Onkyo TX-NR809. On the fence about it

[CyberAthlete]

Hi everyone,
So i am on the fence about buying the 809...it's jammed with some great features,

• Audyssey MultiEQ XT

• 4k upscaling (won't be using it though)

• Rear USB (pretty much a deal breaker if it's not available in the rear for any receiver because i'll be plugging in an external hard drive permanently)

Components I am connecting to the receiver:

• Xbox 360 w/ HD-DVD Player - Component Video + Fiber optic for audio (it's a 1st gen model)

• PS3 - HDMI (video + audio)

• Dreamcast - S-Video + RCA for audio

• Gamecube - S-Video + RCA for audio

• Nintendo Wii - Component Cable + RCA for audio

• Xbox - Component Video + Fiber optic for audio

So all in all I'll need
2 component video connections
2 s-video
2 fiber optic
2 RCA
at the very least

However, there are no reviews on the 809 on the web by any pro mags or reviewers and the ones that do exist for the 609 aren't too big on its sound quality for music.

For me music is as important as movies since in the house I only play CDs or FLACs or uncompressed WAVs. I have 500 CDs and they need to sound good. Music ranges any where from Adele, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd to Paul Oakenfold, Beethoven...

MP3s are reserved for the car stereo or the MP3 player....

I have $600-$700 to spend on a new 7.x receiver. Any suggestions or feedback on its music quality or should I look elsewhere? Thanks guys!

 

[CyberAthlete]

I actually need 3 component connections, but 2 for now are Ok, I can forgo my Xbox since I don't play that anymore, it more or less sits there just for gaming cred...thanks guys! I really wished audioholics reviewed the TX-NR809 since it seems too attractive at the $720 price point...is it worth buying?

Buying a receiver is like a wife, you invest in one for years. Once you take it home, set it up, that's it, no going back...too much of a hassle to unplug everything, and calibrate a new one....

 

[Crackerballer]

Subscribing. I want to know the same thing as it is time to update my Denon. Amazon has the 809 on sale for $700 right now and the 709 for $585.

 

[3db]

I would go with Denon over Onkyo interms of better reliabilty and customer service. That way you can still keep the Audessy. On the other hand, Yamaha's new Aventage series are very capable receivers now in their flexability. The big difference if its worth anything is that Yamaha still uses YPAO which has been vastly improved from previous versions

 

[CyberAthlete]

Seems like some of the newer models aren't coming with S-Video, or at the very least with only 1 S-video input.

I know that there is a slight difference in clarity and sharpness when using S-video. But with upscaling, would it matter? Will you get similar results regardless of whether the picture is upscaled through RCA or S-video?

I say this because on the dreamcast when you play games like virtua tennis, the net is more detailed and sharper when using S-video.

Man this sucks, it seems like Onkyo packs every feature you want but no way to tell if it is the receiver you must have...no comparisons on sound quality, reliability of components....etc.

I am looking at some Denon's primarily the 2112ci but it has such limited connectivity for older connections. Only 1 component when I need 2....and I don't want to hook up anything to the TV except for 1 HDMI cable that's it.

 

[its phillip]

Question - why have the xbox and gamecube hooked up? The Wii can play gamecube games and the 360 can play xbox games - at least in my experience.

 

[CyberAthlete]

Question - why have the xbox and gamecube hooked up? The Wii can play gamecube games and the 360 can play xbox games - at least in my experience.

You have a point but the Xbox 360 doesn't have my saved games from the Xbox. I have so many games that I've beaten on the Xbox and on the 360 I don't have that...but you know what I can forgo both consoles since to be honest i haven't used either in over a year.

So realistically I will need 1 S-video for my DC, 2 component for the 360 and Wii.

You know what, I'll go ahead and get a new Xbox 360. I'll swap my old one out for a new one with HDMI connection. That should open up my options even more.

 

[PhiPsi32]

I lean pretty heavily on Cnet when doing initial research on new tech. Then I branch out to forums like Audioholics. I'm in a similar situation. The Onkyo seems to be well regarded for a good balance between video upscaling and audio quality but lacking AirPlay. Denon gets high marks for TV/Movie/Gaming audio, but the user reviews say it performs poorly with music and video processing.

So, no easy solution. Though it seems like the Onkyo does everything reasonably well without being great.

 

[LAB3]

I would go with Denon over Onkyo interms of better reliabilty and customer service. That way you can still keep the Audessy. On the other hand, Yamaha's new Aventage series are very capable receivers now in their flexability. The big difference if its worth anything is that Yamaha still uses YPAO which has been vastly improved from previous versions

Ditto............Denon or Yamaha ... I had a terrible Customer Service from
Onkyo on a TX-SR 805 from day one.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Has Onkyo resolved the heat issues yet?

