Onkyo TX-SR505 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) Reviews

• Be sure this is what you want!

  
  By AVSYYWIDT5WTI on 2007-09-24
  'HDMI Pass through' means you might as well have paid $30 for an HDMI cable as bought this reciever. It cannot extract the audio channels from HDMI. It also cannot do any upconversion or downconversion so you have to wire every possible video source to your TV. The whole reason I bought this thing is it could take HDMI S-Video, and Component inputs and switch them to my TV. I wasn't careful enough.
  
  In terms of sound. It sounds really good, but it does its own mojo on the audio and it sounds quite different than the raw mode when you play it through their DSP surround logic.
  
  I didn't find it simple at all to set up. The manual references an earlier button interface than mine has. I spent hours trying to get it to provide a center channel unamplified signal output so I could use my TV speakers as the center channel. Impossible, unless I missed something. It only switches audio off the inputs onto its powered speaker terminals when it is set in surround sound mode. Although there are a bunch of audio out plugs, they are never active for the digital inputs AFIK.
  
  

• Does not support HDMI audio!!

  
  By A284Y9E8UP7FNJ on 2007-06-12
  This receiver is a joke. Even though it has two HDMI inputs, it won't play the audio from those inputs. You need to set up a separate audio input. What's the point of having HDMI then?!?
  
  

• High Quality but Lacking a Key Feature

  
  By A1B66INR3ID6IF on 2007-07-13
  There is no doubt that Onkyo builds very fine electronic equipment, and this receiver is no exception. It boasts Onkyo's usual fine build and finish quality and comes with a host of features making it an extraordinarily flexible receiver at a very affordable price. The one feature lacking in its predecessor (TX-SR504) was the presence of HDMI connectivity. This shortcoming has been addressed in the new model but, unfortunately, is not fully implemented. The HDMI circuits in this receiver DO NOT pass the audio portion of the program; they pass only the video portion. This necessitates the use of the analog audio or optical digital audio outputs to provide the audio portion of the program to any connected device (such as a high definition television). Since one of the main reasons for the existence of the HDMI specification is to simplify connectivity, one has to wonder what the engineers (or, more likely, the marketing and accounting department heads) were thinking when they decided to hamper this connection circuitry! While it's true that many people may only want to pass the video program portion to a connected monitor, routing the audio through the receiver's amplifiers and on to the connected loudspeakers, one should not purchase this receiver thinking that it has full HDMI connectivity, because it doesn't. Otherwise, this product represents a very good buy.
  
  

• Good receiver at a good price

  
  By A2VJT9AJS82979 on 2007-09-18
  -- Start of 10/15/07 update --
  I have now moved my home theater setup into the new 20x20 room. I installed the new 4 Polk Audio RM6751 surround speakers on the side and rear walls and reused the Energy speakers up front. I ran the receiver's Audyssey 2EQ automatic speaker setup which did a surprisingly good job at determining the size and distance of the speakers from them main TV viewing position. It was perfect, off by a foot for some speakers but very close. I proceeded to test the entire home theater using some action space sequences from Star Wars Episode 3 which has a Dolby Digital EX 6.1 audio track. All I can say is WOW. The new room and 7.1 speakers has really allowed this Onkyo receiver to shine. It sounded good in the old room but was somewhat limited by the poor room layout. In the new room it sounds nothing short of amazing. The surround effect sounds very well blended and non-localized as they should. This is an excellent sounding entry level 7.1 receiver.
  
  The ONLY reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of the quirky behavior of the HDMI video switching. Not because it doesn't switch audio over HDMI but because of the few problems it caused with my cable box and DVD player when they were connected through the HDMI of the receiver. I now connect them directly to the TV as I did with my old receiver and everything works great.
  -- End of 10/15/07 update --
  
  I'll start by saying that overall I am very pleased with this receiver and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an full featured budget priced receiver. I am NOT an audiophile. I'm just a guy who enjoys watching movies in surround sound. As such I try to buy components that offer the features I need without all the extra stuff I don't need at a low price. This receiver fits that description perfectly.
  
  This receiver is an upgrade from a 7 year old Pioneer VSX-D608 5.1 receiver. The main reason for the upgrade was that I plan to move my home theater system to a larger 20x20 room and felt that a 7.1 speaker arrangement would be really nice in that room. I'm currently using the new Onkyo in the old room with 5.1 speakers. The move into the new room is a few weeks way.
  
  Since I'm still in the old temporary room I didn't use the Audyssey automatic setup system instead I manually configured all the speaker settings and distances. I found the controls and menus to be fairly easy to navigate and use.
  
