What can beat the Onkyo TX-SR606

[thedude65]

Compare Yamaha 863 to Onkyo 606

check out the 863 at yamaha's website. i believe it has more features and imputs than the 606.

 

[gkelly]

I went ahead and ordered the 606. I read a lot of reviews, and some even mentioned that the 606 does not run as hot as the 605 did, so hopefully there were some improvements made in that area.

I should get it in about a week from now (from J&R). I'll report back on the heat levels.

 

[fmw]

What can beat the Onkyo 606? In my opinion something with a brand name on it that doesn't start with O. Sorry for the seemingly ridiculous statement but it comes from the heart.

 

[Richdog]

WoW, clearly? in what manner? would you share your opinion?

He just read the review:

For an additional $30, the Onkyo TX-SR606 outshined the RX-V663 on many levels in terms of both performance and features. Moreover, a week before I completed my evaluation, Denon announced a sub-$600 AVR with four HDMI inputs, a full suite of Audyssey technologies, and support for all the advanced surround codecs.

In addition, I have to give the Onkyo TX-SR606 a better grade on power output. It is rated at only 90Wpc compared to Yamaha's 95Wpc (though testing criteria can certainly affect the significance of this specification), but I was able to crank the Onkyo as loud as I could tolerate without any audible distortion or ear fatigue. Once I got a well-balanced frequency response on the Yamaha, the amp ran out of gas at higher listening volumes.

Seems the reviewer clearly thought that the Onkyo was better.

Personally i'mlooking forward to the new Denon AVR-1909 and AVR-2309... they look like good value, can't wait for the reviews.

 

[Mw`]

When are those Denons coming out? September?

 

[Richdog]

When are those Denons coming out? September?

Early August according to UK Hi-Fi stores.

 

[vtsteevo]

Bump... anyone have any additional experiences with SR606?

 

[gkelly]

Bump... anyone have any additional experiences with SR606?

There's a thread for it on AVS,
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008807

 

[DHC-3T]

I have had an Onkyo not to long ago and had nothing but problems with it...Never had the issue resolved and just tossed the unit. The customer service was non-existent. It could get he best reviews possible and I would never get another !!!

 

[vtsteevo]

gkelly, so did you return your SR606?

 

[PENG]

To me the lack of preouts is the show stopper, otherwise I don't think anything can beat the 606.

 

[Richdog]

To me the lack of preouts is the show stopper, otherwise I don't think anything can beat the 606.

You don't think anything can beat the 606? Sound quality musn't matter too much to you then.

 

[bandphan]

You don't think anything can beat the 606? Sound quality musn't matter too much to you then.

just my 2 cents, if that 606 has "sound quality" i wouldnt buy it

 

[rnatalli]

just my 2 cents, if that 606 has "sound quality" i wouldnt buy it

Amen to that.

Onkyo's recent QC issues and the fact that they run really hot would concern me.

 

[PENG]

You don't think anything can beat the 606? Sound quality musn't matter too much to you then.

Sorry, I meant nothing can beat it in that price group. I read the lab measurements by H.T. magazine and this thing has the best specs in terms of power, frequency response, distortions, cross talk and noise I have ever read for a receiver priced at <$400.

Again, I wouldn't buy it for my main system either because of its lack of preouts.

 

[rnatalli]

To answer the original question, two good alternatives are the Yamaha 663 and Pioneer 1018. They have less HDMI inputs and no Audyssey, but still great overall units. The downside to the Onkyo are the lack of preouts and heat.

 

[allargon]

To answer the original question, two good alternatives are the Yamaha 663 and Pioneer 1018. They have less HDMI inputs and no Audyssey, but still great overall units. The downside to the Onkyo are the lack of preouts and heat.

The Yammy 663 also does not video processing. For people that actually watch overcompressed SD via cable/sat, the processing within an AVR can be a mild (not as good as a dedicated processor) plus depending on the capabilities of the display.

Harman should be joining the midrange party very shortly (Finally!) with an AVR that can decode the lossless audio formats.

 

[rnatalli]

Harman should be joining the midrange party very shortly (Finally!) with an AVR that can decode the lossless audio formats.

I recently messed around with the AVR-254 and was not impressed despite being a Harman/Kardon fan. Too buggy and it's clear their HDMI implementation needs work.

Today I posted a quick review of the 606 and found it to be a great unit. It does run a bit warm, but give it room to breath and it should be fine.

I compared the Yamaha 663 to a Cambridge Audio receiver not too long ago so I have a good idea of its power. Using the same setup and speakers this week, I feel the Onkyo has more juice when pushing 5+ speakers. Shouldn't really matter though if you're using fairly efficient speakers and aren't pushing things to stupid levels. I also like Onkyo's use of Audyssey. My only real concern with the 606 is Onkyo's recent QC track record. The lack of preouts can present a problem for some as well.