Is ONKYO producing JUNK these days?

[greggp2]

I personally am not a big fan of Onkyo or Integras. They both have lots of bells and whistles, but I've had 2 Onkyo units. One higher end AVR and the SC886 Pre/Pro. First off, both ran very hot and their digital DACs were less than impressive. The SD of both units was far less superior to a higher end Yamaha receiver I had or my current Marantz Pre/Pro or my Marantz receiver in my bedroom unit. For the money, I think you can do better than Onkyo. I buddy of mine purchased a $600 Onkyo receiver with Multi zone capabilities a year ago and his zone 2 no longer works.

 

[greggp2]

I also forgot to mention that even the analog sections of Onkyo are very cloudy. They don't seem to pass through analog signals very well. My current Marantz AV7005, whose DAC I'm beginning to question compared to some of my analog sources, blows my Onkyo SC886 away in digital and especially in Analog SQ

 

[avliner]

... My current Marantz AV7005, whose DAC I'm beginning to question compared to some of my analog sources...

Care to elaborate??

 

[greggp2]

Sure. I downloaded some Flacs in HD format from HD Tracks and have been playing them through the USB on the Marantz, using the Marantz's DAC. These files should sound amazing. While they sound good, my Analog connected Emotiva ERC-1 sounds just as good if not better playing just standard CD's that contain far less information. So the DAC on the Emotiva is doing a much better job than the Marantz's DAC which is being fed far more information and should sound much better, yet doesn't.

 

[PENG]

Sure. I downloaded some Flacs in HD format from HD Tracks and have been playing them through the USB on the Marantz, using the Marantz's DAC. These files should sound amazing. While they sound good, my Analog connected Emotiva ERC-1 sounds just as good if not better playing just standard CD's that contain far less information. So the DAC on the Emotiva is doing a much better job than the Marantz's DAC which is being fed far more information and should sound much better, yet doesn't.

I think you will win big in one of those DBT.

 

[greggp2]

I think you will win big in one of those DBT.

Peng, if you haven't downloaded and listened to some High Resolution 24 bit 192kps audio, I suggest you try it. The difference between CD and a HI Res flac is greater than the difference between a Blu Ray and a regular DVD, greater than DVD-A and a CD, etc etc. unless someone is listening to music through their computer speakers, the differences are glaringly obvious.

You can find out more here: What is HDTracks? - YouTube

 

[PENG]

Peng, if you haven't downloaded and listened to some High Resolution 24 bit 192kps audio, I suggest you try it. The difference between CD and a HI Res flac is greater than the difference between a Blu Ray and a regular DVD, greater than DVD-A and a CD, etc etc. unless someone is listening to music through their computer speakers, the differences are glaringly obvious.

You can find out more here: What is HDTracks? - YouTube

Peng, if you haven't downloaded and listened to some High Resolution 24 bit 192kps audio, I suggest you try it. The difference between CD and a HI Res flac is greater than the difference between a Blu Ray and a regular DVD, greater than DVD-A and a CD, etc etc. unless someone is listening to music through their computer speakers, the differences are glaringly obvious.

You can find out more here: What is HDTracks? - YouTube

Yes I have, and I agree with you Greg but again only to a point. I do have an account with HDtracks.com and I have in fact invested heavily in this format. My 0.0002 cent is that like SACD, DVDA, CD the quality of the recording/transfer has more impact on what I hear than the format itself. In fact IMHO in order of impact on the final SQ as heard by my ears/brain (subjective):

1. Quality of the media. (I have CD that sounds better than SACD, HD FLAC sounds worse than CD)

2. Speakers (would have been#1 if unqualified)

3. The media player.

4. Power amp.

5. Preamp.

Now this is based on my own setups over the years. I seem lucky to have rooms that don't seem to have any noticeable issues, except in my 2 channel setup I cannot get optimized bass as limited to where I have to sit.

I should also add the following qualifications (not in any particular order).

1. Exclude entry level media players - I have a $39.99 one that sounds so good it may fail me in a DBT yet I have a $119.99 that is unlistenable using the analog outs.

2. Power amp must have specs that should not present audible difference in theory and have sufficient headroom for the listening session.

3. Exclude pramps that are designed to have their own signatures. I believe that would include certain AR, Mc ML, JR, and other Tube based products.

