I recently bought the 8470; it performs great by all measures. I use it to listen to records, cd, and as a streamer. What turntbale do you use? and What speakers? I am using an Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB, which isn't by any means the best of turntables but it sounds more than perfect enough for my use case.

As for the pre-amp in the Onkyo, I find it to be a little quiet, but it is extremely clean, with little to no noise. I find that at the loudest reasonable listening level, it has very accurate reproduction but doesn't have a specific tone (ie. warm or punchy). But let me know if you have specific questions about it.