  When shopping for a receiver one of my top priorities is a clean low distortion amp which gives you very nice and detailed sound. Be careful when shopping. There are some receivers with 1% THD which IMO is too high. You can tell the difference in sound between 1% and the Onkyo's 0.08%. The SR505 is excellent in this regard.
  
  The SR505 supports the standard formats like DD (Dolby Digital) 5.1 and DTS and also supports many new formats such as DD EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, DTS 96/24, DTS-ES, DTS-NEO6 and others. Even though many of these are 7.1 formats they work just fine in a 5.1 setup. The SR505 automatically handles the missing 2 speakers. These formats give a lot of versatility to the audio because they allow conversion of 2 channel audio up to 7.1 and 5.1 up to 7.1. It all works very well. It also remembers what listening mode you have selected for each kind of source audio signal. For example I have it set that when I'm watching TV through my cable box (digital connection to receiver) any channels in 2.0 stereo are converted to DTS Neo:6 and any HT channels in 5.1 stay in their native DD 5.1 format. As I switch channels the SR505 automatically uses the correct listening mode based on the source audio signal. The only negative is that the SR505 makes a 'click' sound whenever it changes listening modes. It's not really annoying but is loud enough to hear.
  
  Regarding video connections the SR505 does allow video switching but does NOT do any conversion between different types of video inputs. For example if you have a DVD and cable box connected to the SR505 with Component inputs then the SR505 will switch the video on it's Component output to your TV. However if the DVD was using S-Video and the cable box Component then the SR505 will NOT convert the S-Video up to Component. It will only output the S-Video over it's S-Video output. The more expensive higher end Onkyo models will do that type of conversion. You just need to decide if that feature is worth the rather large increase in cost. For me it wasn't worth it.
  
  If you read other user reviews on the net for the SR505 it seems the HDMI switching is an area of confusion. The bottom line is that the SR505 will switch ONLY video over HDMI and NOT both video and audio. All this means is that in addition to the HDMI connection you will also need a separate audio connection between the device and the receiver. So between your cable box and SR505 you would need an HDMI connection for video and a coax or optical digital for audio. Full HDMI audio/video switching is available on much more expensive higher end receivers. Again the buyer needs to decide if this feature is worth the extra money.
  
  I have also found the HDMI to be a bit quirky so I decided not to use those connections myself. For example, when I add my cable box connected to the SR505 over HDMI the display on my cable box would flash 'd00' every few seconds whenever the SR505 was turned off. I found the flashing annoying so I connected my cable box directly to my TV. The only other HDMI device I own is an upconverting DVD player. The player doesn't show any usual behavior when connected through the SR505 but I noticed that whenever the receiver is turned off my Sony TV forgets which wide video mode it was in for the DVD player input and I have to change it back manually the next time I play a DVD. I don't know if it's a quirk with my TV or what but it doesn't happen when the DVD player is direct connected to the TV over HDMI so that how I have it connected now. The bottom line is that I tried to use the HDMI switching on the SR505 but because of the unexpected side effects I mentioned above I decided to not use it and went back to direct to TV HDMI connections.
  
  The SR505 includes a nice manual a fairly good remote which will also operate your other devices.
  
  Overall I'm pleased with my purchase. The SR505 is a great receiver for the price. I have no regrets. Recommended.
  
  

• Future Proof

  
  By A2QZHIUM7FY8CD on 2007-06-08
  I purchased this receiver because it offered all the features I required. My current setup is 5.1 but this system will allow me to easily transition to 7.1 It comes with three connections. My only gripe was that it required an additional conection for audio. The HDMI cable would only passthru the video signal, audio has to come through a separate connection. There goes the simple setup solution. Other than that, this is a wonderful unit that offers many highend features of more expensive units.
  
  
• Excellent Receiver for Home Theaters!
  By ALNM63S9BCW73 on 2007-07-12
  First, the bad:
  When I originally got the receiver, I had some major issues with it. It would go into auto-protect mode for no reason every hour or so. I would need to unplug it and wait a half hour before using it again. The final time it went into auto-protect was when the receiver was not even on. I needed to take it to an Onkyo dealer to have them fix it, but it was still under warrantee, so it was not too bad.
  
  The only other problem I have with the receiver is that the connectors on the back for the speakers are hard to use. I assume that these connectors are higher quality than the traditional spring clamp types, but they make it very difficult to connect speakers without taking the whole unit off the shelf.
  
  Now the good:
  Ever since then it has been working very well.
  
  There are plenty of connections for whatever types of input you could possibly need. I use the digital inputs a lot, and it is nice having 4 of them (2 optical, 2 coaxial).
  
  The interface is quite easy to use, even if you want to use all the advanced features. The auto-setup works well and there are a lot of ways to customize your set up. You can use and equalizer on each set of speakers individually, as well as adjust the relative volume of each. Also for the low-level subwoofer output you can set the crossover frequency, which is very useful.
  
