My Onkyo TX-SR605 (a reasonably modern home A/V receiver, purchased about 3 years ago) suddenly doesn't work. Well, it works, but the HDMI inputs/outputs don't. Googling and forum searching suggests that having the HDMI board go bad on Onkyo receivers is not unheard of, especially in the era I purchased mine. The receiver is well out of warranty, so any potential repair would be done at my cost, and the "regional repair center" is located in Syracuse, NY, so I'd have to pay for shipping to and fro, plus whatever they want for parts and labor.

A newer but comparable Onkyo model, with more HDMI inputs and a more modern HDMI spec (1.4 instead of 1.3) would run me about $250 if I shop around. My worst nightmare is I pay to have the HDMI board replaced or something and then something else goes wrong with it, so as much as I hate the idea of throwing away (well, recycling) a 3 year-old receiver that cost me $400, I'm wondering if sending it out for repair is wise.

For now, I've just routed all of my video components through my TV's inputs and then routed the TV audio out to my receiver via optical. This works, but having HDMI straight through was convenient and made switching inputs/powering everything on/off a lot easier. The current setup requires a lot of shuffling with different remotes to switch from my PS3 to my DVR or MP3 player.

I've always had good experiences with Onkyo components in the past, but this experience may cause me to consider other brands. If I do, anyone have any 7.1 channel receivers in the sub-$500 range they recommend?