Onkyo TX-8555 Stereo Receiver

35 years ago when I bought my first receiver I boiled the choices down to a Technics and an Onkyo. I bought the Technics because it was a little cheaper and in stock at the local stereo store. Well, the Technics just bit the dust (that was about the best $180 I ever spent!), and I replaced it with this. Pretty new at this point, but I'm VERY happy with it. Sound is fantastic, enough plug-ins for everything on the back, the remote is great (what a concept! ;-D), and it looks just plain cool. Onkyo has been around for a long time and has always been held in high regard. I'm happy to report that that is still the case!

Big bass, incredible highs...a truely great power source for your home theatre system. Not one problem so far. This is my third Onkyo(the other two are still in service) and I am not dissappointed one bit. If you want the best for the money or maybe the best period, get this ASAP.

This receiver was extremely easy to set up, is very easy to use, and sounds excellent. I would recommend it.

I bought this for my office. It is a very nice receiver. Powers 6 in-ceiling speakers without a problem. Easy to use. I tried using a home theater receiver for my office audio system, but home theater receivers are made for 5.1 or 7.1 systems. This Onkyo worked much better, as it is made for sound, not video, and it does it quite well. I believe it will do video, but it is not made for home theater application. I have a sony dg-820 at home for that purpose and it works great.

To say that this Onkyo is a performer for the money is an understatement. I have an Onkyo 705 surround receiver so they were my first choice for my stereo setup as well, but I auditioned a lot of other equipment in the price range, and nothing came close! This is exactly what Onkyo is known for; clean, crisp power, good signal-to-noise ratio, etc. I am using it to power some Bowers and Wilkins bookshelf speakers that have a sensitivity of about 85db, and at only 40 volume, the house is filled with beautiful sound! I would recommend this receiver to anyone looking for the best performance from their stereo system without buying separate components (pre-amp and power amp)!

The construction is very solid, as with all Onkyo products, and it has a nice weight to it without feeling like it's full of lead. It keeps to the clean, simple component styling that Onkyo and so many other brands are known to use, which I find very attractive. My two main complaints are trivial, but still should be addressed. 1) I could have used a backlit remote like on the 705 and... 2) You have the press the PURE AUDIO button twice to get the PURE AUDIO mode... otherwise, from one press of the button, it goes to DIRECT mode.... Like I said, trivial.

Value: 10/10
Power: 10/10
Sound: 9.5/10
Construction: 10/10
Remote: 8.5/10

Overall: 9.75/10