Sid,
hi,true,, i still have the onkyo 875 ,it sounded good in the begining but later on i felt it lacked power ,so now instead of changing the amp i have added external power amps for all channels except the sorround back , so the 875 is mainly acting as the processor/pre amp ---suddenly all the channels have come alive (low/ extreme high volumes) nad its much more exciting
i understand your point of view. you may want to look at Denon 3808A or onkyo 906. I myself have come from onkyo 875 just recently to 3808A which also has Audissey dynamic eq and volume which makes it really amazing especially when you are driving it at low volumes the grunt of sub and dialogue every thing remain same as if you are driving it at high volume. I also took the audition of few others like marantz 8003 pre and power combo which was around 1.75 llkh + but in the end denon gave me the best movie experience. Onkyo was also good but it use to give me headache especially while bit streaming from my HTPC to it and it use to loose out on signal most of the time which could be rectified with firmware update but you have to send it back to do so. whereas denon has the ethernet port through which you can update the firmware and also can hook up with your LAN to listen to music from computer.
I don't know who you can go to in hyderabad but can guaranty most of the people have attitude while selling as they want people to take things blindfoldedly and don't ask them any questions. also, not many dealers are knowledgble enough to explain anything.
so my advice would be trust your ears but in this price range look for Denon 3808A.
kind regards,
swatantra