Speaking of bass management, the 701 is one of the first receivers that allows you to use this function on the 5.1 channel analog inputs intended for DVD-A and SACD players. To achieve this, the receiver converts the signals back to digital using 192-kHz, 24-bit converters, a fact that might render the SACD and DVD-A crowd apoplectic. But I think that’s preferable to finding out the hard way about the deep bass in the surround channels on the 5.1 SACD mix of The Dark Side Of The Moon as your speakers go up in smoke. Besides, you can always bypass all of the digital manipulation by hitting the Pure Audio button.

While it may seem grossly unfair to stack the deck against the Onkyo by comparing it to components three and fifteen times its price, this mid-priced receiver more than held its own sonically. Many mid- and low-priced receivers tend to overemphasize detail, using a heightened sense of clarity to hide poor bass performance, but the Onkyo sounded smooth and powerful, with a wonderful sense of liveliness through the midrange. While it couldn’t quite match the brute-force control of the Outlaw (see review this page) when driving the Snells, the 701 never sounded like it was running out of steam, always remaining tuneful and engaging. The Dolby Pro Logic II modes seemed to work particularly well, and I spent many enjoyable nights watching everything from baseball games to Leno through the Magneplanars.

Trying to cram so many functions into a single component undoubtedly limits just how far you can go with a surround receiver, and there comes a point where separates are the next logical move. The power amplifier consumes most of the space in a receiver, so the obvious step is to split the receiver’s functions into a power amplifier and a reamp/processor/tuner. It’s kind of like trading in your minivan for a pickup truck and a luxury sedan: By specializing, each component is likely to do a better job than an all-in-one solution.