  The unit does get a little hot in the back right corner, but the rest of the device stays cool. I wouldn't recommend putting anything directly on top of the unit unless there was a gap and some airflow in between.
  
  The different cinema filters are pretty useful too. Having both DTS and NEO is a plus. Between these two standards, you can pretty much handle anything a dvd player can throw at you. The filters include settings for music, movies, unplugged, studio mix, etc. There's also a "theater" filter which adds some reverb to the mix for that movie theater feel.
  
  Overall, I definitely recommend this receiver. It does everything I wanted it to do, and then some.
  
  
• Fantastic Sound
  By A3N6TC37LRJ7I1 on 2007-08-21
  I hooked this up to a new Infinity speaker system (pair of Primus PC362s, PC350 center and 4 CS60 in wall speakers) for a 7.1 setup for my new basement home theater. Sound is absolutely amazing. You hear effects in movies and music that were not there before. My other setup is an older Sony model receiver with older Infinity speakers and this does not even compare.
  
  The need for separate audio setups for HDMI connections is not a huge deal to me, I have the cables already so why not use them. Even so, to spend $30 in cables to save $150 on the receiver (compared to the Onkyo 605) seems like a deal to me. I personally would not be using the analog to HDMI up-conversion so that is another reason to go with the lower cost of the 505.
  
  The auto speaker setup was a snap. Gone are the hours or measuring and tweaking speaker setups!
  
  This system has more than enough wattage to rattle the windows in my house.
  
  IMHO, unless you desperately need the up-conversion of the 605, get this model and put the money you saved into better speakers. Speakers have a MUCH longer life than receivers anyway!
  
  
• Onkyo TX-SR505 7.1
  By A3OUNYYP97UQ0O on 2007-07-02
  Just hooked up the new reciever from Amazon and so far it sounds great ! Even though it has the HDMI capabilities I didnt use it, just the old standard method using the audio/video cables. Everything looks and sounds great!! I found the 505 easier to use than my old Onkyo TX-SV727 instead of video 1 & video 2 etc there are DVD, CD, Cable/Sat. This makes it much easier for people other than myself to use the reciever, also if I want to use my outside speakers all I have to do is select speaker B and no further fiddling with the reciever. I'm still learning about the reciever, but I would highly recommend this model for someone who wants the high end quality that Onkyo offers at a reasonable price. I looked at the 605 but it didnt make sense to pay twice as much for a little more power and a few more features!
  
  
• Onkyo AV Receiver
  By A1844J9R8B0HO8 on 2007-08-04
  My first receiver with the auto speaker setup feature--very cool. Has plenty of power for my basic set of JBL bookshelf 5.1 speakers with Yamaha subwoofer. Note: this version does NOT up-convert signals from one input type to another. Thus different sources (component, HDMI, composite, etc) must be switched at the TV. The 575 and up seem to convert signals if you need to do that. Plenty of inputs, automatically set up for my 5.1 system although it can do 7.1. Can do stereo in another room but uses two of the 7.1 channels to do it. I am very satisfied with this unit, good value in my opinion.
  
  
• Great receiver, using as 5.1
  By A3DJRNEMOM1XF on 2007-07-17
  My room is far to small for 7.1 speakers. This receiver has the ability to be a 5.1 receiver as well and it works amazing. You can also use 5.1 in one room and have 2 channel stereo in another room. My only complaint, which was mentioned in a previous review is that the HDMI does not use the audio portion of the HDMI signal so you will need HDMI and some other digital audio wire.
  
  
• Great Value!
  By A394B4D436NEPD on 2007-10-01
  Almost pulled the trigger on the 605. But I realized that I did not need the 605's ability to 'convert' everything thru the HDMI port. As someone else here mentioned, why would I want to degrade a 1080i picture to 720P. HDMI, component, coax, and optical ports work fine.
  
  75 watts is plenty for our great room. Some of the functions you need to access on the AV receiver's front bezel (hence only 4 stars). For roughly $250 this receiver has a LOT of bang for the buck. Very Happy, saved myself $200 over the Onkyo 605! My biggest concern was whether or not the HDMI pass through carries just video, or video and audio. I tested and the the answer is that it does carry both video and audio, as it should since it is advertised as HDMI version 1.3a.
  
  Note, that my TV has HDMI in and an optical output. Therefore, whatever HDMI source I send to the TV, it will extract the audio from the HDMI signal and send it over the optical cable back to the receiver for processing. No need to change audio sources, just HDMI source.
  
