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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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)
Customer Review: Even Better Than I Expected
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife got me this for Christmas. Our Technics receiver blew a channel and it looked like getting it repaired would be more trouble than it was worth. She paid just over $300 for the Onkyo---which I considered a bargain then and amazing now---especially since the price seems to have gone up.
My expectations for this receiver were that it would cover the same bases as the Technics at about the same price we paid for the old receiver, with the addition of up to date capabilities (many of which I don't need). What I found after setting it up is that the Onkyo's ability to reproduce high fidelity music is markedly superior to what I'd been used to with the Technics (which I'd thought pretty good). It's easier to set up and use than my old one too; the remote especially is well designed and boasts many more controls than my old one did. I really really like the remote. In a 360 sq ft room the SR606 has more than enough power for music and movies. My setup is 5.1 but I'm confident 7.1 would be no problem.
Cons (all relatively minor): 1)THe Audyssy auto speaker setup is a neat feature but after trying it three times I finally gave up and configured the speakers manually---which, as others have said, is fairly easy. 2) My old receiver was big, this one is bigger; in this era of shrinking electronics, this receiver bucks the trend, but of course people expect much more out of A/V equipment these days. 3) THe SR606 has no phono input, so I put a phono preamp (Pyle Pro, $25) between the turntable and the amp connected to the CD analog component input, and since my CD player is connected optically the receiver figures out on its own which input is which and plays the right one automatically. The main point is that the Onkyo is smart enough to sort out the signals without programming, which impressed me. Another point is that this receiver has multiple means of connecting components; depending upon the component, either HDMI, optical, coaxial, S-Video, or RCA. Look at that---even when I started listing the cons I ended up with pros.
Games, upscaling, 1080p: I have no idea.
All in all, this is a fantastic receiver, and it made for a great musical Christmas.
Customer Review: Buzzes like a fridge....
Summary: 3 Stars
Well not exactly like a fridge, more like two or three fridges.
This receiver is powerful and decodes everything under the sun. The sound coming out of this receiver is great and very clean. I've never bought an A/V receiver before and was a bit nervous about setting it up, but I set this up very easily with almost no learning curve. The Audyssey speaker set-up is very easy and gives great results.
The first problem with the receiver is that it runs very hot. Too hot to touch. I think this is by design and from what I've read these receivers do not have overheating issues, but you have to be careful where you put it. Forget about having a closed cabinet. Also, the thing runs very hot in a cabinet with an open front but with a closed back. Basically you need this behemoth out in the open if you want to be sure you don't start a small fire. The thing is huge, about half the size of a coffee table, and I don't like having it out, especially when I have a cabinet with all my other devices.
The second problem with the receiver is the deal-breaker however. If you have a PS3, the receiver causes a terribly annoying buzzing at mid to high volumes. Basically any volume 25+ causes the buzz. The buzz is incredibly loud and comes out the speakers. From what I've read Onkyo apparently fixed this issue and came out with the Onkyo TX-SR606B. This is what I ordered from J&R, and assuming they sent me the 606B, the receiver still buzzes.
Overall, I would recommend the receiver if you don't have a PS3. If you do, then I don't know-it's up to you. I expect to be completely satisfied with a $500 dollar electronic device, so I'm sending it back. And I never send things back.
Something to keep in mind is that although the receiver decodes TrueHD and DTS-HD, if you have a PS3 it's not even needed. The PS3 decodes these formats itself and sends the uncompressed PCM data to the receiver. The receiver doesn't handle any of the decoding. I expect my PS3 to be my Bluray/DVD player for many years, so in the end I may not even need all the features of the SR606 and can just go with a non-buzzing receiver that doesn't have a tendency to heat my apartment in August.
Customer Review: Great Value. Set-Up was OK. Here are some tips.
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this from Amazon last week and finally set it up to my liking. I have the following components input into the receiver: Samsung BD-P1500 blu-ray, DirecTV TiVO (soon to be replaced with HD DVR), and Nintendo Wii. The blu-ray is connected with HDMI. The TiVO is connected with composite (red, white, yellow). The Nintendo Wii is connected by component (red, green, blue). I have an LG 42LB5DC TV (42" LG full HD 1080p) that is connected to the receiver with HDMI. All the components are connected to the receiver and I have 1 HDMI cable going to my TV.
Tip #1: I have 5.1 surround and was looking forward to the Audyssey Speaker Setup. I hooked up my speakers properly, however I connected my rear surrounds to the "Rear Surround Back" area. This receiver does 7.1. I don't have 7.1 so I thought that I would just skip the sides. Unfortunately the Audyssey setup kept giving me errors. I finally connected my REAR surrounds to the SIDE surrounds and the setup went through perfectly. Audyssey did a great job balancing my speakers.
