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

I bought this receiver almost a year ago. I must say that I have been almost completely satisfied. The best thing about it is the upconverting to 780p or 1080i and only having to run 1 cable to the TV. I have 4 sources running to the receiver and it was really easy to connect it to the TV.

My main, really only, complaint is it can take time two switch between sources. It takes about 3-5 seconds when I make the switch.

Another thing I wish it had was RDS for the radio. I've found that to be somewhat annoying, but that is more of a missing feature. Sound quality is fairly good, though not the best. I'm happy with the product and I am sure it will last me a long time.

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.

A very interesting problem occurred with this receiver. It has a 2-in 1-out HDMI setup. Interestingly, when we ran HDMI cables from a DVD player and our FIOS TV/DVR converter box through it, the converter box got totally fouled up, requiring 2 separate service calls from Verizon. It did the same thing to a replacement converter box even when the receiver was off! Obviously, we cannot use the HDMI passthrough from the receiver for our converter box. (However, it works well with the DVD player.) Otherwise, it is a nice piece of equipment, and I am impressed with the sampling microphone setup procedure to optimize our speakers.

What is the point of even having this receiver? If you can only pass HD video thru the HDMI cable and no audio (because it's ONLY passed through a component cable) the whole concept of this receiver is pointless. Any other signal not input at HDMI port will NOT go thru the HDMI cable to the TV. Hence, every other non-HD product must be wired to the TV separately. I sent the "boys" to CC to get the Sony STRDG720 7.1 Audio Video Receiver - Black which I had already researched as having all the features we need. When they came in with this Onkyo, I didn't much care about the switch because the prices were the same, until I realized the receiver's limitations. Needless to say, they were back at CC to exchange in less than an hour. Now, the 720 model will not upconvert, but we don't need it. If you need upconversion for anything, you'll have to look into perhaps the Sony STR-DG910.

I looked hard and this is the best receiver for the money I could find. For this high audio quality you'll spend a lot more for HDMI pass through. I have HD-DVD, Blu-ray and 5.1 HDTV hooked up and they all sound superb. I could not be happier.