Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)
by Onkyo
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List Price: Our Price: $179.99 You Save: $319.01 (64%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)
Customer Review: Great starter or step up from HTIB system
Summary: 5 Stars
After spending about a month searching reviews on the web and recommendations on home theater forums (not to mention the reviews here), I decided that the Onkyo 606 had all the features I wanted, at a price point I could afford; and was well-reviewed and recommended.
I've had this product for a little more than a month and I love it. Better yet, so does my wife.
I want to get something out of the way up front: the heat issue that many talk about. Yes, it does get hot in a closed cabinet -- when I've got the unit on, I currently open the cabinet door to get a good air exchange and it has taken care of any potential problem. I have a few inches clearance on each side, and about 6-8 inches above. All of this is just precautionary; and I will say that my DISHNetwork HD DVR runs much hotter. (I plan to install a small, quiet cabinet exhaust fan in the near future so I won't have to leave the cabinet door open.)
I'm very happy with the clear, crisp sound delivered to the speakers (Polk Audio RM6750 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker System (Set of Six, Black)), even from TV. My room size is about 13 x 25, and I only need to set the volume about "40" to fill the room with sound.
Currently I've got 1 HDMI in from my DISH receiver, and component inputs from a Wii and DVD player. (Planning on purchasing BluRay soon.) The switching on the 606 allows me to easily switch sources, to deliver a signal to my Sony HDTV via a single HDMI out. All of which is nice. I even have an input setup for my laptop hookup to stream video via S-Video (with stereo audio).
Other reviewers have taken exception to the advertised upscaling to 1080i/720p, but it is good enough to make the non-HD channels look clearer (but still not equivalent to what you get from a 720p or 1080p source signal).
I do occasionally hear a popping (very rarely) from the speakers when watching DISH dvr, but I read in the discussion boards that this is a known issue with the DISH dvr and a firmware upgrade is apparently on the way.
The setup was pretty easy, just took awhile to get all the cables and wires run how I wanted them.
I would recommend this receiver for those who are looking to jump into home theater with both feet; or looking to upgrade from a HTIB (without jumping into the really high end stuff yet). I fall into the latter category. And, I'm definitely satisfied with my purchase.
Customer Review: Great Receiver for the price - UPDATE HDMI failures
Summary: 3 Stars
Updated July 2010.
As many, many reviewers now point out... this unit will have HDMI board problems somewhere in the neighborhood of one year after purchase. Wish I had known that before I spent 4 hours trouble shooting every component and cable in the system only to find the info readily available through a google search. Now, I was lucky in the following ways.... I was still under the 2 yr warranty when mine failed, there was a local shop in Dallas that was authorized to work on the unit so I didn't have to ship it, and finally, the backlog of units to be repaired had been worked down so it only took 4 days to get it back from the shop. But even though I have a happy ending, I must tell you that you CAN NOT purchase this product and expect it to work properly without an HDMI failure within 2 years. Don't even think about it!!! You will not get "lucky".
In fairness, once I got it back it works well. But who wants to go through this hassle? In general though, Onkyo's other products are probably fine to buy.
There's plenty of other techno geeks who can write solid bit/byte reviews. So, I'll just give you the layperson review (that's what most of us need right?). I upgraded to this from a much older Onkyo because when I got my BD player and Plasma, I found the receiver didn't decode the audio for 5.1. Grrrrrr!!! Frustrating to watch extreme HD video with Pro Logic sound. So, I researched and put this bad boy in my Amazon cart at 499 but didn't pull the plug. Then one day, mysteriously, while checking my cart on something else I saw that it had dropped to 399. Decided to yank the ripcord. Shipping was super fast even though I had selected the free Super saver shipping. Got the thing in ~3 days. Most of the hookup was super easy and you gotta love only needing 3 HDMI cables to do everything you need for Cable box and BD player. Loved using the Audyssey setup mic. And my surround sound has never sounded this good. Yahtzeee!
Now as always, it took at little jimmying with settings at some point to get everything right. The manual is written by someone who thinks we like Treasure Hunts. You track down the page that has your topic (you think), read a while and just as your almost to the treasure, you are referred to another page. Jeeeezzz. This last bit is mostly why I gave it a 4 star.
At this price point though, it is a total steal. I recommend.
Customer Review: Quite A Performer!
Summary: 5 Stars
After considerable shopping, reading of reviews, I decided on the Onkyo 606. I have been very pleased with its performance at all levels. As others have mentioned, it has inputs that will accommodate all of your needs that I can think of. Set up was easy, though thin fingers will help with speaker wire installation! Plenty of power to run my system (7.1). I was also influenced by the "hedge against the future" advantage of this unit. The Audyssey speaker calibration was easy to use and very effective in a room with some unique demands. It will calculate distance, volume, and tone of each speaker to create a full surround sound from the listening area. (You take 3 readings - not just one.) If you don't like the sound, you can redo the readings, or manually calibrate to suit your taste. The available Listening Modes are numerous & quite impressive, including some unique to Onkyo receivers (such as Modes for unplugged, rock, studio, classical, to TV shows set in a studio vs. cinema settings and game settings). I find the chart in the manual very helpful in choosing a mode for my listening or viewing choice. Unlike some receivers, the different Listening Modes are noticeably different from one another, giving you more choices for what sounds good to your ear.
