Jeremy Anderson
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Nov 23, 1999
- Messages
- 1,049
Thanks to the HTF, I decided to replace my JVC RX-778vbk with the Onkyo TX-DS595. Yesterday, I got my Onkyo delivered to my office, where I proceeded to stare at it all day until my boss finally said "you really want to go home and play, don't you?" So he lets me leave early, and I quickly yank the JVC from its shelf and put the 595 in its place. Though I've seen reviews to the contrary, I had no problem whatsoever hooking up bare wire to the binding posts and the installation of all wires took less than 5 minutes. The initial setup was painless and quick. All options are very nicely laid out using the front panel, and within 10 minutes I had all the options set and a rough calibration done using the internal test tones. So I popped in Avia.
Boy, were those internal tones way off base, but after setting with Avia, everything evened out correctly. And let me say, I was impressed with the warmth and clarity of this receiver. I'm so used to my JVC (which has IC amps, but only for the center and surrounds, and you can tell) that I was astounded at how smoothly the 5-channel pink noise pan transitioned from speaker to speaker. My speakers are Polk R10 mains/CS175i center/R10 surrounds/PSW350 sub, and they'd never sounded as clear or full-sounding with the JVC.
So my first thought was "let's see how DTS sounds" (since my JVC was DD only). Of course... this is where I find out that my DVD player doesn't pass a DTS signal (which I've lamented in another thread), so no DTS for me just yet. Though slightly disappointed by this setback, I decide to pop in Fantasia 2000 and play the DD version of the final segment. Dumbfounded is the only word I that can begin to describe how I felt when I heard it. You hear the phrase "jaw-dropping," but rarely do you actually drop your jaw at something (which is a good thing, because if you did it all the time, you'd look pretty damned silly). My Polks suddenly had a clarity to them that they'd never had before -- instruments hovered between speakers and horns sounded more like horns.
To those who question the 75wpc rating of this unit, have no fear... This thing has more than enough to power a small to medium room. I kept cranking Saving Private Ryan ever-so-slightly higher, to a point where I'm sure my neighbors were asking themselves who I was murdering.
So then I pop in a few CD's to check out DPL2. Others have covered this topic more than adequately, but let me say this -- I'm impressed at how much better DPL2 is than DPL, and after hearing Radiohead's OK COMPUTER as electronic instruments passed from speaker to speaker about my room without ever detracting from the front soundstage, I will be using the DPL2 music mode quite a bit. After a little tweaking with my digital cable box, I'm also quite impressed with DPL2 movie mode for broadcast television, at least in comparison to DPL.
To sum it all up, I couldn't be more pleased (despite the DTS setback). Setup is easy, the sound is very warm and pleasing, and it is probably the best money I've spent so far on my mini-HT. I was particularly pleased when my friends showed up to watch THE GIFT last night, and one of them said "wow... the sound is f&*king awesome!" And isn't that what it's all about?
Boy, were those internal tones way off base, but after setting with Avia, everything evened out correctly. And let me say, I was impressed with the warmth and clarity of this receiver. I'm so used to my JVC (which has IC amps, but only for the center and surrounds, and you can tell) that I was astounded at how smoothly the 5-channel pink noise pan transitioned from speaker to speaker. My speakers are Polk R10 mains/CS175i center/R10 surrounds/PSW350 sub, and they'd never sounded as clear or full-sounding with the JVC.
So my first thought was "let's see how DTS sounds" (since my JVC was DD only). Of course... this is where I find out that my DVD player doesn't pass a DTS signal (which I've lamented in another thread), so no DTS for me just yet. Though slightly disappointed by this setback, I decide to pop in Fantasia 2000 and play the DD version of the final segment. Dumbfounded is the only word I that can begin to describe how I felt when I heard it. You hear the phrase "jaw-dropping," but rarely do you actually drop your jaw at something (which is a good thing, because if you did it all the time, you'd look pretty damned silly). My Polks suddenly had a clarity to them that they'd never had before -- instruments hovered between speakers and horns sounded more like horns.
To those who question the 75wpc rating of this unit, have no fear... This thing has more than enough to power a small to medium room. I kept cranking Saving Private Ryan ever-so-slightly higher, to a point where I'm sure my neighbors were asking themselves who I was murdering.
So then I pop in a few CD's to check out DPL2. Others have covered this topic more than adequately, but let me say this -- I'm impressed at how much better DPL2 is than DPL, and after hearing Radiohead's OK COMPUTER as electronic instruments passed from speaker to speaker about my room without ever detracting from the front soundstage, I will be using the DPL2 music mode quite a bit. After a little tweaking with my digital cable box, I'm also quite impressed with DPL2 movie mode for broadcast television, at least in comparison to DPL.
To sum it all up, I couldn't be more pleased (despite the DTS setback). Setup is easy, the sound is very warm and pleasing, and it is probably the best money I've spent so far on my mini-HT. I was particularly pleased when my friends showed up to watch THE GIFT last night, and one of them said "wow... the sound is f&*king awesome!" And isn't that what it's all about?
