Sync detection is important, but it's not everything. The S800 has
great sound, and yes, it has good sync detection (though there are
other (recently discontinued) 'portables' with better). It's a good
portable receiver housed in a grossly oversized plastic body. It will
always deliver portable performance because that's what it was designed
for. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not reasonable to expect
the S800 to equal an R8 in overall performance. Or look at it this way:
If the S800 even came close to the R8 in overall performance, the R8
would really have to suck....which it doesn't.

Sometimes I have the feeling that we're not "allowed" to subject the
S800 to the same kind of critical scrutiny that we routinely subject
other receivers to, and I don't understand that. (I'm not saying that
this is Jim's attitude, but it's an attitude I encounter periodically
here and elsewhere.) The 800 is a good receiver. It can withstand the
scrutiny well enough. We don't have to pretend that the S800 is the
best receiver ever made! It's great to be 'loyal' to a particular make
or model, but jeez...at some point we have to get a grip!

Steve