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Newer receivers will process the signal and scale it up to full HD resolution (but not necessarily quality), while this doesn't. Just reviewing now because I forgot.First Impressions:Like all high wattage AV receivers, its big and imposing. It offers three zone speaker driving (2 channel in 2 and 3). Cable/Satellite, DVD, and one game system, and you're done - out of HDMI ports. The 805 also lacks slightly in the up scaling department - taking a composite/s-video signal and outputting it through the HDMI. But its not meant to be a weight for your AV cabinet.Pros: Can't beat the price (if you find it new) for the wattage. It's sleek black (in my case, silver is also an option) exterior looks menacing just sitting there.
Its signal processors are quite nice, not the best money can buy, but enough to earn it the coveted THX certification. Most recreational home theater folks probably wont notice. *Note* This is an older generation product. Pre-outs on the audio allow for a second system in another room, or if 1200 watts are not enough for you, to feed into a second amplifier.Cons: Well, some of the stuff in the 'Pros' are now almost cons. The 3 HDMI, while being 1.3a compliant (Deep Black level signal), 3 almost just doesn't cut it these days. If you happen to only have one or two devices that run HDMI and you don't expect to get any for at least several years, then this shouldn't be a huge detractor for you, but if you have the money, find the newer generations of these with 4+ ports for future compatibility. It's still of great quality, its just getting out-paced by the younger, newer receivers.Now, after two years, its 3 HDMI (the gold standard) ports seem underwhelming. But if your looking for an up-to-date receiver that will be future proof for at least a couple more years, then look to the newer generation.
For those of small or petite frame, you'll want two people to handle this. It will still send the signal, but you don't get the benefit of full 1080p processing. This means that you can have it in your home theater/living room with the speakers there, but also have speakers out on your patio and somewhere else, all powered by this unit (but you do go down to 5.1 surround if you use zone 3). As far as connectivity, its got quite a few on the back, and at the time of release, alot of HD options (3 HDMI, 3 Component), and the requisite mix of s-video and composite for the older devices. It does send it out over the HDMI cable, and you do get some picture improvement, but again not like the newer generations.Overall: Well, if you're looking for a relatively inexpensive option for powering your 5.1 or 7.1 surround system with a couple of HD devices, this will do it for you. Many people have or will have three or more devices that will fill this up.
However after dealing with Onkyo customer service recently I cannot recommend this, or any other Onkyo product to anyone. I attempted to send a letter to the President of Onkyo, Mr. Another month passed and I contacted the shop again and they were still waiting for the part. Once I started to use the receiver for video as well I noticed a problem. I then had the pleasure of dealing with their National Service Manager Jack Cooper (please note the sarcasm).
A month after my receiver went into the shop I contacted the shop to get an update and they said they were waiting for the part. To me a great product means nothing without decent customer service to back it up. The receiver was having issues with the HDMI output and was distorting the colors as the signal passed through. The bottom line is this is a great receiver and if you never have to deal with customer service then you will be very happy with this product. It is powerful and full of features at a very reasonable price.
Araki, to express my displeasure with my customer service, however the letter just ended up with Mr. Mr. I received no response until I actually sent a letter to Onkyo headquarters. I took the receiver to my local Onkyo repair shop and they determined that the HDMI board had to be replaced.
Once the part came in the repair only took 2 days. If you do not mind waiting 2 months for even the simplest repairs then go ahead. If I had to provide a rating on just the product I would give the receiver 5 stars. Cooper was unsympathetic to my concerns and did not seem to think it was unacceptable that my unit was gone so long for a simple 2 day repair. No attempt was made to accommodate me for the delay or even to assure me that it would not happen again. Cooper in customer service, so that looks like a losing battle. I contacted Onkyo shortly after to express my displeasure with the delay in service. When I buy a product quality customer service is very important to me and I have learned not to expect that from Onkyo.
For the first year I only used the receiver for audio and was very pleased with the crisp clean sound the unit produced. Needless to say I will not buy another Onkyo product and will gladly pay extra to deal with a more respectable company. I was without my receiver for 2 months for a repair that took 2 days. I had attempted to contact Onkyo twice during the time my unit was in the shop. Although the fact that the HDMI board was backordered and took 2 months to receive leads me to believe that this is a common problem with the receiver and you probably will eventually have to deal with customer service. I would strongly advise you to consider one of the many other receiver manufacturers out there.
J Jaybird- Oak Grove Oregon- I bought my receiver (Onkyo SR-TX805) on ebay allthough it was new. I have cranked the unit up high and cant be happier with my receiver. I would recomend this receiver Very Highly. When I hooked the unit up I could'nt get the rear suround speakers to work, but when I purchased an Samsung 52" lcd television I was able to access the onscreen menu and the speakers were turned off aparently from the factory. J Jaybird. Now the receiver works perfectly. I had read from reveiws that the unit got hot during operation. The THX 7.1 is truely Awesome and I love it.
The only heating problem was caused by my artificial leg catching the front speaker wire, causing it to fall on the ground and short out. The unit kept shuting itself off (luckily) until I discovered the problem. Its Beutiful and works Perfect. Was this reveiw helpful to you.
This unit is no good just went through my 2nd one and gave up, sparks and fire.
I am running it through a power conditioner and do have a surface mounted fan blowing cool air over it- I highly recommend mounting an external fan to keep its temperature down.I would say it is a gamble to but this unit, almost like it has a definite life span that looks to be limited. My last was 12 years ago and the technology is no where near the same standard, but at the time it performed well when I ran a dvd player with a built in 5.1 ch decoder it handled multi-channel assignments well. This is my 2nd Onkyo unit. Its a gamble, but buy it with a retailer like Amazon and play with house money. The surround sound and audio quality is flat out impressive. Hope it will continue to for at least 3 more years when I will definately upgrade to a Merantz, Harmon Kardon or Denon, probably Merantz- that thing has an angelic sound through some reference Paradigm speakers, wow.Good luck if you choose to but this receiver.
I'm glad I gave him such a good deal, he had it for only about a year and it pooped out on him. Eventually I hooked a friend up with it to kick off his stereo for $50.00. So maybe I would have had disdain for Onkyo had it happened to me, but it didn't and I was always pleased with the performance of Onkyo.So when Fry's had a sale back in early '08 for $699.00 on these guys, I ran home and starting doing research online about this well equipped fella. I did read about the overheating issue and concluded that I could give it the breathing room it needed as well a secondary ventilation source. What can I say. This seems to be its #1 flaw. I have read some reviews about conversion problems, but this just isn't the case.
I'm running a 7.1 with timbre matched Polk towers & sub- with some Paradigm surrounds. Amazing detail,crisp dialogue and sound effects.I've owned the receiver now for about 15 months and between me constantly watching movies on my new Sony Blu-Ray BD-350 and my wife listening to Sirius & HD radio #both require seperate decoders, not built into unit)it is trucking along fine with no errors. But, with my configuration it stays cool with it on top of my Mitsubishi 55 inch 1080i HDTV (a monster of a set by todays standards 300lbs).with just enough space to accomodate its pretty massive size and weight(61 lbs.#. It performed graciously for me for about 3 years and when I upgraded to a Sony ES receiver I naturally threw that guy in the corner. I am enjoying it and using to its potential, and thus far I am very pleased with it.
But if the flaws are inherent in the chips or the design, it will blow anyway. I have had virtually no heating worries. So far I'm either blessed with a flawless unit or I am very lucky up to this point, but the gamble has been worth it so far and it performs like a dream. :^P
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