  
• Great value IF your TV has a digital out for audio
  By A18DANSF0WJZRN on 2007-11-29
  Again Onkyo has produced a low to mid priced unit that produces great sound and has very good functionality . The 2 main limitations on this unit have been mentioned a number of times in other reviews :
  
  1) Only 2 HDMI inputs (1 HDMI output ,you only want 1 output)
  In North America most devices come with high quality HDMI outputs nowadays . So a receiver takes all the HDMI devices into it's HDMI inputs and then sends the HDMI signal over the 1 HDMI output connected to the TV (HDMI output only accepts signal from HDMI inputs , component inputs will have to go out over component output). So you have only 1 connection to the TV (simple!) and switch between input devices in the unit ..HDMI 1 you're watching the DVD , HDMI 2 you're watching the HDMI enabled cable box .
  As this unit has 2 inputs you can only attach 2 devices via HDMI ( fine with me = DVD and satellite box) . Extra devices will need to be atttached via another high quality input ..like component , and go to the TV via another quality output like component . Not a big deal but more cabling and switching TV inputs on the TV .
  2) HDMI passthrough only
  HDMI signal comes into the receiver from your DVD player say ..but you can't split the audio signal out and play it at that point as this unit just passes the whole signal (audio and video) to the TV . So you have 2 choices to get the HDMI audio back to the unit for playback :
  a) Let the TV split out the audio and send it back to the unit over digital (optical) cable . Set the unit to "listen" to digital audio in .
  Then ALL HDMI audio sent to the TV will play back over digial audio in . Simple ..IF your TV has a digital audio out . You'll want a high quality/fast digital/optical cable .
  b) Send all sound to the unit via another audio input e.g component inputs on the unit and set the unit to "listen" to component audio . Works if your devices have the outputs but it means more cabling / less simplicity .
  
  Summary
  For around 250 bucks this unit is a steal bearing in mind the caveats above . If it doesn't work for you for those reasons then the 605 removes those limitations for 200 bucks more (and it's a little taller) .
  
  
  
• beautiful HT receiver with solid tuner
  By A2IA1FS4J2SF8N on 2008-01-28
  Review of Onkyo TX-SR505 A/V Receiver
  
  This product performs quite well as stated by many other users. Aside from its cinematic attributes and features, I was very impressed with the performance of the tuner. I will dedicate much of this review to that aspect for a few reasons. First, my wife and I listen to radio very often in our daily lives. We listen to the radio during the day (aside from us working), and watch TV at night. Besides listening to FM broadcasts, I listen to AM programming as well. I am also a radio DX enthusiast. This unit replaced my two previous Onkyo receivers, and I thought it was time for an upgrade with another Onkyo product.
  
  My entertainment wall is equipped with a 27-inch Sony NTSC TV, Samsung DVD / VCR recorder, Onkyo cassette deck, JVC direct drive turntable, Technics CD changer, and even other components that I occasionally use as secondary sources. My speakers are from various companies, and are they not the "best in the world." This receiver gets out the best from them.
  
  
  RADIO SECTION
  
  The New York City market and technical environment puts many demands on tuners. Both bands were highly sensitive and selective.
  
  
  FM Section:
  
  The front end has the ability to squash spurious signals quite well including the hash produced by the stations carrying HD broadcasting. Here in Brooklyn a receiver has to combat pirate broadcasters and must have the ability to pull in stations from our suburbs. The stations broadcast from the Empire State building have a tendency to push away the suburban stations. Many FM stations operate on class A local channels with no more than 6,000 watts of effective radiated power.
  
  I tested the FM wire antenna that is supplied from Onkyo. It pulled in the local stations from the Empire State Building very competently. Some suburban stations came in without too much noise or hiss.
  
  In our attic I use a Terk TV/FM bar antenna for the terrestrial reception. We have satellite TV service, but some TVs operate from the attic antenna.
  
  My previous Onkyo, which this new unit is replacing, is not able to reject the spurious signals and hash too well, and I see the technology difference that Onkyo engineers are now able to design.
  
  
  AM Section:
  
  I was astonished with the performance of the AM section, especially from that of a typical A/V or stereo receiver. The tuned AM loop (as the company supplied AM loop antenna forms a tuned circuit with the front end of the tuner) does much justice. A drawback, however, is that the AM section is highly prone to noise. I suppose it is difficult to have your cake and eat it, too, I found the AM loop to be very picky, yet effective and receiving "hard to get" stations. You have to rotate the loop, which is normal. When testing the external antenna, I found it to overdrive the front end, which is not at all surprising on these units.
  
