Onkyo TX-SR705 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

I have been into home theater for well over 5 years, but this receiver, my first Onkyo product, has pulled everything together for the first time. The Audyssey system quickly evaluated my listening room with the tiny microphone and arrived at a perfect sounding equalization, balance and matching of my mismatched speakers to where I am really hearing surround at last! Since I am not using all 7.1 channels, Onkyo allows me to re-assign 2 of the amplifiers to bi-amp my front speakers.. how cool is that? And the receiver is able to convert HDMI, component video, composite, and S-video every which way so no component is left out in the cold. If I can figure out how to reconfigure the volume knob to where it doesn't take 5 turns to get up to high volume, I will be totally amazed and satisfied with my purchase!

I was a little bit concerned about buying this receiver because of the burnig and heating problems. Well, I'm using it for a month and meanwhile it's working great. Great sound quality (I installed a package of JBL 5.1 speakers on it). The only problem is the installation menu. Too boring! Too poor. If you know the XMB tool from sony, you will understand what I'm talking about. Sony is way ahead! The configuration could be easier and user friendly.
But in the botton line, it really worth!

It is hard to rate products like this. It is a super duper feature packed product. You get a lot of bells and whistles. Integrated amp has three main parts,

1) Power supply
2) Pre-amp, processor
3) AMP

1) Power Supply: 3/5 stars
It creates lot of noise. It doesn't have very good isolation. There is no easy way to connect a external ground. Also the power rating for the entire unit is very deceiving. 110 W while driving only the main two. In 7.1 it is probably 20 W per channel. 805 and 905 have far better power supply than this puppy. That is the main reason they are so heavy.

2) Pre-amp, processor: 4.5/5 stars
Number of input connections, hdmi control, all the DSP and format support. Wow Wow... there is no other receiver in this price range that handle it all. Dolby True HD, DTS, LPCM, TOS Link any thing you ever want is available here.

Iam taking 1/2 a start out because of the input impedance. It is quite low for a active pre-amp. It will require a nice sturdy analog source to provide the full punch. Phono inputs are OK at best. Other Stereo only receivers that sell for 1/3rd of the price does it better. Also the unit is not very linear. It adds its own color to the music.

3) Amplifier: 2/5 stars

It has a huge feedback circuit. The dynamic slam is almost non existent. Especially when you play SACD driving all the 5 channels. It does fare well when i connect only my two fronts. To get the best power, i just connect my two fronts in bi-amp mode. The bass seems lot clear and music flows more naturally. Similar to the pre-amp, the amp is not linear. There is a lot of coloration going on.

Also the bass seems to vary a lot. For movies I have to turn the bass down. For music I have to increase it. I never had this problem with NAD integrated and other amps. There is some thing going on at lower frequency range.. It colors it pretty bad. This could be mainly due to the feedback. On a large explosion that lasts for few seconds the feedback just builds upon itself and makes it too loud. In music bass is fast and tight, feedback is not fast enough to provide the punch.

Another big complaint is the channel isolation. It is less than 20 db. So stereo image seems to float. Sound transition from speaker to speaker is never crisp and clear. Sound always seems to leak to rest of the speakers in the system. It is not ideal for SACD or DVD-Audio.

Over all rating: 4/5 stars

For this price, you cant ask for more. This amp is clearly meant for HT Movies. Dont bother playing music in it, a big waste of time. I would suggest getting a 905 with toroidal transformer. It has much more smooth sound. Dont get fooled by numbers. Music is art, not technology. You need a amp that can be fast, responsiveness and color less.

A simple analogy is a automobile, it may have 500 HP(dumptruck). When 0-60 takes 5 min, it is not fun driving it around. Just power rating and numbers are not enough. Dynamic slam, agility are also important for a receiver. If you can spend more, buy a 805 or 905. It is a huge difference in performance. If you are looking for stereo only amp, look at Creek Audio 5350SE.

This home theater system is amazing. Set up is not too complicated and the sound is fantastic. Own several Onkyo products and they are of superior quality. It looks nice too.

This system does just about anything you could ask it to do. Multiple options for connecting your other electronics to the receiver. The included instructions are pretty clear and straight forward. Very convienent to have three HDMI in and one out.

The sound is as good as I would expect higher priced electronics to sound. The automatic speaker set up is very easy and does a pretty good job of setting the balance for the speakers. The multiple choices for Dolby, THX, etc are great so you can sellect exactly the right output. It does run kind of hot, so keep that in mind and allow enough ventilation.

Would highly recommend this Onkyo Receiver or just about any Onkyo product.

Very prone to hum due to HDMI connections. With my old house wiring I didn't want to have all my equipment and the TV plugged into the same outlet but with this receiver such a setup can cause HDMI loops and will introduce ground loop hum. Supposedly the 805 doesn't have that problem but I would stay away from Onkyo products due to this problem.