound with your TV set and you're not playing with the volume or other settings all the time, I don't see where you have to mess with the remote at all. I switch between the receiver remote and the Dish remote for operating the TV depending on my viewing modes. But I love the fact that through the HDMI board, if I put a Blu ray disc in to watch, that is pretty much all I have to do, even if everything is completely turned off and shut down. I open the disc tray and put the disc in and as soon as I close the tray and the blu ray begins to load, the 636 turns itself on and my TV on without touching another button. I absolutely love that functionality. Honestly, the only other button I have to push after inserting the disc is the play movie button on the screen and maybe adjust the volume a bit after the movie starts. I don't touch either remotes after that. Then when the movie is done and I remove the disc and power down the blu ray player, the 636 powers itself down and the TV. Awesome in my book. I would definitely recommend this unit to a friend for all of it's outstanding features. But, I would warn them of the possible HDMI failure issues which I will be happy if after two years plus operation, that issue never shows up and the unit continues to function just as well as it has since it was new. Maybe I'll upgrade my review at that time.