Time to downgrade Onkyo receivers to Junk status?

[ahblaza]

Right now I'm just using the rear channel amps and the temp (using an infrared thermometer) is about 110ish. That's with it temporarily sitting on top of my XPA-2. Keep in mind that this years models have a built in fans. THX is the last thing I'd worry about. I don't even consider it a check-off item when shopping. The important thing is that you need to feel 100% comfortable with your purchase and if you have any worries at all then I'd look to Denon or Yamaha. I'd actually been saving for a Denon AVR-4312 but settled for the 809 once I realized that by the time I'd saved enough for the AVR-4312 the future AVR-4314 would be obsolete.

What Onkyo has done that makes me mad is they removed the switched outlet from the back. I used that switched outlet to act as a trigger for the Emotiva amps. In theory you can use the zone-2 12 volt trigger but I haven't figured that out yet and have to get my lazy butt off the recliner to turn them on and off.

Sholl, thanks for the fans info, I did not know that, you mention THX, are you referring to certification? I'm having mixed emotions at this time and really trying to convince myself to buy the 809, I just got a price quote from authorized Marantz dealer, I can get the SR6006 for $950 shipped. Please share your thoughts. I'm also going to see about the Denon 3312. Thanks
Jeff

 

[ahblaza]

sholl, thanks for the fans info, i did not know that, you mention thx, are you referring to certification? I'm having mixed emotions at this time and really trying to convince myself to buy the 809, i just got a price quote from authorized marantz dealer, i can get the sr6006 for $950 shipped. Please share your thoughts. I'm also going to see about the denon 3312. Thanks
jeff

denon avr 3312ci $850

 

[fightinkraut]

I bought a used 805 several years ago, I immediately bought some fans from drmckenzie on ebay and set the front dimming to the lowest setting. It generates a lot of heat but I do love it. I still recommend refurb'd Onkyo's from AC4L, bang for buck they are great.

I don't mind buying something that requires certain things to be done for it's continual operation, but if I had someone that I knew wouldn't listen to the space requirements, etc, then I'll direct them towards a class D.

 

[sholling]

Sholl, thanks for the fans info, I did not know that, you mention THX, are you referring to certification?

Yes.

I'm having mixed emotions at this time and really trying to convince myself to buy the 809, I just got a price quote from authorized Marantz dealer, I can get the SR6006 for $950 shipped. Please share your thoughts. I'm also going to see about the Denon 3312. Thanks

I bought the 809 because it was $700 shipped including tax brand new and the AVR-4311ci that I wanted was $2000 new at the time. The choice was buy the one that did all that I really needed for a price I could afford now or wait a year or more. I don't trust Denon's refurbs enough to buy one yet. I don't regret my choice one bit but if the detractors are right all 4 should melt into puddles any day now.

The important thing is you need to feel comfortable with your choice and if you don't then you don't.

 

[ahblaza]

Yes.


I bought the 809 because it was $700 shipped including tax brand new and the AVR-4311ci that I wanted was $2000 new at the time. The choice was buy the one that did all that I really needed for a price I could afford now or wait a year or more. I don't trust Denon's refurbs enough to buy one yet. I don't regret my choice one bit but if the detractors are right all 4 should melt into puddles any day now.

The important thing is you need to feel comfortable with your choice and if you don't then you don't.

Thanks Sholl, I'm getting more and more comfortable, for all the Onkyo 809 offers I can't find a comparable receiver for the price $650 new and delivered. It's on preorder right now, should have it soon. What I don't feel comfortable with is a brand that I'm not familiar with, I'm sure Denon and Marantz make fine receivers but I can't justify the expense compared to the 809. I decided to take the plunge, Im in the process of building a rack and the 809 will be on top shelf with no restrictive air flow. I bought the manual so I can be prepared when it arrives. Should I do a firmware upgrade first and basic quick start setup before I get into any more advanced setup? One more question if you don't mind, is there much difference with the 809 and 709 besides more power and video calibrations, thanks again Sholl.
Jeff

 

[Nomo]

A friend recently was looking at receivers in the $500/600 range. I couldn't find a better recommendation than the 709.

Keep in mind I'm a Yamaha fan boy. But features vs price, within that price range, there is no better deal out there.

Hopefully, things will work out.

 

[sholling]

Should I do a firmware upgrade first and basic quick start setup before I get into any more advanced setup?

