Onkyo TX-SR503 - AV receiver - 7.1 channel

by ONKYO

Product Details

• ASIN: B0009MX4RA
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,844 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich Sound, Middle-Class Price!, September 30, 2005

By 

A. Zeno "Zee" (Brooklyn USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Onkyo TX-SR503 - AV receiver - 7.1 channel (Electronics)

This is a great mid-level priced AV Receiver that has premium features.

Along with 7.1 Dolby Digital EX/DTS-ES Surround sound, there's HD Component switching. It has 3 Component(Y,Pb,Pr) inputs that let you switch between 3 High Definition/Progressive Scan video sources. I have my CATV(HD), DVD(PS), and XBOX connected via component video cables. The unit also has 1 Digital Coax and 3 Fiber Optic Audio inputs, so all three video sources can produce digital surround sound as well.

Since my living room is average sized, I'm only using 5.1 channels. My speakers are Polk Audio RM6005 satellites and PSW303 subwoofer.

TV shows broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound really good. During Yankees games on YES-HD, fan comments can be heard from the side speakers making you feel like you're at the game. The first DVD I played was Star Wars: The Empire Stikes Back-Widescreen. It's encoded in DD5.1 and it sounds incredible. The tie-fighters and x-wings sound like they're flying around the room. I'll never grow tire of this classic. Many XBOX games are also encoded in DD5.1. If you have the XBOX HD-AV adapter with a Fiber Optic Audio cable attached, these games sound great, too.

BTW, I have it in black and it perfectly matches my Syntax Olevia LT32HV 32" LCD TV. You won't be dissapointed with this receiver.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great bargain for home theatre!, December 24, 2005

By 

J. Zwergel (Travis AFB, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Onkyo TX-SR503 - AV receiver - 7.1 channel (Electronics)

I have owned an NAD receiver for 2 years but because it had center channel problems I purchased the Onkyo sr503, which was actually cheaper than the NAD repair. The machine is a breeze to set up and user friendly. Be patient, put on a dvd you like and make fine adjustments for the speakers. There are more sound settings than you will ever need so just use the ones that sound best to your ears. You can slightly raise or lower the volume on all speakers independently until the sound is just right. While this receiver can never compare to the rich sound of an audiophile's high end stereo receiver, it does an excellent job for its price range. I enjoy the "ALL STEREO" and "ALL MONO" features, which will use all four (or six) of your speakers as main speakers. This is excellent for parties when you want the music spread evenly throughout a crowd of people. I've found it especially pleasant this Christmas to have holiday music playing quietly throughout the living room. By the way, I use Polk speakers which, like the Onkyo, deliver good sound at an affordable price.

My bottom line: this is an excellent home theatre receiver at an excellent price. I only omit one star because no product is perfect and you will surely find little things about the receiver you wish were different. But you could do a lot worse than the SR503 and spend a lot more money.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Experience Also, December 8, 2006

By 

BleenGrue "Wittispoo" (The Garden, Athens) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Onkyo TX-SR503 - AV receiver - 7.1 channel (Electronics)

After getting this receiver hooked up and using it for about five hours, it suddenly caught a case of the dreaded 'automatic shutoff' disease. When your receiver does this--shuts off for no apparent reason everytime you turn it on, you're pretty much screwed. It is, apparently, a labor and tech intensive fix. In the process of discovering this I experienced the same customer service hell the other two customers below did. The most you might get out of this outfit is the address of a certified repairshop. Other than that, they are rude and completely useless. Onkyo receivers are great sounding, but on the downside--their north american customer service is non-existant. It's customer dis-service. The sound quality/price difference between Yamaha, Pioneer, and Onkyo isn't large enough to justify Onkyo's existance in the US market given their poor customer service. Buy a Pioner VSX 516 or 816 (or a Yamaha HTR 5930/5940) rather than this, or any other model of Onkyo.