Comments on “Onkyo TX-SR804S 7.1 Channel Up-Converting THX Certified A/V Receiver (Silver)”, Page 2
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Awesome
Great reciever with lots of options. Sounds great. Don’t think twice about making this purchase.
Onkyo TX-SR804
Great Receiver for any home system, very easy to setup and fun to use with music or movies.
Onkyo TX-SR804 7.1 Channel Up-Converting THX Certified A/V Receiver
I purchased this receiver a while back after months of searching for a receiver that would fit all of my digital needs,and a receiver that would not be obsolete in six months. Let me tell you,this receiver rocks and am I ever glad that I made the decision to purchase the Onkyo TX-SR804 7.1 Channel Up-Converting THX Certified A/V Receiver!First off the price is hard to beat for all that you get what with the HDMI,upconverting, 1080p video,and hdmi upconversion!This unit is a real steal at this price!
I have this receiver connected to all seven channels using my 5.1 surround sound speakers from a Kenwood all in one box surround sound system that I had purchased about 5 years ago! I just added two bigger sized speakers to act as my front left and right speakers, and just moved the old front speakers to the sides, and moved the old side speakers to the rear,and kept the old center speaker and subwoofer to complete the seven speaker array! Boy does this receiver ever sound good. With the THX modes and all of the other choices of sound modes to choose from, you can spend days going through them all trying to figure out which ones sound the best!The HD video quality is just as good as when I had the satellite box connected directly to the television!This receiver will definetly satisfy all of your audio-video needs!!
Great Value
I was replacing a 7yr old Denon unit which was rated highly in its time, and served me extremely well. However, I felt the unit was losing some power and showing its age, and I needed a second digital-capable unit for another location. I spent a great deal of time researching this buy, and it came down the Denon 2807 and the Onkyo. I opted for the Onkyo due to excellent price from Amazon, very good reviews, THX rating, and a savings of about $200 over the Denon.
The shipment from Amazon was amazingly fast, appearing in just two days. Packaging of the unit by Onkyo was excellent, and installation/ integration into my setup was very straight-forward. I must say that I am accustomed to home theatre installations with lots of wires, read (and follow) instructions, and expect instructions to be confusing. In this case, the manual is very well written, in legible English, a decided plus. The Audyssey system was in no way difficult to use, and the results (speaker distances read by the system) were extremely accurate. One note here is that reviews of the Denon have stated that same Audyssey system measures sound in three separate areas, to maximize the listener’s enjoyment even if they are not in the one “sweet spot.” The Onkyo system measures just one location. Since I am the one sitting in the single sweet spot, I was not overly forlorn.
The unit automatically detects the incoming digital sound (DTS, Dolby, etc) so I have not had then need to fiddle with them on the fly. There are a host of settings if you indeed feel the need to modify them, but any incremental gain I might attain by fine-tuning those myriad settings just doesn’t seem worth the effort. Perhaps that fact is one of the reasons I opt for a single unit versus buying separate components: Yes, I might be able to tweak the sound better in the latter, but I find it far easier to pop in the disk, let the receiver do its thing, and enjoy the results I get. I was accustomed to high end sound, and the Onkyo does not disappoint. I noticed a heightened clarity in the center speaker versus my older Denon. In some of my reference DVD material, the Onkyo did not provide an appreciably “bigger” sound vs. the old Denon (the Onk is rated 10 watts more per channel), but I notice the surround speakers produce clearer sound and separation. I am as yet focusing on the front speakers to discern a difference. In the overall, it is a testament to Denon that even with a seven year difference, their technology still holds its own vs. the new Onk.
After only a week of auditioning, it is hard to determine whether the Onk investment was better than if I had gone down the Denon path. After all, what will the $200 cost difference mean in a month, or a year? The only way to compare the two units is to play them side by side in your listening room. The fact is, the unit offers lots of great features at an extremely attractive price, and the build quality seems to be there. Some reviewers have noted a few drawbacks (e.g., only stereo in Zone 2), but the manual states that (and manuals are available for download from the manufacturer’s website for those details). The remote is a tad big, but after a short while I am already accustomed to it.
Although I might yearn for more oomph, more quality, more bells and whistles from my receiver, I wanted to stay in a certain price range. The Onk offers solid performance and versatility at an excellent price; it rates 5 stars as a great value.
Sounds Great
Hooked up to RM6800 surround speakers. I put in Master and Commander DVD and was blown away. Great System so far.
Excellent!
Here’s my setup:
Speakers: 6 AudioSource AS6C in ceiling, ctr: AudioSource LS300/C, sub: powered Definitive 10″
TV: Panasonic 53″ rear-projection component high-def
IN: high-def cable dvr, XBox 360, Zenith DVD, CD
Using component high-def in and out, coax or optical audio in.
DTS sources sound AWESOME. 2-channel input with Neo is great too. Setup is easy, especially with the microphone to calibrate speakers. The remote is big and not totally universal for all my stuff, but the other remotes work the Onkyo’s volume, so it’s fine. It is large so check dimensions and your space first. You’ll want space above for ventilation. I’m not using HDMI (yet!) and had considered the 803 and 703, but HDMI for future growth and less availability of the other models landed me the 804 with no regrets.
A Bargain.
After comparing the specs to Denon, Murantz, and Yamaha. I found the TX-SR804 to be the best buy. Not only does its price surpass Denon, Murantz, and Yamaha (especially Denon,) It’s amp sounds Great!
I recently auditioned some speakers at Simply Stereo (a local audio shop over hear near Chicago…bing..plug)and ended up buying some Klipsch RF-7 series, front, center, and rears. Listening to the audio through their high-end amp at the store and comparing it to the TX-SR804’s amp (at home,) the sound was, I think better.
Hooking up all the connections was just as simple as it would be with any other receiver.
The on-screen menu makes it a lot easier to adjust all the parameters, and if you don’t use the on-screen feature; you can simply look at the TX-SR804’s display to make your adjustments.
Love it.
Still the best bang for your buck
Time came to upgrade the AV system again. after exaustive research the conclusion remained the same. Onkyo. Having previously owned a 797, the precurser to the 804, I have been very satisfied with onkyo’s build quaity and clean sound. But now I needed to supply a new hdtv system with all the latest hdmi connections. I really wanted to try to consolidate all the anolog wires for the DVD AUDIO into a single wire. I also wanted to get sacd through that wire but reportedly you would need at least hdmi 1.2 for that. Also considered was Dennon, and marantz which has the only receiver with hdmi v. 1.2 yet. But they too fell short of the value offered by onkyo. The 804 does absolutly everything i could want and sounds amazing when playing dvd audio and sacd through my klipsch legends speakers. So for the $679 shipped from JR’s, this represents one of the best deals on the internet. By the way Oppo offers the only dvd audio/sacd universal player i could find that does both thorough the hdmi. If you haven’t heard of this $150 “giant killer” give it a google. You’ll be pleasanly surprised.