Bought new Onkyo TX-NR6050, hope I won't regret

[Mike Up]

Confusing indeed. Not to mention there are at least a few different “guides” out there.
Just one note mike. The 1.25X reference is to the height of your mains not ears. I know, it’s almost probably the same thing but all the measurements and angles are referenced to the other speakers with the exception of the seated ear to ceiling measurement to find 45° fore and aft.

I thought the speaker height as well but found this notation in their Figure 2, Front Spks. Height HI ~ Ear Level (~1.2m Rear Spks for the front speakers and Height H2 = H1, or no more than H1 x 1.25 for the rear speakers.

I figured they really meant ear level as my front speaker height is not ear level but I have them tilted up so the tweeter hits ear level. Same thing with my previous Infinity Tower Speakers.

 

[Mike Up]

Well I finally had to admit defeat. I can't stay at that 1' above ear level. There's just to many furnishings in the way, I have to go up 1-1/2' feet up. An additional 5" but virtualization may still sound decent. I'm still on the fence with it as what I heard so far sounded sloppy, messy, unrealistic, with no distinction in surround sounds. Then again I have my speakers at 3' above ear level and ~1-1/2' below the 8' ceiling. I still think I may prefer to stay without virtualization but I'll make that call when I finally get the speakers up and installed.

 

[Bald Italian]

Well I finally had to admit defeat. I can't stay at that 1' above ear level. There's just to many furnishings in the way, I have to go up 1-1/2' feet up. An additional 5" but virtualization may still sound decent. I'm still on the fence with it as what I heard so far sounded sloppy, messy, unrealistic, with no distinction in surround sounds. Then again I have my speakers at 3' above ear level and ~1-1/2' below the 8' ceiling. I still think I may prefer to stay without virtualization but I'll make that call when I finally get the speakers up and installed.

I only have a 5.1 setup. I tried "Speaker Virtualization" and despised it.

 

[Mike Up]

Well I did some furnishing moving and think I can get the speakers only 10" above ear level. So that's within their 125%. I still have to get my speakers installed as I have them stored away.

Yeh, I'm thinking I'll leave virtualization off. But having the speakers down closer will put the sounds nearer ground level where they should be instead of up in the air. After installing them at 3' for wife acceptance factor, I think the room was too small for the speakers to be that high.

Funny, I originally had them all on speaker stands but family and animals demanded I put them out of reach on the wall, and DOLBY RECOMMENDED that 2' to 3' above listening level. Now Dolby recommends where my speakers started off, at ear level on speaker stands, even with no atmos speakers in a 7.1 setup!

 

[Trebdp83]

Onkyo revamped the Onkyo Controller app. Not too different but taking a bit of time to figure out after using the old one for so long. They took a page out of Yamaha’s MusicCast app. Keep those updates coming!

 

[Mike Up]

Got Polk Blackstone TL1 rear surround/ surround speakers installed and sounds great. It sounds more realistic than my previous installation. Speakers just sound better from being lower and all 4 speakers being the same.

Virtualization sounds ok, but unrealistic and objects are placed in wrong areas. One example with an Atmos soundtrack was a sound in the front panning across front speakers seemed to come from behind with virtualization and sounded so wrong.

Im leaving virtualization off.

 

[Trebdp83]

I think it may be better left off in a 7.1 setup since Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization does use all of the speakers in a given setup to try and achieve the effect. I have had better luck with it in my 5.1 setup. Atmos metadata will still be processed in a 7.1 setup without Height speakers present or Speaker Virtualizer on and tracks with Atmos metadata will still display as Atmos/TrueHD from discs and Atmos/DD+ from streams except when streaming from an Apple TV 4K and XBOX Series X/S as they use Dolby MAT(Dolby signal converted to LPCM) and they will display simply as Dolby Atmos on Onkyo receivers and Atmos/PCM on other receivers. Sounds like you have it all squared away. Enjoy!

 

[Mike Up]

I sent an email to Onkyo about their terrible manuals and how I am clueless on their receiver's compatibility and features when so much is inaccurate in the manual.

WOW, after my email, Onkyo did update all the manuals in all links even on their receiver documents links. THANKS ONKYO!

Now the TX-NR6050 and TX-NR6100 have correct information in all places about the resolutions and surround back speakers in 7.1 mode!

I have to say, I'm impressed!

 

[Trebdp83]

They just need to update the manual link on Costco’s website. It still brings up the original mangled manual.

