Onkyo TX-SR705 vs. Denon AVR-888

[vividere]

I am in the process of buying a new receiver for my second setup. I picked up one of those $97 HD-A2 and I already had a 37" LCD with HDMI but an old receiver that doesn't even have component. After a lot of research I thought I would buy the 705. Right about when I was ready to buy, I was pointed towards the new AVR-888 which is identical to the 2308 other than it doesn't have the RS-232 port and 12V trigger which I have no use for.

The Onkyo has a third HDMI port (I don't need now), THX Select, and Dolby TrueHD. The Denon has 1080P upconverting but is otherwise about equal.

The Denon is on special until Sunday so they are the same price right now. I have heard about all the pop and hum problems with the 605/705/805 which kind of scares me away from the Onkyo. I hate to give up the extra features I may or may not need but I would rather not have issues. Further, it is my understanding that if the DVD player can decode TrueHD I don't need it in the receiver?

I called the dealer to order the Denon and asked for yet another opinion and was told most of the audiophiles on their staff prefer the Onkyo to the Denon?? I was always told that Denon was a cut above Onkyo and Yamaha and figured I was finally going to get the "better" brand. Now I don't know what to do.

I need to make a decision by tomorrow and I hate being so wishy-washy about this whole thing but I don't want to make the wrong decision.

I know the 888 was just released last month so there isn't much experience with it and the Onkyos have been out slightly longer. Maybe I am asking a more general Onkyo vs. Denon question vs. a 705 vs. 888 question?

Appreciate any feedback on comparing these two receivers and brands.

Thanks,

Lew

 

[MDS]

I can't answer the Onkyo vs Denon question specificially but I personally would choose the Onkyo. That is due to experience with Onkyo and keep in mind that everyone has their own brand preferences which are developed over time after owning a few different brands.

I keep hearing about these 'pop and hum' issues with Onkyo but I can tell you that has never ever been my experience with Onkyo. That doesn't necessarily mean that they never ever have problems but in my experience at least you connect all the cables and turn it on and they work perfectly.

Be leeery of the source of the information. There was a very long thread at another forum about so-called 'issues' with the latest Onkyo models and it turned out that the original poster was in error and there was nothing wrong with the machine. One thing people often assume is a 'problem' with Onkyo is the fact that they make a click sound on power up/down and input selection. That is NOT a defect - they have done that as long as I can remember. Now if it makes a random click sound during normal watching/listening then that would indicate a potential problem.

Choose the one that has the features and ease-of-use you require at a price point you can live with. But, one thing is absolutely guaranteed and that is that the complexity of the Denon and the incomprehensible manual will pale by comparison to an Onkyo that will offer the exact same features and be far easier to setup and use. The choice is yours and you can't really go wrong either way in terms of features supported or sound quality.

 

[Seth=L]

Apparently the popping is an HDMI issue. If you look back to the early days of AC-3 and DTS their where delays in SPDIF and pops occasionally. From my understanding and what I have read, the popping is more an annoyance than a major issue, as the pops are not loud, but their presence can annoy the user.

I got to go with the Onkyo. For the record, the Denon Big box store receivers are so cheesy looking.

 

[Davemcc]

For the record, the Denon Big box store receivers are so cheesy looking.

They look identical to the other versions.

 

[Seth=L]

They look identical to the other versions.

I guess I am thinking of the last run they had.

 

[toon12]

I just got the Denon avr-888. Don't underestimate the value of the 1080p upscaling. I have the Panasonic TH-58PZ700U 58", which got great reviews for the hd display, not so good for the sd. I have it hooked up via hdmi to the Denon (and a high def cable box), and the sd display after the Denon upscaling to 1080p is excellent. You may not need it today with your current tv, but if you ever upgrade I am sure you will be happy you have this feature.
It goes without saying that the audio output is great.

 

[vividere]

I just got the Denon avr-888. Don't underestimate the value of the 1080p upscaling. I have the Panasonic TH-58PZ700U 58", which got great reviews for the hd display, not so good for the sd. I have it hooked up via hdmi to the Denon (and a high def cable box), and the sd display after the Denon upscaling to 1080p is excellent. You may not need it today with your current tv, but if you ever upgrade I am sure you will be happy you have this feature.
It goes without saying that the audio output is great.

Neither of my two HDTVs are 1080p, only 1080i.

I bought the 705, hooked it up yesterday, love it. I talked to a lot of people about whice one to buy and far more people referred me to the Onkyo. The fact that they are the same price but the Onkyo has so many more features coupled with the advice I was given, I went with the 705.