Tip#2: I was looking forward to the 1080i upscaling for analog signals. Since I am upgrading to a DirecTV HD DVR, my only analog component is the Nintendo Wii. When I first connected the Wii and turned everything on the receiver was not detecting my 16:9 widescreen preference. I had to setup the receiver to make all HDMI signals go to "Auto" instead of "Through". "Through" is the default setting. This just means push through any signal without doing anything to it (pass through). Once I selected "Auto" the Wii scaled appropriately.
Upconversion is only OK. But, you're getting a good value. In the future are you really going to need 1080i or 1080p upconversion? Probably not. That being said, analog TV signals upconverted don't look as good as you'd expect them to. However, I am sure the receiver will do a fine job once I upgrade to HD TV programming. The Wii looks fine for now.
I am very happy with the price and the performance of this receiver. It is exactly what I was looking for. Does the job well. Also remember you're probably going to be using all HDMI in the future. This receiver has 4 HDMI inputs. So it is definitely future-proof.
Customer Review: A Non-functional Receiver
Summary: 2 Stars
The TX-SR606 is chock full of features. Up-scaling video to 1080i, up-converting output to HDMI. We bought it for the HDMI switching and to eliminate over half of the cables hanging from our Sony LCD, which it did fantastically. If only it would have worked. A Wii hooked up to Component 1 IN did not get transmitted to the TV either by HDMI or by Component OUT. Trying it on Component 2 IN made no difference. Connecting it directly to the TV verified that the Wii and its component feed worked properly. You can select either of the component IN's as the source, and assign them to an audio source and button on the remote, but you do not have an option in any of the menus to set the output path and no path seemed to work at all. In the receiver's favor, the HDMI switching did work perfectly with three HDMI sources connected.
The sound of the 606 proved to be quite bright, almost tinny compared to our 6 year old warm sounding Denon AVR-1803. The Audyssey auto speaker setup, sent the front sound almost equally to all three front speakers instead of concentrating speech on the center speaker which is designed specifically for clear speech. This made for a more muddled speech quality. It also made the surrounds a good bit louder than manual setup using a sound meter, resulting in some speech being drowned out by surround effects. We were not impressed by the sound quality as compared to an older Denon, and even less impressed by a non-working Component IN.
The remote was also somewhat strange in that you had to keep selecting the Receiver button to send commands to the receiver as opposed to the TV, the other selection button. Receiver should be the default selection on a receiver's remote and you should not have to hit two buttons to perform an action on the receiver. This in turn made the receiver not work on a Harmony 880 remote as programmed in by Logitech. Each command would have to be specially programmed as a macro as each required more than one button press.
All of these combined resulted in the low score I have given this receiver. Despite glowing reviews by most other people, there were too many issues with the receiver to warrant more than two stars.
Customer Review: Awesome receiver ! Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD-MA
Summary: 5 Stars
Whoever said this Onkyo 606 is subpar or not 5 star, I think they have some problems connecting or adjusting to work with their components. I have to say this is the best receiver @ $377.80 with 4 HDMI inputs and 1 output, it performs superbly, you get the taste of true hometheater sound & video. Everything works as advertised or reviewed by earlier buyers, I have no problems hooking up or adjusting to my upconverting 1080p HDMI DVD recorder, VCR, DVD players and Samsung 52" LCD 60hz HDTV, hooking up via HDMI. Running on 2 floor Paradigms, 1 Paradigm center, JBL sub, Insignia rear L/R surrounds and Sony bookshelf as L/R surrounds (mix and match as budget allowed years gone by), this 606 delivers very clean and clear, powerful sound and beautiful video on DVDs from blockbuster, even music off FM local stations turns into beautiful music. The bass delivered with beauty, soft, deep and low. My old Pioneer barely wakes my JBL sub except big movies, coming from 5.1 old pioneer Dolby prologic surround to 7.1 all channel True HD & DTS-HD MA is a big trip and well worth, for those who hesitate to upgrade to 7.1 channel, GO FOR IT ! Onkyo 606 is worth every penny bought from Amazon.com. (I am waiting till thanksgiving to get a hand on Blu-ray Sony S350, and that will top off the system) sweet!
PS: make sure you read thorough manual cause that will make setup a smooth and enjoyable ride, especially those who upgrade from older several years old A/V receiver that have no HDMI. read it first, everything is digital now not much of fidgeting like old day, no more analog cord red, blue or yellow, green stuff...just HDMI and volla!
UPDATE 2/08/09: I finally got the Sony S550 to match with this 606 and have already played movies both forms: Dolby TrueHD (Traitor) and DTS-HD-MA (Rambo 2008). I have to say that those who doubt or question this receiver, say no more the movies sound in those two formats decoded and performed by the 606 are stunning (bad axx. period) If you have never watched blu-ray in those formats you have missed, I repeat, missed one of the best things on earth ever happened! You will love the end enjoyment that this onkyo can give you in your own home.