That's what I did. I downloaded and read the manual before it got here and then updated first thing and ran the setup second. The update took a while so have a hard wired connection and be patient.

One more question if you don't mind, is there much difference with the 809 and 709 besides more power and video calibrations, thanks again Sholl.

I really don't know. I didn't spend a whole lot of time researching the 709. The 809 went on sale and as soon as I confirmed that Newegg was an authorized dealer I pulled the trigger. My whole goal was a more modern receiver for the family room and more brute force power (the 906) for the Sierra-1s in my bedroom, and as a bonus the 707's MultiEQ for my home office.

I'll eventually move the 809 off the XPA-2 but I haven't figured out where to yet.

 

[ahblaza]

A friend recently was looking at receivers in the $500/600 range. I couldn't find a better recommendation than the 709.

Keep in mind I'm a Yamaha fan boy. But features vs price, within that price range, there is no better deal out there.

Hopefully, things will work out.

Thanks Nomo, I appreciate that, I hope so also.

 

[ahblaza]

That's what I did. I downloaded and read the manual before it got here and then updated first thing and ran the setup second. The update took a while so have a hard wired connection and be patient.


I really don't know. I didn't spend a whole lot of time researching the 709. The 809 went on sale and as soon as I confirmed that Newegg was an authorized dealer I pulled the trigger. My whole goal was a more modern receiver for the family room and more brute force power (the 906) for the Sierra-1s in my bedroom, and as a bonus the 707's MultiEQ for my home office.

I'll eventually move the 809 off the XPA-2 but I haven't figured out where to yet.

Thanks Sholl, already have hard wired connection, so I should be good to go.

 

[jostenmeat]

My experiences, as one anecdotal point of reference. I have two Onkyo's right now, and they just keep chugging along. The refurbed 805 is, let's see, maybe 4 years old, acting as prepro in my movie theater. At the time, I would have chosen the Denon 3808, really the only equivalent at the time, if it wasn't nearly twice as expensive.

The little HTIB-Onkyo receiver that is back in my hands again while I hold my brother's HT system while he's out of town for a year, well that's survived even his abuse, though now all but one of the optical inputs are broken!

The only receiver that really has caught my eye in terms of desire/upgrade since my 805 purchase is the Denon 4810, but that $2000-3000 would really be better served with either new front three speaker builds, or towards an upgrade of my JVC projector (along with its sale, I could maybe get something truly nice).

You know, I'm sure Onkyo's do cost less for a reason, in many cases. But money doesn't grow on trees, and I always believe in spending the lion's share on speakers, display, and room. IMO, the prepro is easily the fastest thing to be superceded too. I initially bought mine with the idea that I might be upgrading in just a couple of years. I'm still hanging on to it.

However, it's acting only as prepro, set to 4 ohm mode, which lowers the heat, considerably. I now have a non contact thermometer, and I could take readings to disprove those people who don't believe me, but I'm not going to, as I'm certain enough for myself.

Good luck freaking out over Onkyo junk! So far mine has survived two different screens, two different subs, and a variety of speakers.

 

[tailwater]

I owned a 3007 and had no issues with it... Just sold it a purchased a 5009...
the 5009 is no doubt great sounding and is worth the upgrade as far as sound quality and power.

 

[Benbo]

Onkyo heat buildup and failure

I have owned six Onkyo receivers and have three running right now, including the 809 which I have owned for four months. I have eperienced no problems with the receivers except for a ground loop issue with the 804. I credit my success to several factors: I don't stack my receivers, I ensure that there is adequate ventillation space and I use fans to remove excess heat. I purchased vent fans, for about $28.00, that have a thermistor on them that increases the speed of the fan when the heat increases and decreases the fan speed as the heat decreases. I have placed the fans on top of the receiver in some cases and at other times installed them in the cabinet.

 

[LAB3]

I have owned six Onkyo receivers and have three running right now, including the 809 which I have owned for four months. I have eperienced no problems with the receivers except for a ground loop issue with the 804. I credit my success to several factors: I don't stack my receivers, I ensure that there is adequate ventillation space and I use fans to remove excess heat. I purchased vent fans, for about $28.00, that have a thermistor on them that increases the speed of the fan when the heat increases and decreases the fan speed as the heat decreases. I have placed the fans on top of the receiver in some cases and at other times installed them in the cabinet.