  As an excellent example, in New York City we have WEPN 1050, a 50,000 watt directional powerhouse. At about 2:30 in the afternoon I was able to barely receive adjacent KWY 1060, another 50,000 watt directional powerhouse, located just about 100 miles from the New York Metro area. Technically, these stations cannot interfere with each other due to FCC mandates. Each station is highly directional, especially when you go into central New Jersey. When rotating the AM loop antenna to a specific position I was able to receive KYW. It was scratchy, but I was very impressed!
  
  It is very important to footnote that it is very hard to get distant stations outside of New York City when you are located within the city. Some stations are directed to be so strong that others cannot penetrate into the market. With HD radio, this situation is even worse, as you hear the hash. This applies day or night.
  
  
  Summary of Entire Tuner:
  
  It would nice for Onkyo to proudly publish their FM tuner specifications like they always have. Customers with sharp technical skills will discern quality when selecting equipment.
  
  
  CASSETTE DECK AND CD:
  
  The cassette deck plays awesomely through this unit. CD's play precisely.
  
  
  
  HOME THEATER ASPECTS
  
  My family was quite impressed with Onkyo when watching some movies from the DVD and from our satellite sources. We still have an NTSC TV and we will upgrade to HDTV when our main TV decides to retire. Hence our satellite delivers in Dolby Prologic II format and of course our DVD delivers in Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS. The receiver delivers precise and brilliant theatrical results from its Dolby and DTS sources. The decoders show strong surround processing design. You can hear with razor sharpness from the program sources. Sometimes you cannot tell if the ringing of the phone is from the movie or your own.
  
  The receiver provides many listening format options. I would appreciate if there were a few more inputs. However, for the money, this unit is a really good bang for the buck.
  
  
  
  OVERALL REMARKS
  
  We were a bit disappointed with the adjustments on the tone control. The selections were limited for high to low on the bass and treble.
  
  This receiver is very easy to use. You do not have to refer to the manual to get up to speed on the more detailed functions.
  
  As you may observe, I am a demanding customer, and Onkyo did not let me down. I give the Onkyo TX-SR505 at least 4.5 stars out of 5.0.
  
  
  
• Best Receiver under $700
  By ATEWP2XZHKPM2 on 2007-06-17
  I just got mine and it sounds beautiful!! This thing has all the features most people would ever need. Looks great, high quality amp inside. Don't let anyone talk you into thinking you need more. This thing is looooud and has all the inputs you could want. GREAT deal. Newest look and tech, that's why I think it's worth a few more bucks than a 504.
  
  HDMI passthru-only is fine for me why would I want to degrade a 1080i component connection to 720p anyway? (as with the 605). Just so I don't have to use an extra audio cable? Please.
  
  
• Absolutely Ridiculous CUSTOMER SERVICE, ...GREAT RECEIVER (UPDATE) READ ALL.
  By A1LPLBVNLSX1ED on 2008-03-24
  Purchased this receiver after a much needed upgrade. Built a house with pre-wired surround caps. Finally able to invest in getting a new system. This looked like an ideal buy, affordable and mostly good reviews. I already knew about the HDMI passthrough, so I was ready for that.
  
  My system is wired for 6.1
  
  I hooked this receiver up to a BOSE Acoustimas 3 series IV (2 cubes with acoustimass box) system (100 watt, 4-8 ohm) for my front speakers and a BOSE VCS-10 center Channel (100 watt, 4-8 ohm) speaker. In the rear I have two Insignia, in-ceiling 100 watt, 8ohm surround speakers and a rear KLH in-ceiling center 100 watt 8 ohm speaker. I do not have a subwoofer.
  
  Hooked it all up and the darn thing kept going into protect mode,as I tried to use the automatic set up mic. It also did it when I did not use the auto set up after about 10 minutes listening to the radio. Tried the troubleshooting, stayed on with nothing hooked up, hooked it back up and same thing, protect mode! Figured it was defective. Amazon was great about a return, in fact they mailed me a replacement the same day I sent the old one back.
  
  Only one problem. I got the new one, hooked it up and....SAME THING. Keep in mind I'm diligent, so I went through and double checked ALL my connections, wires etc. STILL Same thing Protect Mode. SO I call Onkyo, get some guy from god knows where, I think India and after having been put on hold for a number of times, disconnected from them, calling back and explaining my problem to multiple people, they tell me that this receiver will not work if all the speakers do not have the same impedance!?!? The manual says it can handle anything from 6-16 ohms! But it does not say they all have to be the same! WTF? I guess since the Bose have a range that starts to low it won't work.? This just seemed ridiculous.
  
  This still seems wrong to me, but I guess I have to believe the company who made it right? So I'm sending it back and have to formulate another plan... I do not want to buy all new speakers.... What a pain in the @ss. They should tell you all speakers have to have the same impedance. Why even put a range?
  