Many of the reviews have focused on its video pluses, and there are many, but my primary use is for audio. (Though its upconversion of a DVD to an LG LCD was quite stunning via HDMI.) I have played FM stations, CD's,DIV Audio, and SACD's through this receiver and its range and power render a clear, accurate, balanced surround field. It can read the signal from an SACD via the HDMI cable, eliminating the need for the 5 or 7 analog cables usually required for multi channel devices (though it can take them, too). The 90 wts. per channel is more than enough to drive my Bose 601 floors, Bose 301 surrounds, and Bose 201 surround back speakers with plenty of oomph left for the subwoofer. I did tweak the center speaker a bit and dialog is clear and audible in all Listening modes.
I have had no problems with hum or noise that some have reported. Running hot? All receivers make heat, so allow some top space and exhaust for ventilation. I have about 6-8 inches above and leave a cabinet door open for extended play and have had no problems or heat issues.
This is a good receiver with tons of options and capabilities. For the price, it outperforms the field. I can recommend highly.
Customer Review: Great receiver; a few minor nits
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this receiver about a month now, and I'm using Polk RM6750 speakers and subwoofer with it. This receiver was easy to set up, it sounds great, and it's easy to use. All in all, highly recommended. That said, there are a few warts worth mentioning that I didn't see in other reviews.
* Component to HDMI conversion. I'm still using an old progressive scan DVD player. Right now I've got the video hooked directly to my Samsung LN46A650, and the audio hooked to the tx-sr606 via coaxial (coaxial and optical are completely equivalent over short runs). It looks and sounds great. I also tried hooking the component video to the receiver, and then the receiver's HDMI cable to the TV. Even when I set the HDMI to "pass through" rather than up-convert, the tx-sr606 makes the picture ugly. I examined what was going on closely, and it seems that the tx-sr606 produces an image the same resolution as when the DVD player is hooked directly to the TV, but it messes up the colors. Skin tones look particularly putrid. So if you're going to use component video, I'd recommend hooking that directly to the TV and not going through the receiver.
* PC (MacBook Pro) to HDMI output via pass through. By setting everything to "just scan" mode, I'm able to see a full 1920x1080 image on the TV when I hook my MacBook Pro to the receiver (DVI to HDMI), and the receiver to the TV via HDMI. However, two things are busted with this set up: (1) the colors are again messed up by the receiver, and (2) the anti-aliasing of fonts doesn't work right any more. The problem might be with my setup, but I played around with the color profiles and it didn't seem to matter. So right now I have the laptop hooked directly to the TV, and then I have its audio going to the receiver (mini toslink to toslink). Everything looks and sounds great in this setup.
Because of the above, I almost never use the receiver's on screen display. This is not an issue, as everything you need is displayed directly on the front of the receiver as well.
I'm really happy with the receiver, despite the above issues. Other reviews complained about the receiver getting hot, but it doesn't get more than toasty warm in my setup. I do have it extremely well ventilated (on an open bookshelf), so that no doubt helps.
Customer Review: Screen Looks Like it's from a Desktop Calculator... Ick!
Summary: 3 Stars
Don't get me wrong, the sound quality is great and the features are plentiful, but this thing's screen looks horrible and that's a factor that matters to me. If you're hiding it in a closet, fine. But I have to look at it under my TV and the one line of green text reminds me of my desktop calculator. It's 2008, Onkyo! Frankly at any price point, a receiver's screen should be better looking and more useful. Heavily abbreviated text on something as physically large as this thing boggles my mind. The pixels that make up the letters are measurable on a standard 5th grader's ruler. I realize that there is an on-screen menu, and it's pretty good. The major downside of it is, Onkyo uses its proprietary nomenclature to label menus and tools yet doesn't define what it means. Why not call it what it really is and then put a subtitle with the Onkyo name?
I have a Samsung TV that communicates with the Onkyo over HDMI. So if I turn the volume up with my TV remote, the receiver's volume actually goes up. Not bad. If I turn my TV off w/the Samsung's remote, the receiver automatically turns off too. The problem here is, if I turn my TV on with it's remote, the Onkyo turns on and stupidly flips to Game mode, not Cable/Sat mode. There is no HDMI cable in the Game port! All HDMI ports are properly associated with the corresponding unit. I don't get why it defaults to Game mode when Cable/Sat is the only HDMI with data coming through it?
Also, when I turn off the Onkyo either manually or via hitting the power button on my TV's remote, sometimes a loud, screeching sound comes from my TV speakers (which are "blocked" from working for some reason by the Onkyo, and nobody can figure out why). This didn't happen with my previous receiver. I haven't replicated it on another TV because I don't have another HDMI-capable TV. In fact, one TV is enough.
Finally, it gets HOT!
So, I'm going to send this back and go for something else. If you don't care about looks and common sense user interface planning, then this is the budget receiver for you! It does have great sound quality but I just have no tolerance for things that could have been done to enhance the user experience for next to nothing, and weren't.