 

[autoboy]

Upscaling is a buzz word thrown around a lot that means almost nothing. Chances are your TV will do better scaling than most AVRs and you pose less chance of double or even triple scaling your content because you don't know the source resolution or your TVs native resolution. The Onkyo 875 and 905 are an exception to the rule.

 

[Pipelayer]

I just bought the Onkyo TX-SR605. Funny how it all came about, I have a powerful Carver 806X Mulitchannal Power amp and separate pre amp set up in the front. Got tired of going to the front every single time I wanted to listed to a CD, etc. I'm an easy going guy who likes his leisure with no complicaitons. Sometimes you just want to relax in bed and listen to some nice music, while reading a book, conversating, etc., with a young lady friend or just plane cooling out. So it started out I was just going to get a nice little system with some nice speakers, amp and a CD player. The amp was the Harmon Kardon HK430, I was willing to pay $400 for a new pair of KEF IQ3 speakers; and a few dollars more for a carousal type CD player. I was willing to pay a nice little buck, when it comes to music quality it's a must with me. I accidently came across this really nice speaker system, but I had no idea how nice; Anyway I paid a little over $300 for it. Even though it was a surround sound speaker setup, I was just going to hook it up to my stereo amp (2 satillites on A, 2 satillites on B & the Sub on the pre out.).

I decided to read up on the speakers, checked a couple of reviews and found out (to my surprise) these speakers retailed for roughly $2000 they are the "Triangle Galaxy 5.1 speaker system". I also found out that they wanted atleast 50 watts a channel to perform at their optimum capabilty, my HK430 only had 30watts per channel. So I started looking for another reasonably priced stereo amp. While looking I notice the the new stereo amps were not costing that much less than the multichannel sourround amps. So since I had a $2000 satillite surround sound speaker system, I decided to look for a surround amp.

I went to pro-audio stores listened to some systems and read all sorts of reviews over the internet. People just cound not seem to say enough good stuff about Onyko, everybody loved them, some claimed they would put them up against any amp made! They've won plenty of Awards and they seem to be well known in the AV surround sound arena. It was a no-brainer for me, I went with the Onyko hands down, no contest!

My only concern was that in a Cnet review I read (Quote):

"Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding cannot be used with current crop of high-definition video players."

At the moment I had not use for any of this, but I would like to have the availability if I should have decided to change my mind. So I went to Onyko's website to see if I could find anything on this. GUESS What! They have released a FIRMWARE UPDATE for the receiver to remedy this problem!! I love the fact that this receiver has upgradable firmware!! That means that it will virtually never go obsolete!! Great! It also stated that in the recently release models the upgrade had already been installed before they left the factory, so mine probably has it.

Bottom line- your looking at one satisfied customer-

If you haven't alread made your purchase, I'd go with the Onyko also. My Onyko TX-SR605 is pushing a whapping 90 watts a channel, seven channels-

 

[Pipelayer]

I just bought the Onkyo TX-SR605. Funny how it all came about, I have a powerful Carver 806X Mulitchannal Power amp and separate pre amp set up in the front. Got tired of going to the front every single time I wanted to listed to a CD, etc. I'm an easy going guy who likes his leisure with no complicaitons. Sometimes you just want to relax in bed and listen to some nice music, while reading a book, conversating, etc., with a young lady friend or just plane cooling out. So it started out I was just going to get a nice little system with some nice speakers, amp and a CD player. The amp was the Harmon Kardon HK430, I was willing to pay $400 for a new pair of KEF IQ3 speakers; and a few dollars more for a carousal type CD player. I was willing to pay a nice little buck, when it comes to music quality it's a must with me. I accidently came across this really nice speaker system, but I had no idea how nice; Anyway I paid a little over $300 for it. Even though it was a surround sound speaker setup, I was just going to hook it up to my stereo amp (2 satillites on A, 2 satillites on B & the Sub on the pre out.).

I decided to read up on the speakers, checked a couple of reviews and found out (to my surprise) these speakers retailed for roughly $2000 they are the "Triangle Galaxy 5.1 speaker system". I also found out that they wanted atleast 50 watts a channel to perform at their optimum capabilty, my HK430 only had 30watts per channel. So I started looking for another reasonably priced stereo amp. While looking I notice the the new stereo amps were not costing that much less than the multichannel sourround amps. So since I had a $2000 satillite surround sound speaker system, I decided to look for a surround amp.

I went to pro-audio stores listened to some systems and read all sorts of reviews over the internet. People just cound not seem to say enough good stuff about Onyko, everybody loved them, some claimed they would put them up against any amp made! They've won plenty of Awards and they seem to be well known in the AV surround sound arena. It was a no-brainer for me, I went with the Onyko hands down, no contest!

My only concern was that in a Cnet review I read (Quote):

"Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding cannot be used with current crop of high-definition video players."