  UPDATE: As I said above this information provided by Onkyo about THEIR receiver seemed wrong to me, so I did not send the second receiver back right away.I trouble shot some more and discovered a metal wire guide that the installers had inside the wall was bridging positive and negative on the inside of my wall plate. After having this removed and retrying the auto set up it worked!! I am very pleased thus far! (It's literally only been a few hours though)
  
  So I wanted to updated this review to reflect my disatisfaction with Onkyo's CUSTOMER SERVICE, they literally did not know anything about their product.
  
  And as for the guy who left a comment about my review, he probably works there. Moron. I've had Bose for years and they are GREAT speakers, some of the best on the market. KLH is a decent brand. I admit the Insignia (BEST BUY House Brand) likely made by Orion, are not top notch, but the perfromance for the price is GREAT. Not everyone has 2K to spend on 6 inch in-ceiling speakers.
  
  AGAIN, I am thus far thrilled with the performance of this receiver. But I hope you never have to deal with their Servcie department. Idiots, every one of them.
  
  I'll update this again once I have a chance to fully use this receiver.
  
  FINAL UPDATE:
  I left a bad review on this product earlier, but it turns out I just received bad advice from Onkyo Customer Service! So I owe to everyone to update this with a great review. I hooked everything up and can not believe the quality of sound I get out of my surround sound! My music has never sounded this clear on my prior Kenwood receiver (granted it was 15 years old)! Easy to program, auto speaker set up was a breeze, especially for a non-'audiophile': whatever that means! Remote works on my Direct TV-DVR, Samsung 52 inch plasma TV and Sony DVD player! one remote, got to love that! Highly reccommend this! Get one.
  
  
  
  
• Beware before buying Audio equipment from Amazon!!!
  By A1DARPT70AZYK8 on 2008-06-19
  Reconsider buying a audio product from Amazon!!!! Amazon will take returns for 30 days, if something goes wrong after 30 days, you must deal with the Manufacturer. The Onkyo TX-SR505 that I bought broke down after six weeks, I only used it five or six times. I contacted Onkyo, the only way to repair the unit is to send it to a service center. In order to send a receiver to the service center, the cost is $75! I recommend buying from your local Best Buy or Circuit City or other retailer. I would also recommend spending a few more dollars and get a better receiver. I love Amazon, but not for Audio equipment!!!!!
  
  
• Unbelievable piece of junk.
  By A1MXA2O5X72NZM on 2007-11-28
  I started having trouble with this thing two months after I bought it. It has since been repaired three times. every time I got it back from service it would work for a few months and then break again. The last time it came back, two of the channels were out when as soon as I connected it. Don't their service centers even check the equipment before they return it? I have now given up on it entirely, since having it "repaired" is a waste of time and money.
  
  I'll never buy Onkyo again.
  
  
• Can't beat this price
  By A3LPS8HH6SAINZ on 2007-12-01
  This receiver goes for $299 before tax at CircuitCity so Amazon is offering a steal for this at $250 no tax. I've heard nothing but good times coming out of this unit since I received it. I have the 5.1 speaker setup (5 speakers and one subwoofer). All of my speakers are Polk Audio in case anyone cares or is curious.
  
  Dolby Digital DVD's and high-definition/digital cable stations sound great but what's really cool about this receiver is it has Dolby Pro-Logic IIx. This is the latest technology which improves the sound of "non Dolby Digital" cable stations, such as every channel on TV (besides the high definition stations). With this feature, every station on TV sounds great utilizing all 6 speakers. I keep this receiver on all day long and have muted the sound from my television.
  
  After running the 'AUDYSSEY' setup, be sure to adjust the volume of each individual speaker manually using the remote - the button is called "CH SEL" which stands for channel selection. Then use the 'Level -' or 'Level +' buttons to increase and decrease the volume of each speaker. I increased the volume of my surround speakers and subwoofer and decreased the volume of the center speaker slightly and all now sounds tweaked to my liking. Great receiver!!
  
  
• A little odd........
  By ASDGUCLMF13ID on 2008-02-14
  I purchased this receiver to run HDMI to my 37" LCD TV from my PS3 and HD-DVD player. After getting everything hooked up, I was ready to give it a whirl, then........no audio. For whatever reason, this receiver doesn't transmit the audio to the television, via HDMI. You're forced to either use an AV cable, or a digital audio cable.
  
  I'm not too technical savvy, but I'm pretty sure that HDMI was designed to do both & found it odd that it did not.
  
  I'm not giving the receiver a great review because of this. I'm not giving it an unfavorable review because with a little adjusting, I can still use the receiver.
  
