 Best AV Receiver Available |
| Review Date: October 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: George Michaels, Andover, MA United States |
I have nothing but good things to say about this unit. I do have a few neutral comments which will follow the positive notes. I am not a very verbose person so please allow me to enumerate the highlights.
1) 4 HDMI inputs. Cable Box, Blu-Ray, Old DVD (more on this later) and one for expansion.
2) Easy to configure. I didn't even need to look at the manual to figure out how to select digital audio and digital video inputs to the various source components.
3) ONE SINGLE CABLE TO THE TV!!!! Only a single HDMI cable was needed to connect the TV to the Onkyo. No component, S-Video or composite. This baby upsamples and digitizes any and all video inputs to HDMI. I used to have to switch my input source on both my Denon AVR and my TV every time I wanted to go from watching a disc to watching cable to watching a VCR movie.
4) PRICE! This AVR is less expensive than the competing products from Denon and Yamaha and has MORE features.
5) Quality. This is every bit as well made as the Denon unit it replaced. In some ways better.
6) Remote control. Easy to program. I succesfully replaced all my remotes except my Sony Blu-Ray player.
7) Audio formats. I am not an expert here, but this thing seems to decode any and every audio source data from my Blu-Ray collection (I have about 20) without any problem.
8) Upsampling. If you feed it 480I or any other non-1080P source data in analog or digital format it seems to be able to upconvert it to 1080P. I have not exhaustively tested every combination (I have heard de-interlacing 1080I can be hard) but what I have tried works well.
Summary: If you want an HDMI-friendly receiver, THIS is the unit for you.
Notes:
a) I still keep an upsampling DVD player Marantz DV 6001 around because although the Blu-Ray player can play DVD's it is darn slow about it.
b) This unit is slightly larger than my old Denon 4800, so it just barely fit in my enclosure.
c) It runs a little warm, so dont stack anything on top of it if you can avoid it.
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Sonc bliss...
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| Review Date: November 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Miguel A. Navarro, |
I've recently replaced my Onkyo TX-NR900 with the new TX-SR875. The only thing I had to give up was the internet connection, but I didn't use it in my old device, since the software is pretty lame and I primarily use a Mac (iTunes).
The sound quality is absolutely phenomenal and really adds dimension to all of my music. Not necessarily leagues beyond the unit it replaces, but i am truly impressed with how well Blu-Ray movies sound when listening to uncompressed audio. The Audyssey speaker setup worked well. I had to make a tone adjustment to add a bit of extra bass, but no other speaker parameters had to be adjusted after letting Audyssey work its magic.
On the downside, be sure to have a solid place to install the equipment with plenty of airflow. The device is about 55-60 pounds and produces plenty of heat when in operation. I also noticed that if I am listening to music over HDMI via my PS3, the sound will stop if I turn off the TV. The TV is also connected to the Onkyo, so I imagine some sort of DRM is causing this behavior. It wouldn't be so bad if you could get the PS3 to show a solid black screen. These minor issues are nothing when compared to the aural enjoyment provided by this well-made receiver. |
Nice!!
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| Review Date: October 18, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Anthony, St. Augustine, FL USA |
I've had this for just short of a month. I haven't adequately shaken it down yet, but so far, so good. I bought this unit based on the (reportedly) superior video upscaling chip and because it's silver. (Goes with the rest of my gear except the PS3.) Lack of network capability wasn't an issue because my PS3 will more than suffice to stream any/all media content over the HDMI cable.
Speaking of HDMI cables, after installing this thing I threw away more cables (S-video, RCA, component video, etc.) than I care to mention. Now there are three - One HDMI from DirecTV to 875, one HDMI from PS3 to 875, and one HDMI from 875 to Samsung DLP. Talk about cleaning up the entertainment center. The cables are expensive, but you can check Best Buy or some of the other big box retailer and buy the "open box" ones that people bring back. Also, DirecTV includes one HDMI cable with their HD receivers, so if you know someone who isn't using theirs, you can get one for free.
Setup - Somewhat more complicated than I would have liked, although the audio setup with the included microphone performed flawlessly, if a little slow. I initially had trouble passing audio over the HDMI, and it took jumping around in the manual to find out how to override this. (It mentions that this is the case, but not how to fix it.)
