hi guys, sorry i haven't been around for a while.
I'm more on google+ and Facebook these days.

meanwhile
has anyone else experienced the major failures from Onkyo/Integra over the past year or so. Audio / Network / HDMI issues?

we are having an insane amount of failures. basically every single one we installed 2013/2014 has failed and needed a replacement.

thinking about starting a class action law suit.

please let me know if you have similar issues, and are interested in being involved.

The .1 series DTRs all had bad HDMI chips that would fail, there actually was a huge thing about it and if you google it you will find a page to check if your AVR is eligible for a FREE replacement.

We actually JUST started selling Integra again and the FIRST ONE we put in the HDMI output BLEW UP! And I mean that, smoke and all

Onkyo started last year replace/repair program for all affected receivers where they offer to repair your unit free of charge ( they will even sent you a box with return label ) or they will give you a credit up to $250 towards a purchase of a new unit, see link [Link: onkyo.ca]
I just sent mine out, but i believe this program is about to expire as of 03/31/2015

I had a near 100% failure rate from that period. it has been discussed ad-nauseum on here.....

We're doing a pretty good amount of business replacing Onkyo AVRs that our competitors installed with trusty Aventages. Yes, we let them know about replace/repair options. Many have already had their units repaired once, twice before. Most don't want anything to do with Onkyo/Integra ever again.

I had to check the date...thought it might be April 1 already.

Anthem has been solid

Never ever will we do Onkyo / Integra again...they told us "its not happening anywhere else"

Done and Done.

I don't care about free replacement. How much does it cost to roll a truck for the service, then to roll a tuck to install the new unit. A lot more that you made on a $1000 receiver. Here's how bad it is, integra was once an unnatainable brand for me (restrictions, regulations, local competition. Now I have been through the rep pushing it on me.

I'll stick with marantz.

I had a Marantz 6007 recently lose video on an HDMI board too.

If you are in business long enough, you will see all your favorite brands suffer some sort of major event.

In business since 1976... now in my second century. :)

It's not a matter of if, it's when.

Then, it's a matter of how they respond. Some respond better than others.

Integra went through a lot of HDMI failures in 2007/8/9 and responded horribly. Bad enough that I won't ever touch them and will remember the names of the suits responsible for the policies as I was privy to high level conversations.

Now that they may be going through this again but are responding better counts little.

I've had a good run with Marantz but the response from the rep sucked.

Thats because MOST reps suck....Pretty much a "old-way" of doing biz pre-internet. Now we get most of our info prior to our "local rep" giving us the info.
Good Brands are "cutting the fat" of local reps and doing direct to business which makes the whole process faster and easier. ( Every rep we deal with is just a filter to the factory, We always end up having to call in direct anyway)

Onkyo/Integra = shitty HDMI boards that fail after a year then even after being 'fixed' fail again a month later. Older DTRs of the 5/6.6 level had an issue with going from Optical or S/PDIF to analog or back where you would get no audio, they claimed this wasn't true at all.

D&M = shitty NICs and UARTS. Anything on a network besides their AVRs and they blame the network for why their AVRs streaming services stop working. The UARTS go to 'sleep' and stop accepting commands unless you constantly poll, they blame Control manufacturers saying its Crestron, etc who's UARTS sleep.

Yamaha = THE FRACKING WORST 232 protocol EVER, also they seem to change between needing RTS/CTS and NOT needing it. Changing from 3 wire to 4 or 5 wire 232 and their volume control is based on taking the current volume and adding 1 to it, problem being if the AVR doesn't respond correctly with the current volume level it goes to SHIT!

NAD = Base units use different HDMI chips than the mid-range and higher units/ They are also built at two different places! so HDMI cables, extenders, Fiber solutions will work with one AVR but NOT another.

Pioneer Pro = Just didn't like their feature set & control.

And that is my review of every AVR manufacturer we have used at my company

Well doggone if i didnt have an old 1007 in the shop that i took out of a customers house just last week - its eligible for repair!!!

Yamaha-Network Control is flawless. We have be fortunate to skip 232 and go network control on these.