I really am happy for you that you did not go thru the nightmare I did with TX-SR805.(2008thru2010) It had 6" of open top venting space. And it had HDMI parts (two times)and the front display light fail all in the first two years. I added a fan after the first warranty repair for fried HDMI parts. Paying freight 3 times and doing without
a HD AVR weeks at a time and paying freight three times.. My TV cabinet is huge and takes two Men to move and several hours to reconnect and run the room correction function and tweak with my SPL meter. I am very hard on my TV and AVR as I am now retired and they are on 14 hours a day now. I went back to a Yamaha and 2 years later.Zero failures on it. My Yamaha 2400 non HDMI is a 2003 model and it has never been in the shop. One and done for Onkyo AVR for me now. They moved the factory from japan and it seems they are haveing Q.C. problems .

 

[ahblaza]

I really am happy for you that you did not go thru the nightmare I did with TX-SR805.(2008thru2010) It had 6" of open top venting space. And it had HDMI parts (two times)and the front display light fail all in the first two years. I added a fan after the first warranty repair for fried HDMI parts. Paying freight 3 times and doing without
a HD AVR weeks at a time and paying freight three times.. My TV cabinet is huge and takes two Men to move and several hours to reconnect and run the room correction function and tweak with my SPL meter. I am very hard on my TV and AVR as I am now retired and they are on 14 hours a day now. I went back to a Yamaha and 2 years later.Zero failures on it. My Yamaha 2400 non HDMI is a 2003 model and it has never been in the shop. One and done for Onkyo AVR for me now. They moved the factory from japan and it seems they are haveing Q.C. problems .

Lab, I do understand your frustration, I finally pulled the trigger in the beginning of March and, when I got my Onkyo I did firmware update and went to Onkyo USA to check for most current version of the update and lo and behold in the press release section Onkyo announced a recall of serial numbers of X09 models manufactured during November-December 2011 to January 2012, I checked my SN and it indeed was defective, this was the beginning of another month of nightmares, I returned the unit to Amazon and informed them of the recall SN's from Onkyo USA, to make a long story short I received in the period of three weeks three defective recall units. Onkyo informed me that all of their dealers were aware of the recall and all defective stock was to be removed, I quess Amazon (their largest disributor) didn't get the memo. Onkyo USA told me to send the unopened box, I checked the SN on outside of the box, did not have to open, to them for repair or replacement of transmitter board and to wait for return shipping label to do so, ten days and no shipping label. At this point I was determined to get resolution, why should I have to send an unopened boxed unit in for repair, I contacted Onkyo again and asked for a new non recall replacement and was told they could not do that, this was unacceptable. At this point I was fed up and was ready to just get a refund from Amazon and miracuosly I get a call from a supervisor at Onkyo USA. She conveyed her apologies for the inconvenience I was experiencing and guaranteed me that she would make this right. She emailed me a return shipping label to Onkyo USA in a hour and informed me that a new receiver was on it's way from California (?), sent me the SN of the replacement unit and it was not on the recall list, the whole time we were in contact with each other. She informed that the replacement was at the NJ facilty and was being run through a gamut of tests for two days and all was well so far. According to tracking info I should get my new receiver today. The only reason I decided to stay with Onkyo products is the fact that I have amps and receivers from them that have performed flawlessly for eight years without so much as a hiccup. We shall see today, I talked with the super and she told me to run the unit in my setup for as long as needed to make sure I was satified with the outcome and to keep her informed. Hopefully this is the end of a long and frusrating journey.
Cheers, Jeff

 

[LAB3]