 

[Mike Up]

They just need to update the manual link on Costco’s website. It still brings up the original mangled manual.

Onkyo emailed me back stating they corrected the manuals and obvious the links on their page. Crutchfield, Costco, and other sellers needed to update their manuals as well. They aren't direct links to the manuals on Onkyo's domain, but links to the sellers own domain.

 

[lovinthehd]

Onkyo emailed me back stating they corrected the manuals and obvious the links on their page. Crutchfield, Costco, and other sellers needed to update their manuals as well. They aren't direct links to the manuals on Onkyo's domain, but links to the sellers own domain.

Never occurred to me to download a manufacturer's manual from the seller....altho I usually download it before buying it, too.

 

[Bald Italian]

Is anyone else , besides me, stunned at how good this "more-than-reasonably-priced" receiver handles music playback? I have SACDs, Pure-Audio Blu-rays and DVD-A's that sound better through this unit than through my "way more" expensive separate amps. Is it just me?

 

[Trebdp83]

I really am pleased with it as well. It offers great bang for the buck.

 

[Bald Italian]

I really am pleased with it as well. It offers great bang for the buck.

Thanks for your response! I guess I wasn't expecting much when I bought it; more like a more adequate "receiver sound", but it goes way, way beyond that!

 

[Trebdp83]

Mine replaced a TX-NR696, also a great receiver. I wanted HDMI 2.1 support and the TX-NR6050 really performs well when I game in 4K HDR @120Hz. It’s not without its quirks and shortcomings but everything I absolutely need it to do, it does well.

 

[Bald Italian]

Mine replaced a TX-NR696, also a great receiver. I wanted HDMI 2.1 support and the TX-NR6050 really performs well when I game in 4K HDR @120Hz. It’s not without its quirks and shortcomings but everything I absolutely need it to do, it does well.

I'm in total agreement!

 

[Mike Up]

Is anyone else , besides me, stunned at how good this "more-than-reasonably-priced" receiver handles music playback? I have SACDs, Pure-Audio Blu-rays and DVD-A's that sound better through this unit than through my "way more" expensive separate amps. Is it just me?

Yes, it sounds very good. At least as good as my Denon AVR-2312ci (2011 model @ $800 msrp) and AVR-3803 (2004 model @ $1200 msrp) .

Very similar sonic characteristic to my Denon receivers, up to very loud output levels. By comparison, my Yamaha RX-V2095 (1999 model @ $1699 msrp) and Yamaha RX-V2400 (2004 model @ $1000 msrp) got shrill, compressed, and bright sounding at very loud levels). Other than that, Yamaha RX-V2095 and RX-V2400 sounded good at more moderate levels.

Denon and Onkyo sound very good at all listening levels.

 

[Mike Up]

Mine replaced a TX-NR696, also a great receiver. I wanted HDMI 2.1 support and the TX-NR6050 really performs well when I game in 4K HDR @120Hz. It’s not without its quirks and shortcomings but everything I absolutely need it to do, it does well.

How do you like the TX-NR6050 in comparison to the TX-NR696 considering setup and sound quality. The real differences I've found between the 2 is that the 6050 offers 8K/4K 120p and HDR10+ compatibility obviously and 696 offers THX features. I was on the fence between the 2 as the TX-NR696 is $550 at many places.

I ultimately went with the NR6050 for it's 8K compatibility (want it to be a video switcher longer than my Denon AVR-2312ci was) and it's HDR10+ compatibility as HDR10+ offers great quality rivaling Dolby Vision.

 

[Bald Italian]

Yes, it sounds very good. At least as good as my Denon AVR-2312ci and AVR-3803. Very similar sonic characteristic up to very loud output. By comparison, my Yamaha RX-V2095 (1999 model @ $1699) and Yamaha RX-V2400 (2003/2004 model) got shrill, compressed, and bright sounding at very loud levels). Other than that, Yamaha RX-V2095 sounded good at more moderate levels.

Denon and Onkyo sound very good.

Thank you for your response. It's very much appreciated .

 

[Trebdp83]

The lack of THX cert is no loss at all save for the lack of the Relative volume setting. I do wish FlareConnect had stayed around. The big wins for the 6050 over the 696 are eARC, HDR10+ and HDMI 2.1 features support. There are little physical changes here and there. Wouldn’t suggest the 696 over the 6050 or even suggest spending the extra money on the 6100.