Onkyo long term reliability problems - need recommendations

[myriad1973]

I recently had to take my TX-SR805 into the repair shop because the receiver stopped sending analog signals over the HDMI output, which I accidentally broke anyway (oops). The volume knob wasn't working properly either. The shop tells me $350 for the repairs, but after spending $600 on replacing the amplifier control board in 2010, I'm a little leery about buying another Onkyo receiver to replace it due to the negative feedback concerning long term reliability.

I'm interested in the TX-NR905, NR906, SR876, or NR3007 for the connectivity and the addition of Audyssey Dynamic EQ & Volume features, total 1080p upscaling, & some feature an HD Radio tuner, amongst others.

Are there any other brands that have a similar feature set and connectivity, but better long term quality? I've had Pioneer and Sony receivers in the past that were solid as a rock. My budget for a used model is under $500.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Love my onkyo 805,but hdmi board issue you have is unfortunately not uncommon.
Highly recommend to look for open box denon recievers on Amazon

 

[myriad1973]

Love my onkyo 805,but hdmi board issue you have is unfortunately not uncommon.
Highly recommend to look for open box denon recievers on Amazon

Yeah, me too. It's a shame too that Onkyo had to fire their whole quality control department in order to give their receivers such nice feature sets. Funny how even electronics these days doesn't seem to hold up like they use to.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yeah, me too. It's a shame too that Onkyo had to fire their whole quality control department in order to give their receivers such nice feature sets. Funny how even electronics these days don't seem to hold up like they use to.

Just curious - was your 805 well ventilated (more than 4" air above and over 8" behind) or locked inside the cabinet or small space?

 

[myriad1973]

Just curious - was your 805 well ventilated (more than 4" air above and over 8" behind) or locked inside the cabinet or small space?

Yep. It sits on the top of my audio rack out in the open. The volume knob trouble started over a year ago and the analog video to HDMI last winter, and although my cats got in the habit of laying on it for a while there, I think I now have that resolved. I also plugged in the HDMI out to the TV and there was a picture! lol Nothing from the analog end, but at least I can watch movies and listen to music for now til I get a different receiver.

 

[afterlife2]

Take a look at these models: http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxa820bl/yamaha-rx-a820-7.2-network-aventage-av-receiver-airplay/1.html
or
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxa1010bl/yamaha-rx-a1010-7.2-network-aventage-av-receiver-airplay/1.html

 

[sharkman]

Yeah, me too. It's a shame too that Onkyo had to fire their whole quality control department in order to give their receivers such nice feature sets. Funny how even electronics these days doesn't seem to hold up like they use to.

I've owned three Onkyos, including the 876 and 906. All of the models you've listed can have the dreaded HDMI failure, though the 3007 may do better but it's out of your budget.

Recently I made the switch back to Denon, and now own 2 of them, a 4520, and an old 3801 for the office that I employ in 2 channel mode. Denons have been far more reliable(heck, everyone's been more reliable than Onkyo!) but I have found the sound to be superior as well as the implementation of Audyssey over Onkyo.

At any rate, in your price range going with the accessories4less store, I'd suggest:

Denon 3000

Denon 3313

Or to get last year's 2nd from top of the line: Denon AVR X4000

 

[myriad1973]

Thanks for the input. Those prices look really good for the features. I'll look into it more tomorrow. Any Pioneer models? My old Pioneer from 1990 still works flawlessly (other than a faded display and eq lights)

 

[blade1]

When did Onkyo fire their quality control department?

 

[myriad1973]

When did Onkyo fire their quality control department?

Sorry, I was being sarcastic.

 

[myriad1973]

I was looking into the Yamaha RX-A2000. How does YPAO compare to Audyssey? I wonder what kind of equalizer options it has?

 

[3db]

I was looking into the Yamaha RX-A2000. How does YPAO compare to Audyssey? I wonder what kind of equalizer options it has?

Everyone here favors Audyssey over YPAO based on theory but there has never been a blind listening test to to see which is better. Even the single point YPAO that I have on my now aging receiver does a good job with my room.

 

[myriad1973]

Hmmm.... Makes it hard to decide since I have Audyssey right now. It would seem like I would be going backwards.

 

[anamorphic96]

Hmmm.... Makes it hard to decide since I have Audyssey right now. It would seem like I would be going backwards.

The Yamaha YPAO system does not EQ the sub and that is a deal breaker for me and many other people. They only offer this function on the two top models. To be quite honest it's pretty sad as Pioneer has even offered sub EQ to the lower end models now.

Try and find a receiver with Audyssey MultEQ XT32. It has become the gold standard for many people.

 

[myriad1973]

I agree. The XT32 would be a step up instead of a step back from XT.

 

[blade1]

The Yamaha YPAO system does not EQ the sub and that is a deal breaker for me and many other people. They only offer this function on the two top models. To be quite honest it's pretty sad as Pioneer has even offered sub EQ to the lower end models now.

Try and find a receiver with Audyssey MultEQ XT32. It has become the gold standard for many people.

I'm new to surround sound so please bear with me. Why is a sub EQ so important?

I'm looking forward to the new yamaha aventage 750 that will be coming out. I am running full range JBL towers in a 2.0/3.0 setup, but the wife wants surround sound. So since I don't own a sub yet, is the sub EQ important for me? Could I just run a 5.0 and use the towers for LFE? Or would I miss too much?

I did read somewhere that Yamaha does not do this because sub EQ's suck a lot of power and their power supplies don't have extra capacity for the sub EQ's. As a tower user though, power supply is important for me.

So would I be better off getting a sub and receiver with sub EQ for $700 total, or spending the $700 on the yamaha and just adding to my current system?

 

[myriad1973]

Getting a sub is highly recommended. You're missing out if you don't have one. The sub eq in Audyssey helps with room acoustic variations. It won't take power away from the receiver because the sub will most likely have its own amplifier, if you buy an active one.