4. Exclude speakers that do not have the resolution (term borrowed from you) to tell the differences.

It is easy to pick a format and buy an amp but it is difficult to fix a bad room and to pick out a good pair of speakers (can't always go by price beyond a point) so we end up seeing tons of forum hearsays about how amps make those day and night differences. I mean no offence, but if someone (who are not necessarily stupid) keep seeing such remarks and thinking literally what day and night means, they could, under such influence, end up spending their hard earn money on something that really don't make much difference for them after the first 90 (just pick a number) of Placebo prone and experimental period when they may be comparing their gear in some ways that tend to reinforce the natural Placebo effect. Serious that happened to me and people I know more than once.

Venting aside, you can see that I have always agreed to your points so far but only to a point. We can always agree to disagree but I thought I should at least take the time to write in more detail so you know where I am coming from. To the OP I am sorry for going off topic.

Lastly, don't you get disappointed after so long HDtracks.com still has not made 24/192 MCH available, or I am missing something even though I check in there at least once a week and am naturally on their mailing list. Also, I wish they have a larger classical collection in 24/192 even just in 2ch. Regardless, I do love the format but for now mostly for the ease of use.

By the way, the best sounding tracks I downloaded are those free demo tracks here: High Resolution Music DOWNLOAD services .:. FLAC in free TEST BENCH. I am sure you know that already.

 

[tonedeaf]

I purchased a TX-NR807 almost a year agperation has also been flawless,except for one minor hiccupp.Once in awhile it loses its internet connection and has to be unplugged and replugged to regain the connection.
There is an update for the unit but I prefer not to execute it.It performs too well to risk an update.Strange things can happen over the net
Unit is on the bottom rack of the stand in my ever cool basement rec room.On a heat scale of 1 to 10,the unit never gets much past 3 or 4.
Purchased this unit new from New Egg for 500 and some change.Couldn't be more satisfied.
My one gripe is the amount of listening modes,by time I finally decide on one the movie or song is close to being doneA way to select independent modes would be a nice feature instead of having to scroll through all the listening modes.

As of 1/09/2012,unit has failed.HDMI board went south.
Check AVS forum,ALL 807's are failing at about the 18 month mark.
My unit sits at the bottom of my open rack with at least 12 inches of head space.
It is located in my basement rec room which stays nice and cool all year long,especially in the winter time when it is sometimes uncomfortably cool according yo my wife.
Bad batch of boards is my guess.
I don't think heat is an issue.

 

[LAB3]

As of 1/09/2012,unit has failed.HDMI board went south.
Check AVS forum,ALL 807's are failing at about the 18 month mark.
My unit sits at the bottom of my open rack with at least 12 inches of head space.
It is located in my basement rec room which stays nice and cool all year long,especially in the winter time when it is sometimes uncomfortably cool according yo my wife.
Bad batch of boards is my guess.
I don't think heat is an issue.

Sorry to read this. My 805 did the same thing and had the ship it back for HDMI and display light repairs 3 times in 20 months... I had to pay freight. I don't buy AVR online anymore. Purchased a last year model Yamaha at Best Buy and purchased the extra 2 year Service Policy... it fails under 4 years from purchased date and it can't be repaired Best Buys gives me full store credit (my purchase price) for a new AVR. Add extended service policy and drive home happy. I don't deal with Onkyo or now Yamaha Customer Service and have to pay freight to have Factory do warranty work. Good LUCK with Onkyo Customer Service.

 

[HexOmega]

As of 1/09/2012,unit has failed.HDMI board went south.
Check AVS forum,ALL 807's are failing at about the 18 month mark.
My unit sits at the bottom of my open rack with at least 12 inches of head space.
It is located in my basement rec room which stays nice and cool all year long,especially in the winter time when it is sometimes uncomfortably cool according yo my wife.
Bad batch of boards is my guess.
I don't think heat is an issue.

Another Yamaha convert perhaps?

I love my Yammy

 

[peregrin]

Former Onkyo owner

Hello all,

I started some 8 years ago with an Onkyo receiver, (can't remember the model) it worked fine for 2 years until the power supply fried. Sparked, smoked, everything. It was plugged into a surge protector, as was the rest of my components which were unaffected. I replaced it with a Yamaha HTR5860, which has operated absolutely perfectly in the ensuing six years. (I am upgrading again, but that is beside the point...Emotiva UMC-1, XPA-2, XPA-5, custom speakers, ooooohh...)