  Be careful and pay a little closer attention when researching receivers for your home entertainment purposes than I did. I knew I wanted 2 HDMI in ports and needed just one HDMI out, and again, not being too tech savvy, I guess I didn't know that it split off the audio and video.
  
  Hopefully no one makes the same mistake I did.
  
  
• great sound system for a great price
  By A2XOLHKX8FTFYL on 2008-02-15
  i recently purchased this unit after buying two other, more expensive and more complicated systems.
  
  i first bought the Sony str-dg810 6.1 channel receiver, and much to my dismay it was an awful receiver. i returned it for the Harmon Kardon avr-147 and while it was an upgrade, it still lacked the sound quality. i finally ended up purchasing this receiver and i was pleasently surprised. for the price, you get a good receiver with good sound quality, and a decent picture. if you are looking for top end, than this isn't for you. however, if you don't want to shell out a grand, i would buy this before buying the other "made in china" receivers!!
  
  
• Like the Self Calibration
  By A36YYNP89W7QQF on 2008-04-15
  I purchased this Onkyo for my basement home theater. This is my first Onkyo, and I initially purchased it because of the good reviews assosiated with Onkyos in general. I really think the audio quality out of this receiver is great. It has lots of surround options, including options to create 7.1 mixes from 5.1 sources. This lets you really envelope yourself in sound.
  
  I really liked the self calibration procedure that utilizes an included microphone. It helped me get the speakers balanced properly to account for differences in sensitivity and location. The sound before and after calibration was night and day.
  
  It also includes a surround processor that sends a stereo music source to the surround speakers. I usually don't care for the sound processors in receivers, but this Onkyo sounds great and has a lot of flexibility.
  
  
• onkyo - the acura of surround sound
  By A2TAA8A8AJQK47 on 2007-10-01
  this is my second onkyo reciever...it has produces even better sound than my previous one with the same power...this unit was easy to set up with very clear instructions..i did set up my speaker settings manually instead of using the unique piece that you can use to do it for you which i'm sure is nice for a lot of people...the reciever is also more user friendly than my previous model and more functional...i was looking at the 605 series but honestly, i would be paying more money for extras i would never use...this unit provides me with everything i would want for a lot less...also i bought this on amazon for free shipping, which saved me shipping cost had i bought the same item on ebay....thanks onkyo and amazon!
  
  
• Problems
  By A15DOMNJ4RME4Z on 2007-10-02
  I bought this receiver for a 5.1 system using Polk audio speakers. The sound quality for music was amazing, very clean. However when I tried it on movies the rear speakers would cut in and out when the sound track would get quiet. It was very subtle at first, I had to put my ear right in the rear speakers. But it was definately noticable. I tried different speakers, different wire and several different settings but the soundtrack on the rear speakers would still cut in and out. It might have been a receiver problem another unit might have worked fine, but I returned it and ordered a Yamaha RX-V659. I would highly recommend the Yamaha, outstanding sound quality, lots of power, and many features.
  
  
• Great value, nice receiver
  By A1P705GXGCWO41 on 2007-10-23
  As long as you read the specs, and understand the difference between HDMI switching and upconversion, this is a fantastic receiver for the money.
  
  
• Dependable low-end receiver
  By A36J1HKGMKXGR on 2007-10-30
  I bought this receiver to replace an old pro-logic Onkyo I've had for 15 years, mostly because I needed something fairly inexpensive which would switch component and/or HDMI video signals. It does the job driving, my speakers which cost almost 10 times the purchase price of the receiver although when played at higher volumes, the amplifiers will occasionally "clip" on climactic musical crescendos or loud explosions, etc. Generally though it's a serviceable piece of equipment and, if it lasts as long as my other two Onkyo receivers have, I'll be satisfied. I wish it had an illuminated remote, though. Only the mode ("Receiver," "DVD," "CD," etc.) buttons are illuminated, mostly to alert the user to which piece of equipment the remote is switched to operated. The 7.1 surround decoding works great in both the DTS and Dolby Digital modes.
  
  
• works great
  By A38P216LNRCGL0 on 2007-11-01
  This product works and sounds great but it does have a little problem with the hook ups if you want to hook up the hdmi through the reciever and then the tv. This is easily fixed though if you will hook up everything through the tv and then to the stero although you will have to use co-ax cables (hence the 4 stars). The surround sound works great and if the movie is not in 7.1 the extra speakers still do a better job than the 5.1 system I upgraded from. I watched tranformers and it sound great and as a plus I could hear things with my onkyo that I could not hear with my old reciever. I would recomend this to anyone looking for a new reciever and does not want to pay the price. You get a little less with this reciever than the newest model but for the price difference I don't think you will care much I know I dont.
  
