Not buying Onkyo any more (1 Viewer)

[KevinST]

Well, I hate to say this, but I am not buying Onkyo any more. In the last 10 years, I have had 3 of their receivers. I forget the models on the first two, but the third was the SR 803. I enjoy their products when they work, but only when they work. The first one I replaced because it had no fiber optical inputs. The second and third one both died less than 2 months after the warranty expired. The second one was both center channel outputs stopped working, the third one, the repair center told me the "main processor board has failed" and the cost to repair the unit will be nearly $500 so I might as well buy a new one.

I have never liked Sony, but at least they come with a 5 year warranty, not a 3 year warranty.

 

[Echo42987]

Yikes. Go Denon, forget sony.

-Nick-

 

[JeremyErwin]

What's wrong with Sony ES?

 

[Dingiswayo]

Adam Smith never could have foreseen planned obsolescence. Or monopolies, or corporations having the legal rights of natural persons....

Sorry to hear that. Hope mine holds out... :frowning:

 

[Dave Moritz]

I would stay away from Sony ES as well at least as far as the receivers go. I have to agree I would go Denon as well. Another alternative to Denon would be Pioneer Elite or Yamaha. But I would not buy Onkyo anymore ether, and I have owned plenty of Onkyo Integra gear in the past. I would not own Onkyo or Onkyo Integra until they get there act together.

 

[KevinST]

I was looking at a Yamaha, the only benefit of the Sony models is they seem to have a 5 year instead of 2 year warranty.

 

[JohnRice]

Count me in as another to discourage you from Sony. I have owned several of their pieces all the way up to top of the line and only a couple worked very long.

 

[Tom_Price]

I'm gonna have to step in and vouch for Yamaha here. I've owned Onkyos and Sonys over the years, but my last two receiver purchases have been Yamaha. Both are still running strong in their respective setups and one is the flagship RX-V1 which comes with a 5 year warranty from the factory. The V1 is about 4 years old and has never given me any trouble. The other one is another RX model that is about 3 years old and has been out warranty for a couple years and has also never had any problems. The question is which one is better: A receiver that has a 5 year warranty that has problems left and right or a receiver that has a 2 year warranty that never needs service? Give the Yamaha a try. I think you'll like its warm sound and the features it offers. Good luck!

 

[KevinST]

I bought a Harmon/Kardon 247 yesterday. The reason I bought it over the Yamaha was that the Yamaha for the same price only handles video through HDMI, not Audio and Video.

 

[Dave Moritz]

While I would say get the Denon hands down, I have to agree with Tom here. Yamaha does offer good performance and is a reliable brand. I have owned multiple brands myself and I have had my Yamaha RX-V995 for over 10 years now. And it is still being used in my home theater and has never been in the shop for any reason. I have gotten plent of use out of my Yamaha and it has been a strong performer. I used to run my Altec Lancings with dual 15" woofers and dual speakers for the rear surround and never had clipping problems. So not only has the amplifier been a stong performer but was a warm and dynamic sound to it. I would check out both the Denon and Yamaha and choose the one you like best. I also would like to recomend Pioneer Elite and Marantz as they are good brands as well. If you want to get something nicer than any of the above mentioned brands and you do not want or do not care about Dolby True HD or DTS Master Audio. I would highly suggest Adcom as it will be a strong performing peice with very good conectivity.

As far as Sony goes, I am very carefull on what I buy from Sony! Some of the things that Sony makes is very good and the rest is junk or close to it. The only Sony gear I have in my HT currently is a 50" HDTV, DVD ES Player and a Bluray player. I would not even put a Sony ES receiver in my HT, IMHO they do not have what it takes!

 

[THXTheSounds]

This is disturbing news for a big Onkyo fan such as myself. We are a factory direct store that stocks Onkyo and so far we've never had a single one returned. Hopefully Onkyo isn't another Kenwood story? Their THX Certified equipment is from what I hear the best you can buy. If you're not for the Onkyo's anymore however, I recommend the Yamaha's, nothing but wonder stories from them. Of course same with the Onkyo's...so I guess you never know anymore? :/

 

[KevinST]

Watched my first movie on the H/K last night, got to say, the sound quality was great except what the voices, not sure if this is the lack of THX Certified or what, going to play with settings today to see what I can do.

 

[KevinST]

Well, after 4 days of using the H/K, I am really not happy with it. The list of things I do not like is long. Some things are little, some are major. I am going to call the repair place today and have them repair my Onkyo and return the H/K to bestbuy, at least they have the 30 day return policy.

 

[Dan Lindley]

If you love it, let it go. If it loves you, it will come back. If you pay for repairs.

Odd journey!

Onkyo's latest stuff is running a bit hot to hot, dep on model. But for a decent brand with some quality pretense and reputation, they are also a bang for the buck feature leader.

 

[Harminder]

When it comes to their receivers, I have to vouch for Yamaha. Fantastic products they are. I find the sound to have more ooph than other receivers. I even have Yamaha speakers which I find very exceptional.

 

[KevinST]

The Yamaha had great sounds I have to admit, but its features and almost bugs that are getting at me. For example, my dvr is connected by HDMI to the receiver. This limits the type of output I can do with both audio and video.
It will not let my JVC HDILA TV show pictures in regular, its always in full screen, panorama, or cinema, which when watching something like the Victoria Secret fashion show, it makes all the models look fat.

The other thing this does is not allow me to have all channel stereo for something that is only broadcast in stereo or mono, such as music.
What is worse is when I pick a sound setting that sounds good, if I pause, fast forward, or rewind on the dvd, when I push play, it goes back to the default setting which sounds horrible for that show that I am watching. It even does this on its own during commercials.

Also, if the input device is digital (HDMI from the dvd or dvr), the receiver will not use the pre-out for the center channel speaker to use the tv as my center channel and it sometimes does this with the subwoofer pre-out as well.

oh well, the Onkyo will be fixed on Wednesday and I will return the Yamaha to Best Buy on Thursday since its inside the 30 day period.