I had bought the Onkyo receiver because my dad has an Onkyo tape deck from the 1970's that is a BEAST. It is basically the M1 Abrams tank of tape decks. It works as well as it did when it was new. It has had the standard cleanings and adjustments you would expect for a +/- 40 year old piece of equipment, but no repairs.

I have also owned two Onkyo 6-disc DVD changers in the last 6 years. The first one stopped outputting video through everything except the yellow RCA jack. The second is still working, (kind of) although it freezes sometimes when disc 3 is selected. I have since upgraded the second Onkyo to a Sony Blu-Ray player.

Not sure what is going on at Onkyo, but from reading numerous forums and reviews from customers, it seems that there is definitely a problem.

Based on my experience, I would stick with Yamaha for now.

As always, my two cents.

 

[billy p]

Hello all,

I started some 8 years ago with an Onkyo receiver, (can't remember the model) it worked fine for 2 years until the power supply fried. Sparked, smoked, everything. It was plugged into a surge protector, as was the rest of my components which were unaffected. I replaced it with a Yamaha HTR5860, which has operated absolutely perfectly in the ensuing six years. (I am upgrading again, but that is beside the point...Emotiva UMC-1, XPA-2, XPA-5, custom speakers, ooooohh...)

I had bought the Onkyo receiver because my dad has an Onkyo tape deck from the 1970's that is a BEAST. It is basically the M1 Abrams tank of tape decks. It works as well as it did when it was new. It has had the standard cleanings and adjustments you would expect for a +/- 40 year old piece of equipment, but no repairs.

I have also owned two Onkyo 6-disc DVD changers in the last 6 years. The first one stopped outputting video through everything except the yellow RCA jack. The second is still working, (kind of) although it freezes sometimes when disc 3 is selected. I have since upgraded the second Onkyo to a Sony Blu-Ray player.

Not sure what is going on at Onkyo, but from reading numerous forums and reviews from customers, it seems that there is definitely a problem.

Based on my experience, I would stick with Yamaha for now.

As always, my two cents.

I would wholeheartedly agree with these coments ... Yamaha imho is tried tested and true....although I've never owned any Onyko products and some of their more recent units like the TX- NR809/1009 are very tempting...I don't take comments found here and elsewhere lightly.

To bad because those 2 Onyko units imo are amongst the best value/or bang for your buck receivers out there but frankly I won't consider.....

 

[marauder]

I have a onkyo from jan 1997 paid around 1200,jbl speakers i was 31 i beat the!!!!!! out of it my kids did to when we went out cought them many times still works and jbls dont remember what they cost ,anyhow was going to get a new one due to the hdmi problem,and connection issues etc, thinking not buy anymore crap keep what i have seems new stuff is $$ and a PAIN tv tube goes evry 6 months last big screen lasted 12 yrs on almost 24hrs a day! and the tube is $100 a pop rated 6000hrs wish i could buy the same old tv i had!!! sorry guys just venting!!

 

[walter duque]

I had one of their flagship models in the late 90's it was high current 100 watts. Retail was around $1200.00. Passed it on to my cousin and it's still running strong. Onkyo-Denon only makes their top componets, lower priced models are farmed out, they only have the Onkyo face platte, who knows what your realy getting these days when you're buying entry level equipment. Most likely they farm out to http://www.eastech.com/aboutus.htm like so many do.

 

[Impelled]

Onkyo 875 3.5 yr old working fine with fan.

My Onkyo 875 (UK) is 3.5 years old (bought Sept 2008) and hasnt put a foot wrong.
I've been watching posts about how hot they get since before I bought it, so stuck a 200mm fan on top drawing air out from day 1.
It hardly even gets warm.
It is on about 16 hours per day, almost every day, often left on overnight by accident.

Its Bi amped to a set of home built speakers (200W 91dB and front+surrounds) and gets some rough punishment
An incredible amp.

Granted this an experience of one amp, but perhaps as already pointed out, a fan is all that most of the failed units needed?
I've seen a few posts claiming their Onkyos died with a fan on, so take this with a pinch of salt.
But also question whether those amps were allowed to get very hot at any time.
By the law of averages, some machines with fans on will die anyway...

Another thing to consider is that my amp isnt switched on and off a lot.
Because they run so hot without a fan, the heat cycling damage to components and electrical joints is much greater.
So a combination of no fan and switching on/off a lot could be a major cause of the failures, although I think just running with no fan is bad enough with the temps reported by users and reviewers.
No doubt this is made worse if the amp is used hard a lot.

