Are the new Onkyos good receivers? (1 Viewer)

[Jim Williams]

I have ordered an Onkyo TX-SR601 through an employee purchase plan. I currently have a Panny HE100 so I think that the Onkyo would be an upgrade, but I want to know if the Onkyos are good receivers. I have read on this and other forums that some people have had problems with the SR600. It is not much of an upgrade if I am going to have problems with it.

 

[George Pappas]

Jim

I own an Onkyo tx-sr600 and I found no problem with the unit. I am happy with my purchase and I find the unit has plenty of power. The 601, as I understand it, has a bit beefier power supply and my company sells it. A sound difference between the 600 and 601 is absolutely nothing and don't let anybody convince you different. We heard them both in our AVS dept. Even the 700 and 701 have no noticable sound quality than the 600 and 601 models. The model 800 does sound sweeter and more neutral. If you want to go up from 600/601, then go to the 800 for over double the cost, otherwise save your money. After hearing the 800, I'm still very much happy with my 600. The 601 should be a very good machine for you. I know you'll be happy.

 

[andre-k]

onkyos are great recievers,yet I am bringing my txsr500 back because for some reason the dolby digital isnt working, and I have tried everything to fix it. Just wondering, how much do you get the 600 with your discount?

 

[Jim Williams]

Thanks George, I appreciate your reply. It is going to take 4-6 weeks for it to get here (factory direct) and I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.

 

[HienD]

Jim, your right when you say there were some quality control issues. Mostly with the tx-sr600s and sr500s. I think the sr500s had more serious problems. Audio drop out and lack of power for starter. I have a sr600 and it works and sounds fine. None of the problems like distortion or improper dolby ex decoding exist on my unit. If you go to hometheaterspot and look in the onkyo forum you'll know what I'm talking about. I was also looking into buying the sr601 but got a really good deal on a sr600. Powered zone 2 doens't intrest me one bit. You should notice a difference since, the sound difference between my old pioneer and the onkyo was very noticeable.

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

Some 600's and 700's were afflicted with a problem with the EX decoding, but it was an obscure problem that most people wouldn't hear. In fact, I was the first person to notice it and bring it to Onkyo's attention. I would imagine that they've straightened that out for their new models, so it shouldn't be an issue.

However, if you want to test it once you get it, here's how:
1. Turn the unit so that EX decoding is on full time (i.e. not AUTO).
2. Using Avia or any of the DVD's with THX Optimode, play the phase test for the left and right surrounds.
3. When the IN PHASE test is playing, you should hear the tone from the center surround speaker only. When the OUT OF PHASE test is playing, you should hear the tones from both the left and right surrounds only. The problem with some 600's was that the out of phase tone didn't play at all or played at a drastically lower level. Onkyo found that it was a component problem and will fix it for anyone affected.

That being said, I know of one person who got a 601 and it had crackling in two channels. He then exchanged it and got one that had crackling in ALL channels. After trying a H/K receiver, all was well... so it wasn't his speakers. Hopefully you won't run into any problems.