Decent mid fi with Onkyo tax-nr809

I previously owned various brands - Counterpoint, Cary, VTL, Usher Audio, Quicksilver, Mirage, Monarchy Audio, Doge….. and more. Sold it all years back and wanted to get back in recently but on a strict budget. So I acquired an older Onkyo tx-nr809 home theater receiver for $150. Retailed about $1100 when new. Added an older Nad dvd/cd player for $50, a $150 Schiit Modi dac. Tried a Polk Rt/Cs surround set up. Well sounded like crap to be honest. Swapped out the polks and got a pair of Tekton Lore speakers for $500. Running the Onkyo in pure direct mode - 2 channel which bypasses all the surround processing, room correction, and tone controls. All I can say is wow!!!! Not quite at the level of some of my prior set ups and equipment but honestly much closer than I would have imagined. Don’t over look some of the older higher end surround receivers repurposed for a 2 channel up. An excellent value !!!! Anyone else taking this approach???