This isnt a dig btw.
I wont buy Onkyo again after reading about their customer service.

 

[3db]

My Onkyo 875 (UK) is 3.5 years old (bought Sept 2008) and hasnt put a foot wrong.
I've been watching posts about how hot they get since before I bought it, so stuck a 200mm fan on top drawing air out from day 1.
It hardly even gets warm.
It is on about 16 hours per day, almost every day, often left on overnight by accident.

Its Bi amped to a set of home built speakers (200W 91dB and front+surrounds) and gets some rough punishment
An incredible amp.

Granted this an experience of one amp, but perhaps as already pointed out, a fan is all that most of the failed units needed?
I've seen a few posts claiming their Onkyos died with a fan on, so take this with a pinch of salt.
But also question whether those amps were allowed to get very hot at any time.
By the law of averages, some machines with fans on will die anyway...

Another thing to consider is that my amp isnt switched on and off a lot.
Because they run so hot without a fan, the heat cycling damage to components and electrical joints is much greater.
So a combination of no fan and switching on/off a lot could be a major cause of the failures, although I think just running with no fan is bad enough with the temps reported by users and reviewers.
No doubt this is made worse if the amp is used hard a lot.

This isnt a dig btw.
I wont buy Onkyo again after reading about their customer service.

I'm happy that its working out for you and you took a smart approach and did something about Onkyo's heat dissipation problem. The problem is, no where does it mention in their literature that forced air cooling is required. Adequate ventilation and forced air cooling are two different things to the minds of most people.

IHO, Onkyo never mentioned forced air cooling so that automatically implies that adequate ventilation is enough. Clearly their lack of foresight in heat dissipation has 's been demonstrated many times over. Couple poor designs with one of the worst customer support service in the electronics industry bar none and its a wonder that company is still alive today.

 

[Impelled]

Agreed entirely.

They should have had active cooling built in, it doesnt need a lot of air movement.
My 200mm fan has a 2cm gap underneath it (to reduce turbulence noise) so is drawing air from the surroundings as well, its silent.
After playing music medium loud for about 4 hours, the amps top is cold and the air coming out is vaguely above ambient.

If running a fan (blowing out of the top), the heatsinks dont need to be as tall, so the fan can be squeezed inside the amp.
Airflow into the amp comes from all over the amps case (except where the fan is) or the whole of the sides, reducing dust intake due to slow air movement.
The case can be designed to resist dust better as well, given there is forced airflow to draw air through a dust resistant mesh (instead of holes).
Simple design, cheap to make, easy to clean

 

[Scarpit283]

Fast Forward to 2017. I have ran a TX-NR-905 since I bought it new many years ago and had 0 problems with it. It was a very good purchase IMO. What about Pioneer Elite. They big boys from 2001-2002. I am selling my 905 in favor of a 47 TX. I can careless about HDMI/upconverting/ network, but I do care about copper chaiss, Caps the size of V8 cans and real old school Japan Power? Am I the only one on here that is so old school? Dont get me wrong my Onkyo has treated me very well, but I have to go back the Older Made in Japan Elites. They are my receiver of choice.

Also i 2nd the advice to stay away from Sony receivers. There receivers (Minus the mighty DA-777ES) are pretty cheaply built.

 

[vsound5150]

Fast Forward to 2017. I have ran a TX-NR-905 since I bought it new many years ago and had 0 problems with it. It was a very good purchase IMO. What about Pioneer Elite. They big boys from 2001-2002. I am selling my 905 in favor of a 47 TX. I can careless about HDMI/upconverting/ network, but I do care about copper chaiss, Caps the size of V8 cans and real old school Japan Power? Am I the only one on here that is so old school? Dont get me wrong my Onkyo has treated me very well, but I have to go back the Older Made in Japan Elites. They are my receiver of choice.

Also i 2nd the advice to stay away from Sony receivers. There receivers (Minus the mighty DA-777ES) are pretty cheaply built.

You can't go wrong with old school Japan power or Japan anything, design and quality control is way above par. If you find good deals buy two while you can.

 

[Tankman]

I had the Onkyo TX-NR 818, HDMI went out they did fix it for free. Sold it off, also had a NAD pre pro paid 3gs for it, and that unit had HDMI bugs. I have spent a ton of bucks on gear so I down sized. Went with a Onkyo again TX-NR656 so far so good thing is the unit sounds really good doesn't run hot. As for the AccReflex, did great for my room. But yeah I am liking it a lot.