Sound - Nothing to complain about so far. Watched Poltergeist on it the other night, and the unit performed as expected for $1600. Music that I've played so far (album rock, XM radio off DirecTV) is outstanding, although I can't say that I hear a big difference over the Yamaha that the Onkyo replaced. (It had no HDMI, so it had to go.) This unit also enabled me to get rid of two separate amplifiers (Sony ES) that I was using to power the front/rear speakers. With 140 Watts/channel, the extra amplifiers aren't needed. This reduced the cable clutter even further.
Video - The switcher makes an audible click going from one input to another, but so did the Yamaha. It does take a few seconds (2-3) for the picture to come up after switching inputs, but this isn't a real problem. (Unless someone accidentally hits the input while you are in the middle of a Ghost Recon shootout and get killed trying to switch back.)
Graphical User Interface - Excellent. It probably doesn't match up to Sony's, but it is still more than adequate compared to trying to do the setup with the tiny LED display on the face of the unit. However, all the units at this price point (mentioned below) have a GUI of comparable quality.
This review won't help the audio/videophiles out there, but for regular folks, I hope it will. I'd buy this unit again in a minute, and it beat out the Yamaha RX-V3800, the Sony STR-DA5300ES, and the Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH. The only one that I really considered instead was the AVR-4308CI, but it retails for $2400 (probably cheaper on-line) so it knocked itself out on price. Plus, I didn't need/want to pay extra for networking because I've got the PS3 for that.
Denon Denon AVR4308CI Home Theater Receiver
Pioneer VSX94 / VSX-94TXH / VSX-94TXH Elite 7.1 Channel Audio/Video Receiver
Sony ES STR-DA5300ES Home theater receiver with HDMI switching and video upconversion
Yamaha RX-V3800BL 7.1-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (Black) |
Onkyo is THE receiver.
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| Review Date: December 3, 2007 |
| Reviewer: James Deas, South Carolina, USA |
| Having installed around 15 home cinemas for myself and friends over the last 16 years,I was delighted by the extensive functions of the Onkyo.The move to HDMI is mastered ,with easy connections,and the sound quality is TOP.Also the video upconversion is so good that you will hesitate to replace your DVD`s by high def.The universal remote is so good that it has replaced my Logitech.My Onkyo handles -with fantastic quality-LP`s, iPod, Cd`s, Satellite,DVd`s, Blue Ray, XM radio...What more can you ask !Its 7x140 watts comfortably drive my Definitive Technology 300 watt speakers.Only 2 criticisms: manual sound optimisation is better than the automated option,and why does zone 2 not accept digital inputs ?Great product |
Exactly what I was hoping for....great product - Cancel Review
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| Review Date: January 1, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Love AV Stuff, USA |
2/2/08 - Cancel the review below. I am watching TV tonight and out of the blue small flames shot out from the top of my receiver and I heard a popping sound. Smoke came out of the back left corner of the reciever and it ceased to work. I have already been in contact with Amazon customer service and they have been very helpful. Thank you Sue for your help.
After researching the available receivers, I knew I was comparing a few different receivers. It was between the Denon 3808, Onkyo 875, and Yamaha. I had heard of several people complain of the heat produced and problems with smoke, popping, etc. I was convinced after reviewing several different audio forums that a fan was needed to help prevent the build up of heat from the reciever. While, I didn't think this should be a mandatory component to buy for a brand new receiver, I decided this was needed if I bought this receiver. I wanted this because of the Reon chip inside, in addition to the few minor upgraded from the 805. My standard definition signal was horrible and wanted it improved.
I have had this hooked up since December 16 and it runs everyday, sometimes 6-8 hours at a time. With the additional cooling fan, the temperature has always remained warm but NEVER hot. I would highly recommend you follow the manufacturer's instructions that state having 8 inches above the receiver and 4 inches behind-I think this helps ventilation tremendously. I have found my SD signals greatly improved, most notably no mosquito boxes are present and images move more fluidly then before. And wow, the HD signals I receive, especially from the Discovery Channel, are truly incredible in HD. I haven't had any issues with this since installing everything and would recommend this product to those deciding on a new A/V receiver.
The last thing I would comment on is the on-screen display and the remote. Both are very pleasant to use and make using the receiver very enjoyable. The one negative I have found is that if you have anything that hooks-ups by connections other then HDMI, you will have to run that connection from the receiver to the television.
If you are thinking about getting the Onkyo IPod dock, I would pass as you can get something that works alot cheaper then the Onkyo. I was expecting more from this dock. |
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July 23rd, 2010 
admin 
Posted in Electronic 
Tags: channel, home, Onkyo, onkyo tx-sr875 blu book, receiver, theater, txsr875