Lab, I do understand your frustration, I finally pulled the trigger in the beginning of March and, when I got my Onkyo I did firmware update and went to Onkyo USA to check for most current version of the update and lo and behold in the press release section Onkyo announced a recall of serial numbers of X09 models manufactured during November-December 2011 to January 2012, I checked my SN and it indeed was defective, this was the beginning of another month of nightmares, I returned the unit to Amazon and informed them of the recall SN's from Onkyo USA, to make a long story short I received in the period of three weeks three defective recall units. Onkyo informed me that all of their dealers were aware of the recall and all defective stock was to be removed, I quess Amazon (their largest disributor) didn't get the memo. Onkyo USA told me to send the unopened box, I checked the SN on outside of the box, did not have to open, to them for repair or replacement of transmitter board and to wait for return shipping label to do so, ten days and no shipping label. At this point I was determined to get resolution, why should I have to send an unopened boxed unit in for repair, I contacted Onkyo again and asked for a new non recall replacement and was told they could not do that, this was unacceptable. At this point I was fed up and was ready to just get a refund from Amazon and miracuosly I get a call from a supervisor at Onkyo USA. She conveyed her apologies for the inconvenience I was experiencing and guaranteed me that she would make this right. She emailed me a return shipping label to Onkyo USA in a hour and informed me that a new receiver was on it's way from California (?), sent me the SN of the replacement unit and it was not on the recall list, the whole time we were in contact with each other. She informed that the replacement was at the NJ facilty and was being run through a gamut of tests for two days and all was well so far. According to tracking info I should get my new receiver today. The only reason I decided to stay with Onkyo products is the fact that I have amps and receivers from them that have performed flawlessly for eight years without so much as a hiccup. We shall see today, I talked with the super and she told me to run the unit in my setup for as long as needed to make sure I was satified with the outcome and to keep her informed. Hopefully this is the end of a long and frusrating journey.
Cheers, Jeff

It's the newer HDMI Receivers that are frying these parts from extened HT use( several months of 14 hrs a day). My Brother has several older(non HDMI) Onkyo's that still work like new.Never a Problem. This is why I went with the 805.All those features and 140X7 etc for about a $1,000.00 or less online back then. Mine did not hurt HDMI parts until it have been played at 85% of the amps on my 5.2 HT system for months. Blurays seem to need more power to reach the Db level we play music at ( I have a SPL meter)

Onkyo Customer Service is much better. I called so many times and asked from them to pay freight for warranty repairs. Not our policy is what iwas told many times, asked for manager ... we somehow were disconnected. 20 minutes of more wasted time. NOONE ever called me back........sigh. I purchased the last HD AVR I have now at best Buy and got the two year extended service policy. I drive the fried AVR to them.they deal with all the problems and sending it out. if it can't be repaired you get full store credit and pick out a different New AVR and maybe add a few bucks and upgrade.

I wish you good luck, but I think they did not test it long enough. Most are several months old before HDMI parts fail and switching issues occur etc. Not just me sour grapes. There are several threads on different forums about the 805 and others that are hundreds of pages of upset Onkyo HDMI AVR owners.
I was told well Onkyo sells more so there are more to have a problem. And owners with No problems don't post up as much as the angry owners. I understand you "Hopeing" this new AVR will be OK. lots of features for the money. A Denon , Yamaha and others will usually cost more for the same features so a Onkyo looks so good a buy hard to pass up. If you keep it try to purchase a extended service policy. Square Trade or others is worth the money if you keep it. I have two fans now and never closed up the back of the cabinet for venting and just quicker to unplug on removal, still have to move huge cabinet to reinstall and plug all my equipment back up and check.
I am not a young Man anymore and we should not be having these failures. So far my Yamaha was been a plug and play..... almost 2 years now...time will tell if I chose wisely. Maybe they have replaced these failing parts with better one's. Hope it works out for you Jeff.
Regards
Louis

 

[Benbo]

Onkyo receivers to junk status

I hope that I have not "pronounced" the kiss of death upon the 809. As a general habit I never turn off my A/V equipment, other than DVD/Bluray player. I have an Acurus amp that has been on for 6 years . As the failures with the 809 seem to be related to HDMI issues and heat, time may not be my friend. Ironically the reason for upgrading to the 809 was the number of HDMI inputs.
I have all components in a lowboy entertainment center and I am not able nor do I have the desire to wrestle with this thing in order to disconnect cables. Any feedback on whether the repairs have been effective ?
Hmmm!! I may need to consider an extended warranty.

 

[ahblaza]

It's the newer HDMI Receivers that are frying these parts from extened HT use( several months of 14 hrs a day). My Brother has several older(non HDMI) Onkyo's that still work like new.Never a Problem. This is why I went with the 805.All those features and 140X7 etc for about a $1,000.00 or less online back then. Mine did not hurt HDMI parts until it have been played at 85% of the amps on my 5.2 HT system for months. Blurays seem to need more power to reach the Db level we play music at ( I have a SPL meter)

Onkyo Customer Service is much better. I called so many times and asked from them to pay freight for warranty repairs. Not our policy is what iwas told many times, asked for manager ... we somehow were disconnected. 20 minutes of more wasted time. NOONE ever called me back........sigh. I purchased the last HD AVR I have now at best Buy and got the two year extended service policy. I drive the fried AVR to them.they deal with all the problems and sending it out. if it can't be repaired you get full store credit and pick out a different New AVR and maybe add a few bucks and upgrade.

