I've never owned an Onkyo before but they were one of the brands I researched along with H/K and Denon when I was looking for an AVR. The Onkyo heat thing is pretty common on the 'net and concerned me somewhat, so it ended up being between the H/K and the Denon, which I settled on in the end(2809).

Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.