mini review or upgrade story
I actually received mine last week. Have been meaning to do a little write-up, so here goes nothing:
The ONKYO PR-SC5508 pre-pro is replacing my ONKYO TX-NR905 receiver, which showed me for the first time what a huge difference proper amplification can make. The rest of the living room setup consists of a pair of Paradignm Studio 60 v.4 tower speakers, an Emotiva XPA-5 five channel audio power amplifier (XLR), an SVS PC-13 Ultra DSP subwoofer (XLR), an OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray player (HDMI), an Asus O!Play HDP-R1 media player (HDMI), a Logitech Squeezebox Duet (optical), a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR cable box, a Panasonic TC-P54G10 plasma television (HDMI), all hooked up to an APC H15 power conditioner. I would say I do about 80% movies and 20% music on that system.
I upgraded to the external amplifier last year, so the AVR was doing pre-pro duty only. Considering how it runs very hot even without providing amplification and given the HDMI handshake issues, I was looking for a replacement. I ended up picking the PR-SC5508 over the Marantz AV7005 that admittedly looks much more beautiful, but has fewer of the latest features that I value.
A lot of people are worried about two things in the Onkyo line-up: heat, clicking noise. Sorry to say that both are still there, but much less pronounced.
Compared to the 905 it has no vents in the front section, where I guess the amplifier resides in its brother the TX-NR5008. But the rear section where all the processing resides still gets very warm. Overall less hot. I prefer to run everything without active cooling as the fan noise bothers me, but the paranoid can always add a fan I guess.
The clicking is audible every time you switch processing modes. (It emanates from the unit itself, not the speakers.) This can happen when you switch inputs or pause playback, all depending on your actual setup and settings. E.g. only some devices stop supplying an audio signal when you pause. This sound has bothered me in the 905 when I first bought it, but I have to say that I got used to it and I no longer consider it an annoyance. Nevertheless I am happy to report that the clicking noise is much less pronounced in the 5508, much softer.
I like the cosmetics of the 5508 which are very similar to the 905. A lot of the clutter in the front is hidden under a door panel which has been slightly redesigned. Much cleaner look than its distant cousin, the Integra DHC-80.2, which looks absolutely horrible (keep it ouf of sight in a rack somewhere).
But how does it sound? Fantastic! I auditioned a number of new movies on it, including "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole", and one familiar Blu-ray, "Zombieland". Not that the 905 sounded terrible, but there is a definite improvement. I love the balanced XLR cables though they probably change very little compared to the RCA cables. Most of the difference I would ascribe to Audyssey Sub EQ HT (part of every Audyssey MultEQ XT32 unit) and Audyssey Dynamic EQ.
Let me back up a little bit and describe what I was doing frequently. A lot of the time I did not feel that there was good balance across the entire dynamic range. Whenever I was missing the bass, I would either increase the gain on the subwoofer or increase the overall volume. The former could lead to bloated bass and the latter to earbleeding levels of everything else. I felt like I had to do this too often for the various sources and material, but accepted it as a necessary evil. After the change of equipment, I no longer have to mess with that! Everything sounds much richer and the blend is really smooth (sorry, don't have measurement equipment...yet).
Can't wait to go to 9.2 in the dedicated home theater room and try out Audyssey DSX. These guys really know their processing.
Hope this helps at least some of you with your purchase decision and causes at least a few cases of upgraditis