I wish you good luck, but I think they did not test it long enough. Most are several months old before HDMI parts fail and switching issues occur etc. Not just me sour grapes. There are several threads on different forums about the 805 and others that are hundreds of pages of upset Onkyo HDMI AVR owners.
I was told well Onkyo sells more so there are more to have a problem. And owners with No problems don't post up as much as the angry owners. I understand you "Hopeing" this new AVR will be OK. lots of features for the money. A Denon , Yamaha and others will usually cost more for the same features so a Onkyo looks so good a buy hard to pass up. If you keep it try to purchase a extended service policy. Square Trade or others is worth the money if you keep it. I have two fans now and never closed up the back of the cabinet for venting and just quicker to unplug on removal, still have to move huge cabinet to reinstall and plug all my equipment back up and check.
I am not a young Man anymore and we should not be having these failures. So far my Yamaha was been a plug and play..... almost 2 years now...time will tell if I chose wisely. Maybe they have replaced these failing parts with better one's. Hope it works out for you Jeff.
Regards
Louis

Thank you Louis for the reply, I will look into extended warranty. Like you said units prior to HDMI have rarely exhibited any failures or problems. I have built a dedicated rack for the receiver and other components just to give them room to breathe, I to am not a young man and the effort of install and uninstall gets old real fast like myself. I realize that two days of testing is not enough but I intend to push it long and hard, as I am retired and also use my display and associated equipment for many hours per day. On the good side Amazon gave me a substantial discount and I still have the thirty day window for refund. I have outboard amps but will use the Onkyo's 7 channel amps for the next thirty days and report back to Onkyo USA the results. Dealing with the script readers at Onkyo support will get you nowhere and countless hours of frustration. It took a person at the top of the pecking order to get anything resembling true customer support and I was fortunate to get that, I will keep you updated with the results. Thank you again Louis for the support, take care my friend.
Jeff

 

[ahblaza]

I hope that I have not "pronounced" the kiss of death upon the 809. As a general habit I never turn off my A/V equipment, other than DVD/Bluray player. I have an Acurus amp that has been on for 6 years . As the failures with the 809 seem to be related to HDMI issues and heat, time may not be my friend. Ironically the reason for upgrading to the 809 was the number of HDMI inputs.
I have all components in a lowboy entertainment center and I am not able nor do I have the desire to wrestle with this thing in order to disconnect cables. Any feedback on whether the repairs have been effective ?
Hmmm!! I may need to consider an extended warranty.

Benbo, the issues with the Onkyo X09 series is not the HDMI boards so much, it is an intermittent power on and power off issue with static heard through the speakers, I was informed that it involves replacing a transmitter board, you can check your 809's SN at the Onkyo USA site under press release, recall serial numbers.
Jeff

 

[LAB3]

Thank you Louis for the reply, I will look into extended warranty. Like you said units prior to HDMI have rarely exhibited any failures or problems. I have built a dedicated rack for the receiver and other components just to give them room to breathe, I to am not a young man and the effort of install and uninstall gets old real fast like myself. I realize that two days of testing is not enough but I intend to push it long and hard, as I am retired and also use my display and associated equipment for many hours per day. On the good side Amazon gave me a substantial discount and I still have the thirty day window for refund. I have outboard amps but will use the Onkyo's 7 channel amps for the next thirty days and report back to Onkyo USA the results. Dealing with the script readers at Onkyo support will get you nowhere and countless hours of frustration. It took a person at the top of the pecking order to get anything resembling true customer support and I was fortunate to get that, I will keep you updated with the results. Thank you again Louis for the support, take care my friend.
Jeff

Hey Jeff
I hope it works out OK as for the money they have a lot of features. Maybe Onkyo installed better parts and all will be OK. Did you check the serial # to see if was recalled?
Louis

 

[ahblaza]

Hey Jeff
I hope it works out OK as for the money they have a lot of features. Maybe Onkyo installed better parts and all will be OK. Did you check the serial # to see if was recalled?
Louis

Hey Louis, the serial number was checked before it was shipped to me from Onkyo and I also checked before I even got it. So far all seems well and I am quite happy with the receiver, a lot of bang for the buck.
Jeff