Onkyo TX-SR800 ... $120 ... Should I?

[Alex2507]

My local pawn shop has one. It has a phono pre-amp. I'm tempted.
Anybody have any experience with that rec'r?

 

[Alex2507]

Thanks for the feedback. You guys are absolutely useless sometimes.

So I got this thing last week sometime. Today I got around to swapping it out with my old H/K AVR 430 because the H/K would loose it's memory every so often and this thing has a phono stage which I might make use of out in the main room eventually.

I know I need to RTFM but the sub out on this thing is weak ... wait ... that's because I had the subs hooked up to input as opposed to output. Well, it taught me that crossed at 80Hz there is still some output from the speakers with a sub test tone. Now I have cranked the gain on a sub with no signal and lost my carefully matched gain settings between the two subs.

Wow, do I ever suck at this ... but at least I'm slow.

 

[Nomo]

My local pawn shop has one. It has a phono pre-amp. I'm tempted.
Anybody have any experience with that rec'r?

Sounds like a bargain. Jump on it.

Useless? Don't think so. Just fashionably late.

 

[Alex2507]

HAHAHAHA !!! LMAO !!!

Your last couple of posts have been hilarious. Way to break up the crowd.

 

[jostenmeat]

Hey Alex, sorry I missed this, but IIRC you don't have an HDMI receiver to access your lossless stuff from BDs?

Wait till you can get HDMI capable, within your budget, is my vote, even if you have to wait that much longer.

FYI, even the VERY first version of HDMI 1.0 can handle lossless, though only as predecoded mch PCM. No bitstreaming of DTSMA or TrueHD, but that won't matter, just ask all the owners of the fatty PS3.

 

[Alex2507]

Wait till you can get HDMI capable, within your budget, is my vote, even if you have to wait that much longer.

I already bought it for $120 while Amazon has it listed for way more. It has a phono pre-amp that I was after for my second system but for now it's an inexpensive lateral move to replace my H/K AVR 430 that has a faulty capacitor responsible for system memory. That thing was making me nuts. I just couldn't wait to buy an HDMI rec'r. Coughing up a grand for A/V right now would be grounds for divorce and I'm not even married. This Onkyo was a trip to the change jar.

It sucks being a peasant but I'm enjoying seeing what the differences are between those two rec'rs ... not that it has any bearing on the current offerings by either company. At least with the Onkyo I can fry eggs in the living room.

 

[Nomo]

It sucks being a peasant but I'm enjoying seeing what the differences are between those two rec'rs ... not that it has any bearing on the current offerings by either company. At least with the Onkyo I can fry eggs in the living room.

I'm curious. What's your take on the differences between the two.
I'm fairly familiar with Onkyo, but not with HK so much.

 

[jostenmeat]

I already bought it for $120 while Amazon has it listed for way more. It has a phono pre-amp that I was after for my second system but for now it's an inexpensive lateral move to replace my H/K AVR 430 that has a faulty capacitor responsible for system memory. That thing was making me nuts. I just couldn't wait to buy an HDMI rec'r. Coughing up a grand for A/V right now would be grounds for divorce and I'm not even married. This Onkyo was a trip to the change jar.

It sucks being a peasant but I'm enjoying seeing what the differences are between those two rec'rs ... not that it has any bearing on the current offerings by either company. At least with the Onkyo I can fry eggs in the living room.

Oh, I didn't realize you bought it already. My bad. Can't read carefully.

1k, c'mon, I know you exaggerate, but there were people buying brand new HDMI receivers for like $320 years ago, and those were HDMI 1.3. Therefore, I would think that with a tad bit of patience, a used HDMI 1.0 or higher could be found for less than $200. Maybe even less than $150, if lucky.

 

[Alex2507]

The H/K has a quadruple variable crossover and each audio input (DD, DTS, 6 Channel, Analog) has to have the gains set independently (the crossover points are global) and an auto set up with an SPL of sorts in the remote (very inaccurate). The H/K had a firmware update that gave me Dolby Digital PLIIx over the older Dolby Digital EX (I couldn't really tell the difference but conceptually it's cool). With the HK you could adjust the gains on the fly without activating test tones and you could change audio input assignments on the fly too ... like from optical to analog. Maybe you can do all this with the Onkyo but I just don't know how yet. It seems like the H/K is more flexible but really complicated compared to the Onkyo. It would also let you send a full signal to the mains and still set a crossover point for frequencies below that point to be played by the sub as well ... double dipping if you will. I'm not sure if it still did that after the FW update though. The OSD came up as a menu on a blue screen as opposed to an overlay.