  
• Awesome Home Theater Receiver
  By A2JWLGI4MDTN80 on 2007-12-14
  I purchased this receiver September 2007 and I really Love it. It does everything it says it will do. This is an awesome receiver especially for the price. I can't imagine any other receiver on the market could offer more "bang-for-the-buck". This is my first surround receiver so I was not familiar with setting one up, but set-up was not at all very difficult if you read and follow the instructions. I did have to manually adjust the settings to tweak it to my environment, but that was actually very simple via the remote. There are plenty of good receivers on the market, but I truly believe you won't find one that does as good a job for as low a price and if you have a small to medium size "entertainment room" this has more than enough "pure" power (and I am running some high quality rather low efficiency speakers). It sounds amazing and I have not needed to add a subwoofer (my space is small enough). My only complaint is that it does not have Bass, Mid and Treble dials (it only has bass and treble + or - touch buttons adjustable by 2db increments). It still works very well none-the-less, but I prefer to have slightly better tweaking abilities. The sound quality and clarity is top notch, very warm with sparkling highs. If you are looking for a high quality surround receiver without having to spend tons of money you won't regret ordering this receiver.
  
  
• Receiver for under $300
  By A2O4ACIVXS3SLD on 2007-12-14
  Was researching a new receiver to upgrade with new surround sound 5.1 that I had installed. I didn't want to spend more than $300. This had pretty much all the features I really wanted for listening to cds and watching Dolby Dig'd dvd movies. I thought the watts per channel may not be enough, but it certainly is enough! I like how its capable of 7.1. I just wish it had a USB port for my other device, no biggie. No memory presets(e.g. buttons 1-10) for radio stations, but there is memory for the stations.
  
  The instructions should differentiate which surround left/right rear or surround left/right speaker connections to make if one is only doing 5.1. I had surround rears connected with the 3 in front, and the microphone test thought I was missing 2 speakers(it was thinking 7.1). I concluded to connect the surround left/right along with the 3 front...and the microphone test then configured for 5.1
  
  
• Looking for an inexpensive HDMI-capable receiver?
  By A2G8BZ21KY4UNB on 2008-03-03
  If you're in the market for an inexpensive HDMI-capable receiver, then this might be your best choice. As many of you audiophiles can attest, having to upgrade your receiver to accommodate newer formats, additional speaker sets, and expand the number of video and audio inputs can often be a costly hassle. Look no further than the Onkyo TX-SR505 to assuage your worries and surpass your expectations for the next generation of 7.1 Channel Home Theater receviers.
  
  I was thoroughly impressed with the out-of-the-box ease of set up, including the speaker attenuation process with the included microphone. Two HDMI inputs which handle video distribution should take care of you first-gen Hi-Def afficianados. Colored speaker labels, a multitude of surround sound playback options, multiple digital audio inputs, a well thought-out owner's manual and comprehensive details listed on the web assured me that I made the right choice in making the TX-SR505 my Home Theater President, CEO and Managing Director.
  
  Not too many bells and whistles to overwhelm the casual listener, but definitely recommendeded for the serious couch potato. The remote control offers so many expansion capabilities. My only gripe is that the individual speaker volume levels sometime reset themselves, depending upons which surround playback option I choose and I have to go back in and re-calibrate them to my preferred level.
  
  Overall, 4 out of 5 stars, or 8 out of 10.
  
  
• Great receiver, great price!
  By A2TE3USS8JS1UO on 2008-05-09
  I bought this receiver when my Yamaha HTR-5630 receiver died after only a couple of years of light use. I chose this receiver because of the good reviews and the reputation of Onkyo and the fact that I was still mad at Yamaha. The price wasn't bad either.
  
  I used the 5-10 day free shipping and the unit came in three days. Connections were straight-forward and the automatic speaker calibration worked perfectly.
  
  How its functioning:
  
  Movies: Surround sound is rich and deep. Much better than the Yamaha.
  
  Music: My wife commented on the fact that all the receivers that I've had in the past did well with movies but not very well with music. The Onkyo is a different story: Opera music is clear and clean while alternative rock is awesome!
  
  Overheating: None at all. Unit is in a ventilated, enclosed cabinet.
  
  Sound through HDMI line: None, but who cares? Individuals who drone on and on about this issue need to get a life.
  
  Highly recommended.
  
  

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• Premium HDMI v1.3 Cable (2M/6ft.)

• HDMI Cable 2M (6 Feet)
• Fiber Optical Toslink Digital Audio Optic Interface 6 Foot Cable
• Cables To Go - 40315 - 2M (6.5ft) Velocity HDMI Digital Video Cable (Blue)
• Polk Audio RM6750 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker System (Set of Six, Black)
• Onkyo DS-A2X Remote Interactive iPod Dock