Onkyo TX-NR900 Review... (1 Viewer)

[Paul Chiappini]

I’ve only had it for a day now, but I listened to it extensively after installation last night. As mentioned earlier, I previously had the 898, which I sold a few months ago. I knew that the 900 was soon to be released so I did some shopping in the meantime. The only other unit that I even considered was the Pioneer Elite 45TX. I decided to wait until the 900 was released to make my decision. I’m glad I waited.

After calibration, I played ten minutes of Jurassic Park III. The receiver automatically switched to DD-EX, and there were no drop-outs. With the 898 I experience drop-outs every few seconds with this title.

In my opinion this receiver sounds excellent. I’ve only listened to movies at this point, but will try some music when I have the chance. It’s hard to say since it has been two months since I heard the 898, but it may sound a touch better to my ears than the 898. I wouldn’t describe the sound as bright or too warm. “Precise” might be a good description. Some of the warm sounding receivers that I’ve listened to sound muddled to me. There was none of this present. My favorite part: dialogue is extremely intelligible.

Everyone seems to be concerned about published power ratings. I didn’t have a problem with power and the 898, and the 900 plays plenty loud for my tastes with room to spare. I don’t think this will be an issue for anyone.

Here’s some differences noticed between the 898 and the 900:

The front door on the 900 is now spring-loaded and glides down nicely.

The display on the receiver shows logos for the sound currently being decoded. DD, DTS, EX, etc.

Individual channel levels can be easily adjusted from the remote without entering the setup menus. One caveat: these are only temporary adjustments. Unless you push another button to lock them in as the defaults, when the receiver is powered off, they will be forgotten. I learned the hard way, but once aware of the procedure it is not a concern.

Another non-issue for me: there is no power-off switch like the 898. The 900 has only standby/on.

The 900 has crossover settings of 80/100/120.

The Net-Tune software is not included and must be downloaded. I attempted to download it but couldn’t find it at the given web address. I have emailed Onkyo and expect a reply soon.

If anyone has any specific questions, just let me know, and I’ll try to answer them.

 

[Paul Chiappini]

Correction:

It has crossover settings of 40/60/80/100/120.

 

[Paul Chiappini]

I called Onkyo. They said the Net-Tune software would be ready in a few weeks.

 

[Sven_DP]

Paul, did you compare the 900 with the Pioneer 45TX? What made you shift to the Onkyo? Did you try some plain stereo listening yet? Thanks.

 

[Paul Chiappini]

I did compare the two. I had previously owned the Onkyo 898. I really liked the sound of the Onkyo. The NetTune feature (although I haven't tried it yet) is also a plus. The NetTune software is now available and seems straightforward. I'm just waiting on a long Cat5 cable to hook it to the computer.

I didn't listen to any stereo sources when checking out the 45TX.

 

[Chris Church]

I'm curious if you're still happy with your NR900 choice, and also whether you've done anything with NetTune. NetTune seems unique, and if it works, I think this is a competitive advantage for the NR900.

Thanks,


Chris

 

[CharlesKT]

I really want to know what the Net-tune experince has been. I have heard a lot of negative reviews about the Net-tune feature not workign as promissed. This is the main feature driving my purchase of this unit. Please let mw know what you all think - thanks