Onkyo has the advantage of having a sub test tone (inaccurate as it is compared to the Avia II Calibration disc) and ... a learning remote and ... probably reliability and ... the phono pre-amp too if you're into that. I'm sure there's more but I haven't spent much time with it yet. I'm just glad it has the 6 Channel In for me to hook up my SACD/DVD-A player up again.

To bash H/K a little that capacitor issue is well known enough to have been mentioned in their service manual. On a couple of occasions my volume has gone right to maximum which is an issue with some volume circuitry module. I addressed that issue with a processor reset. I like that Logic 7 business though. It's really just a toy to play with. I started messing with it again after Sean Olive started saying how cool it was but I never developed a real preference. It was all just more stuff to play around with.

 

[Alex2507]

1k, c'mon, I know you exaggerate, but there were people buying brand new HDMI receivers for like $320 years ago, and those were HDMI 1.3. Therefore, I would think that with a tad bit of patience, a used HDMI 1.0 or higher could be found for less than $200. Maybe even less than $150, if lucky.

$120 was my limit.

I wanted 6/8 Channel In, pre-outs (for now) and a phono stage (for future use). I think this actually has a decent amp section too. Maybe I don't need a $1K rec'r but it's what I want. Maybe just an ONK 707 but I wouldn't touch one of those cheapo HDMI deals. How would I ever hold my head up around TLS again?

Seriously, you saw the Amazon listings, right? My purchase had no shipping charges, no shipping risks (something you know a little something about) and a money back guarantee. I know that you just want to see me with the lossless codecs and preferably Audyssey. The funny thing is that you are the one who is going to need to be patient about me getting upgrades. Thanks for bearing with me. It's not like this was a well thought out plan. The thing fell into my lap so to speak and there actually was a trip to the change jar.

 

[Alex2507]

... and look at this !!!

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/onkyo-tx-sr800-receiver-4-2003.html

That THX business of what all goes on with the crossover slope ...

This thing sounds like a rec'r costing $240.

Now I want to get some High Definition THX wires.
... but I don't want to pay a lot ... Swerd.

 

[lsiberian]

I already bought it for $120 while Amazon has it listed for way more. It has a phono pre-amp that I was after for my second system but for now it's an inexpensive lateral move to replace my H/K AVR 430 that has a faulty capacitor responsible for system memory. That thing was making me nuts. I just couldn't wait to buy an HDMI rec'r. Coughing up a grand for A/V right now would be grounds for divorce and I'm not even married. This Onkyo was a trip to the change jar.

It sucks being a peasant but I'm enjoying seeing what the differences are between those two rec'rs ... not that it has any bearing on the current offerings by either company. At least with the Onkyo I can fry eggs in the living room.

I can tell you the differences and I'd be tempted to trade my receiver for one like yours. That's how annoying it is. Stick with the Onkyo stuff. I wish I'd never sold mine.

 

[Alex2507]

I'm curious. What's your take on the differences between the two.

Another thing is that on the H/K's display you could see what audio format you were listening to (DD, DTS, PLII} and it had these little boxes indicating which speakers were active and if the box had letters in it like FL, CEN or FR you knew that you were getting a discrete signal for that speaker.

When comparing receivers in the same price class assuming they are all using similar amp topologies (discrete a/b) and are roughly the same weight than I think its safe to assume you are splitting hairs audibly and should instead be shopping features at that point.

I didn't want to hijack that speaker thread any further but wanted to talk about this as it pertains to the H/K AVR 430 and the Onkyo TX-SR800. I think they sound different but am perfectly willing to accept that it's my imagination. So far the only thing I can explain the difference with is that THX thing in the Onkyo. I'm not sure what their amp topologies are though. The weight is close and their MSRP's are identical I think but anybody who pays MSRP for an H/K really didn't do their homework or have any patience or both.

My bass seems tighter with the Onkyo and I think it's a little brighter with the 4th movement of Beethovens 9th and The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack. It's not like I'm ever going to try to A/B them seriously because that is way too much work and I'm not at all confident that my listening abilities are worth beans ... but my impressions stand. I think dialog may be playing somewhat clearer out of the center. Am I koo-koo?