Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

After considerable shopping, reading of reviews, I decided on the Onkyo 606. I have been very pleased with its performance at all levels. As others have mentioned, it has inputs that will accommodate all of your needs that I can think of. Set up was easy, though thin fingers will help with speaker wire installation! Plenty of power to run my system (7.1). I was also influenced by the "hedge against the future" advantage of this unit. The Audyssey speaker calibration was easy to use and very effective in a room with some unique demands. It will calculate distance, volume, and tone of each speaker to create a full surround sound from the listening area. (You take 3 readings - not just one.) If you don't like the sound, you can redo the readings, or manually calibrate to suit your taste. The available Listening Modes are numerous & quite impressive, including some unique to Onkyo receivers (such as Modes for unplugged, rock, studio, classical, to TV shows set in a studio vs. cinema settings and game settings). I find the chart in the manual very helpful in choosing a mode for my listening or viewing choice. Unlike some receivers, the different Listening Modes are noticeably different from one another, giving you more choices for what sounds good to your ear.

Many of the reviews have focused on its video pluses, and there are many, but my primary use is for audio. (Though its upconversion of a DVD to an LG LCD was quite stunning via HDMI.) I have played FM stations, CD's,DIV Audio, and SACD's through this receiver and its range and power render a clear, accurate, balanced surround field. It can read the signal from an SACD via the HDMI cable, eliminating the need for the 5 or 7 analog cables usually required for multi channel devices (though it can take them, too). The 90 wts. per channel is more than enough to drive my Bose 601 floors, Bose 301 surrounds, and Bose 201 surround back speakers with plenty of oomph left for the subwoofer. I did tweak the center speaker a bit and dialog is clear and audible in all Listening modes.

I have had no problems with hum or noise that some have reported. Running hot? All receivers make heat, so allow some top space and exhaust for ventilation. I have about 6-8 inches above and leave a cabinet door open for extended play and have had no problems or heat issues.

This is a good receiver with tons of options and capabilities. For the price, it outperforms the field. I can recommend highly.

My husband researched the individual units of our surround sound system and this receiver was in C-Net's top 5; Amazon had the best price by far and we could not be more pleased. The sound is incredible and set-up with our components was a snap. Word to the wise--if you use your PS3 as your Blu-Ray player, use the "game" input instead of the "DVD" input to get the sound right. It'll work using the DVD input, but not in surround sound!

Love this product BUT has problems playing Rock Band and Rock Band 2 on this device when using the HDMI (receiver will power off and red light will blink) using a PS3. Have no other problems with HDMI devices (have two dvd players hooked in and a cd player)

I purchased this receiver to replace an older Yamaha outdated with no HDMI connections. Obviously, just moving to the better connections would improve performance. But this receiver has slightly exceeded my expectations in this area. No, it is not for fanatics of A/V but great for the other 99.9% of us. I have not heard any humming and setup was easy. It does run hotter than any other receiver I have owned though. Not really a big deal for me though. I only have 5.1 so it was disappointing that I could not use the mic feature to dial in my speaker levels. Best I can tell, you have to have 7 speakers for it to work.

I have always been a big Yamaha fan, so when I started looking for a new receiver that was where I started. However in the interest of saving a few bucks a friend told me to take a look at the Onkyo receivers, and overall I have been quite happy with what I got. The SR606 has a tremendous amount of inputs and options for a low priced, mid level receiver and has better than expected overall quality. I could not find anything for the money that could compare!

PROS - Price, quality, inputs, and options (video up-convert!)
CONS - Video cuts out every now and again on the HDMI pass through (only maybe a few seconds, which if you are in the heat of battle on xbox live you might get a little pissed)