 

[LAB3]

Has Onkyo resolved the heat issues yet?

Good question, I read they moved the plant from Japan. I had such a bad time dealing with customer service after the 3rd time my 805 had parts burn out in less then 3 years I purchased another Yamaha. Time will tell if the 1900 series Yamaha HD AVR lasts as long as my 2003 Yamaha 2400 7.1 that is still playing. non HD or HDMI or I would not have purchased the 805 new in late 2007.

 

[CyberAthlete]

So besides customer service issues, what about sound quality for movies and music? How does it compare? Any one know from experience?

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I have an Onkyo 808 and it replaced my RX V2600. It has been awesome. I would get the 809 in a heartbeat. My 808 runs only warm when pushed hard on multichannel music. In two channel I have not even been able to get the fan to come on from what I can tell. Cool to the touch. Much, much cooler than the Yammie.

No complaints on the Onkyo. It is quality stuff and build quality is better than the new Denons I think. New Denons don't impress me that much.

As far as sound quality goes I don't think you will hear much difference between any of them. I do think the Yamahas and Onkyos have a more robust amp section over the new crop of Denons though.

 

[LAB3]

I have an Onkyo 808 and it replaced my RX V2600. It has been awesome. I would get the 809 in a heartbeat. My 808 runs only warm when pushed hard on multichannel music. In two channel I have not even been able to get the fan to come on from what I can tell. Cool to the touch. Much, much cooler than the Yammie.

No complaints on the Onkyo. It is quality stuff and build quality is better than the new Denons I think. New Denons don't impress me that much.

As far as sound quality goes I don't think you will hear much difference between any of them. I do think the Yamahas and Onkyos have a more robust amp section over the new crop of Denons though.

I loved my 805 when it worked. I almost purchased a 808 new "A" stock on epray but no warranty. Glad you are having good service life from your 808.
I have posted this several times but I have a 6" fan mounted at the rear of my cabinet blowing on the rear and over the top of my all my AVR now. Push 2 Bluray HD Movies in a row simi Loud......metal case is cool. All my Yamaha got "warm" doing this but the 805 was a grill(then I added a fan) and all had 6" open vent space above them. Rear fan made a Huge difference in cooling
the amps. My AVR is on all day every day so I figured this would extend the life of the unit. I think the 808 was made in Japan as the 809 is not. I have only seen a few posts about a 809 not working out of the box or problems later on but it was after the 2nd year of heavy use did my 805 start to have problems. Same with my new/old 1900( has warranty), will see in 3 years if it is as good as my 2003 model 2400 Yammie that is still going on the bedroom.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Well with all that being said my 808 started acting up tonight. It has an issue with the remote commands not being picked up. It is an issue that Onkyo knows about from what I gather over at AVS. It just started tonight too. I am going to call Crutchfield tomorrow and see if they will take it back and give me what I paid towards an 809 instead of going through all the warranty repair with Onkyo.

 

[CyberAthlete]

Well from the picture I am sure you'll see my receiver never has any temperature or ventilation issues (It sits next to the TV). Also, my basement never goes above 70 degrees F. If anything it's always between 60-70 in summer and 40-50 in winters.

Glad to hear some positive feedback, I'll be pulling the trigger on the 809 within a week or two. Just waiting on some loans I had made to be paid back to me

 

[jeffsg4mac]

No dice with Crutchfield. Because mine was a so-called scratch and dent they won't let me go up to a new one. So, I am driving to Haverhill mass and drop it off at a service center today.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

InTheIndustry said he just installed 3 consecutive Onkyo AVRs that all went bad/defective.

I don't think I can recommend any Onkyo AVRs.

The Onkyo higher-end Pre-pro appears to be decent, however.

 

[3db]

InTheIndustry said he just installed 3 consecutive Onkyo AVRs that all went bad/defective.

I don't think I can recommend any Onkyo AVRs.

The Onkyo higher-end Pre-pro appears to be decent, however.

I would not even touch those just in case you run into a problem. There's still that legendary customer service of theirs.

 

[gmichael]

I was just recently in the market for a new AVR. Onkyo was on the top of my list when I started. After a lot of reading I scratched Onkyo and Denon from my list. Just too many issues to ignore.

I ended up with a Yamaha RX-A3000. Picked it up for $1200 from NewEgg a week ago.