At the moment I had not use for any of this, but I would like to have the availability if I should have decided to change my mind. So I went to Onyko's website to see if I could find anything on this. GUESS What! They have released a FIRMWARE UPDATE for the receiver to remedy this problem!! I love the fact that this receiver has upgradable firmware!! That means that it will virtually never go obsolete!! Great! It also stated that in the recently release models the upgrade had already been installed before they left the factory, so mine probably has it.

Bottom line- your looking at one satisfied customer-

If you haven't alread made your purchase, I'd go with the Onyko also. My Onyko TX-SR605 is pushing a whapping 90 watts a channel, seven channels-

After going over this letter I see I made some typos & the ability to edit is not indefinite like it is on other forums. So... sorry for the typos, it's a bit late here.

 

[Seth=L]

After going over this letter I see I made some typos & the ability to edit is not indefinite like it is on other forums. So... sorry for the typos, it's a bit late here.

That's quite alright.

 

[toon12]

Upscaling is a buzz word thrown around a lot that means almost nothing. Chances are your TV will do better scaling than most AVRs and you pose less chance of double or even triple scaling your content because you don't know the source resolution or your TVs native resolution. The Onkyo 875 and 905 are an exception to the rule.

Interesting.
Here is the manufacturer of the chip in the Denon:

http://www.gnss.com/tch_dcdi_overview.phtml

I worked on taking Genesis public some nine years ago, so have read a little on the subject. I haven't read anything that intimates that my tv (Panasonic Th-58PZ700U) has a better upscaler. I know that on the CNET review of the panny they gave its SD performance as below average, but I have to say the SD picture upscaled by the Denon to 1080p (the panny's native resolution) looks quite nice.

 

[Davemcc]

I just got the Denon avr-888. Don't underestimate the value of the 1080p upscaling. I have the Panasonic TH-58PZ700U 58", which got great reviews for the hd display, not so good for the sd. I have it hooked up via hdmi to the Denon (and a high def cable box), and the sd display after the Denon upscaling to 1080p is excellent. You may not need it today with your current tv, but if you ever upgrade I am sure you will be happy you have this feature.
It goes without saying that the audio output is great.

Have you connected the HD cable box via analog connection? I've looked at the product sheets on the Denon and it only indicates that analog sources can be upscaled to 1080p. http://usa.denon.com/AVR-888Lit_830.pdf

It does not indicate whether HDMI sources can be upscaled to 1080p.

 

[toon12]

Have you connected the HD cable box via analog connection? I've looked at the product sheets on the Denon and it only indicates that analog sources can be upscaled to 1080p. http://usa.denon.com/AVR-888Lit_830.pdf

It does not indicate whether HDMI sources can be upscaled to 1080p.

I presumed it would take the 480i signal over HDMI and upscale it. Makes no sense that you would have to hook up your box twice, once via analog and once for the hd.

 

[Davemcc]

I presumed it would take the 480i signal over HDMI and upscale it. Makes no sense that you would have to hook up your box twice, once via analog and once for the hd.

I've found where a manufacturer uses an odd but specific statement, it's deliberate. You may be looking at a straight pass-through of your HDMI signal. I can't confirm either way.

 

[toon12]

I've found where a manufacturer uses an odd but specific statement, it's deliberate. You may be looking at a straight pass-through of your HDMI signal. I can't confirm either way.

Ok, well I can send an email to Denon and ask.

Not sure how I would confirm this on my setup? I guess I could hook up the cable box directly to the tv, and compare the image on sd to the image put out by the receiver. I may try that on the weekend and see.

It seems to me that to have to hook up the cable box both by HDMI and analog (s-video cable???) to engage the video processor is bizarre. Another interpretation of the wording is "analog source" means the initial source ie standard definition television, rather then the means by which the signal comes into the box ie HDMI.

 

[toon12]

Ok, well I can send an email to Denon and ask.

Not sure how I would confirm this on my setup? I guess I could hook up the cable box directly to the tv, and compare the image on sd to the image put out by the receiver. I may try that on the weekend and see.

It seems to me that to have to hook up the cable box both by HDMI and analog (s-video cable???) to engage the video processor is bizarre. Another interpretation of the wording is "analog source" means the initial source ie standard definition television, rather then the means by which the signal comes into the box ie HDMI.

Haven't received a response yet from Denon, but went into the settings oof the 888 on the weekend. There is an option to leave on or turn of the video processing capability on the HDMI input. It seemed pretty clear from the settings that it was set up to process from the HDMI input. Turned it off, went back to viewing an SD input, I thought it wasn't quite as clear a picture, went back in to the menu and turned it back on.