Onkyo TX-NR6050 7.2-Channel AV Receiver Expired

They're not "cutting corners". Sure you can save up and buy a better one, but for a lot of people, I'd argue most, this is just fine. Even if the bought a $800+ receiver 99.9% of people wouldn't even know the difference unless you showed them what to listen for. Trust me I sold home theater for years and most say: "Sounds the same to me!" Which again, is why soundbar are so popular.

You said the ones that you can buy at Goodwill are just as good. How would they test it or even know what to look for? THAT is throwing away money. You also said that most of those lack HDMI, which is a biggie for most. Pass through and Audio Return Channel is a most for a reviver for audio/video. If you're just listening to music, then by all means get the Marantz from Goodwill.

I think you're forgetting that most people don't have the money or want to invest in a $800+ reciever. Shoot most probably don't even have great speakers which I'd argue that is just as important as a reciever. If you buy a $800 you need to get better speakers, a great subwoofer, professional set up, even setting it up yourself wouldn't take advantage of proper tuning.

Dude, you should really give up this line of argument. It doesn't make sense here. You need to take a step back and recognize that your higher-end audiophile goals are not the same as everyone else's. In fact, they match for only a tiny fraction of people (and not the audience here).

You're arguing that people should "save a few hundred more" over a $300 AVR. That may make sense when you're talking a $1k+ AVR, but in this scenario you're basically talking about doubling the price of the unit (or at least 66% more). For someone who's looking at entry-ish level AVRs and they just want to step up from a soundbar for their HDMI TV, what you're talking about is ridiculous; $50 or $100 matters a lot to many people.

People buying this unit aren't spending a few thousand bucks on speakers, they're probably spending less than $500-$1000 or so total on speakers (at least initially). You're discussing room correction, where most people are more interested in the step from crappy soundbar to real 5.1 surround. Sure, Dirac Live can make a big improvement, but most people can get a bigger jump by going from TV speakers or soundbar to a real 5.1 surround setup.

As someone else mentioned, you're trying to sell people on a fancy luxury car ($1k AVR with $3k+ speakers) when they want a nice, practical every day car (modest AVR with fairly entry-level speakers) that's a step-up from the bicycle (TV speakers) or Vespa scooter (soundbar) that they've been using before. Don't recommend what you want; recommend what they want.

To that point, the thrift store and used market is another non-starter. In order to do that effectively, you have to know the brands, models, features, and be willing to do the research and investigation to find something that really does what you need and works and for a reasonable price. Fine for an audiophile, but not practical for someone who's never owned an AVR and is just dipping their toe in. They want the easy option. For someone in that boat, a decent priced, new, relatively featureful AVR, like this one, is going to be a much better option.

98.9% of People want better sound than their TV, have a soundbar. The 1% of people who actually care about sound have a home theater in a box. The .1% of people, audiophiles, wouldn't be looking at this anyway. This is aimed at people who want decent 5.1 and want a better sound than "in a box speakers". Maybe one day they will step up to a better set up. Basically, this is a good starter reviever.

What you're selling is a Mercedes to a person who just wants to Corolla.