It makes sense comparing Yamaha RX-V385 vs Onkyo TX-8260 because they both are able to give some premium features.
A significant difference between the receivers in the number of channels, Yamaha RX-V385 has 5.1 versus 2.0 for Onkyo TX-8260. Regarding power, then RX-V385 has such a W/Ohm ratio - 70/6 when TX-8260 has a power of 80/8, 160/6. The THD is the same and is 0.09%.
Characteristics of digital to analog converter (DAC) are different, Burr-Brown 384 KHz/32-bit for RX-V385 and AK4452 384 KHz/32-bit for the TX-8260. None of the models support Bi-amping. The Yamaha RX-V385 can transmit an audio signal directly to the amplifier and bypasses any DSP processing.
Only the Onkyo TX-8260 can connect to the Internet via WI-FI. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. The Apple Music service is implemented on considered devices: AirPlay. Only the TX-8260 supports Spotify. Only the RX-V385 provides HDMI signal transmission in standby mode. The RX-V385 can scale the input HDMI signal, unlike the TX-8260. Dolby Vision technology found support only on the RX-V385. Only the RX-V385 supports HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC). The HDMI eARC is available only on the RX-V385. Of the two receivers in our comparison, HDMI CEC is present in only the RX-V385. The TX-8260 has a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player. A voice control is not available. An ECO mode is only available for the RX-V385. Unfortunately, the setup assistant is not available in each of the models.
None of the rivals equipped with Dolby Atmos multichannel audio decoder. The receivers do not support the surround sound technology DTS:X.