Onkyo TX-SR707 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Theater Receiver

by Onkyo

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.9 x 17.1 x 6.9 inches ; 27.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 35 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B002DSMNPC
• Item model number: TX-SR707
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,794 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Building on Onkyo’s fine legacy in the popular mid-range AVR category, the TX-SR707 offers a wealth of audio and video features that combine to earn it the prestigious quality assurance of THX Select2 Plus . On the connectivity side, six HDMI 1.3a inputs handle all your high-def sources, while also transporting video signals upscaled to 1080p via Faroudja DCDi Cinema . Along with the pristine, lossless audio of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio , the TX-SR707 handles two new surround formats: Audyssey DSX and Dolby Pro Logic IIz. These formats open up an immersive vertical dimension for games and movies, and bring more flexibility to your speaker set-up. As well as advanced Burr-Brown audio DACs, the TX-SR707 incorporates Audyssey equalization technologies to ensure an audio balance that fits your room like a glove. Peripheral devices are looked after by a Universal Port, while a customizable remote controller puts you firmly in charge. Pound for pound, the TX-SR707 stands out as a muscular and versatile middleweight contender.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Value..Features.. Performance!, January 5, 2010

By 

HomeTheaterFan "Steve" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Onkyo TX-SR707 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Theater Receiver (Electronics)

My experience with the Onkyo 707 has been a pure pleasure. I endorse it wholeheartedly.

It is being used in my home theater. I think it is very important that I spend a moment describing my theater room's dimensions and speaker set up in order that you, the reader, determine whether my experience with the Onkyo is likely to be yours as well, should you be considering purchasing this particular receiver.

My home theater is approximately 14 x 8 x 18.5 feet; this means the Onkyo must power about 2070 cubic feet. The speaker system is 7.1 ; a Snell E center channel with matching front L/R Snell E speakers. They are of fairly normal sensitivity. The side and rear surrounds are modest JBL's. The powered subwoofer is also JBL . The room is drywalled, heavily draped and carpeted. All electronic equipment is placed in a rack room and controlled by IR repeaters.

Previously, the theater room employed a Pioneer THX 5.1 receiver, model VSX 37 TX. Its sonic performance was ok, doing much better a few years ago with the assistance of two Adcom amplifiers, this necessary to power a 7.1 system and to insure necessary power for the front speakers. It was considered, in its day, fairly high end. It did not have DVI or HDMI inputs/outputs. As time passed, it became clear that the Pioneer could not do justice to the increasing audio capacities within the newer , various DVD and Blu-Ray movies being added to my library.

And so I began to read about the current receiver market, and read of others' experiences with this receiver, as well as of competing models in the Onkyo 707's price range. This was my first Onkyo.

Price:

Listing for $899, it has been available in the range of $479-799 since Thanksgiving 2009. Watch and time your purchase carefully here on amazon! I do wish to emphasize that Amazon has consistently been very competitive in price. And it was Amazon from whom I decided to purchase the 707. It arrived timely and without trauma.

The next model up within the Onkyo line is the 807. It lists for $1099 but street price is naturally lower. Generally, it costs about $200 more than the 707. The price gap between the 707 and 807 widens and narrows from time to time. The 807 has slightly more power, and a few more, distinct features, elsewise, it is very similar to the 707.

At its suggested retail price , and in consideration of the Onkyo 707's features and general performance, the 707 is usually regarded as a midrange receiver. But to be emphasized is that for 4x the cost, you will not get 4x the performance from a different receiver; meaning, today, "midrange" receivers do very very well for most purposes and hit the economy of scale point spot on.

Power:

My Pioneer TX 37 receiver had difficulty powering my Snells when applied to DVD/Blu-ray movies. Often I was required to "dial up", completely, to the Pioneer's maximum volume. And even then, often enough, the results were not satisfactory.

The Onkyo 707 handles the same speakers and theater room with amazing ease. I cannot "dial up" the Onkyo 707 to maximum setting without 2 bad things happening; destroying my speakers and service of divorce papers. I find I only need about 35-40% of the 707's power, and this nonetheless results in "room shaking" sound from speakers that are not built to produce thunderous bass etc. And the bass is clean!

I mentioned the Onkyo 807 above, noting it has modestly more power than the 707. I doubt there is justification, however, to purchase the 807 upon the basis of its higher power capacity, standing alone. And this is why I provide you my room dimensions, in order that this review be evaluated as applicable, or not, to your needs. My sense is that if the 707 doesnt have enough power for a given application, then the 807 will not either. Other reviews here, however, suggest that the 607 Onkyo is underpowered and unsatisfactory, notwithstanding close power specifications between the 707 and 607. I suppose the power performance of the 707 is what Goldilocks needed when she was shopping for a receiver; the 707 is simply a receiver's whose power is "just right"

Sound:

Unbelievable improvement over the THX Pioneer VSX 37TX! Surrounds were awakened, made markedly alive. Separation and effects superb. Audio is very clean. Unlike at least one review here, I find the 707 does a wonderful, thrilling job with music, including when played through theater modes. Le Reve, eg, sounds mind boggling though the THX Cinema mode. Nonethless, the 707 has an option permitting stereo through all speakers, or simply thru the front L/R. Some older movies sound better in the all stereo mode. I am advised that many midrange receivers do not have an all speaker stereo option.

Vocal articulation in movies is very good. Some options produce better sound than others depending on the source material. And the night mode ( to stay married mode) does a very good job of allowing all sounds at relatively lower levels such that you can hear the whispers and enjoy the {mini} booms without a visit from upstairs.

My theater room is prewired for 7.2; meaning, adding additional wiring for additional speaker set ups would now be difficult. That said, you should know that the 707 permits as many as 11 speakers to be run within Zone 1. If you are not familiar with this set up, it simply allows a total of 5 front speakers (permitting vertical and horizonal directional sound). I have not heard this effect and perhaps someome else will describe its value.

There are many audio processing options. All current state of the art formats are processable thru the 707. Historically, receivers offered proprietary audio processing options only to disappoint. Eg, acoustical options like: " Miami Underwater Cave" , "North Carolina Woods" or "U of M/Ohio State coliseum " modes (I jest but I trust you get my point). This is not the case with the Onkyo. Its many audio choices are well thought out and quite legitimate; in fact, these options have very particular reasons to be employed. And the manual provides a chart to guide your selection. Choosing wisely results in even greater audio pleasure. The 707 is a Select 2 THX receiver , and listening to its THX cinema options prove the very real value of THX technology and the resulting certification. This THX label of approval is far more than mere marketing or simple window dressing. Onkyo THX Cinema and other THX modes are very well balanced to the 7.1 ear. To me, THX certification is a feature than goes on the "must have" list when shopping for a receiver.

In evaluating a receiver's audio abilities, and deciding whether to upgrade, I believe it is very important to measure the receiver you are considering in view of what it can do with your existing movie/music library; meaning, most of your library probably lacks many of the latest audio codecs. So what improvements can you get with the 707? That is why I described my previous equipment when beginning this review. Against my background, the 707 has been a huge step up in audio perfomance when processing my existing library containing mono. stereo, Dolby, THX, DTS etc. Allbeit an overused expression , the Onkyo 707 blows away the audio performance of my Pioneer TX 37. The sound of my music and movies, when processed through the 707, are greatly improved.

Heat:

A fairly common criticism is that this receiver (and the 807) run "hot"; meaning, toooo hot in the most critical reviews. Two comments. First, the 707 has a cautionary , instuctional sticker on its top, stating that it occasionally runs "fairly hot". This means dont put anything on the receiver's top ( like your favorite Blu-ray or beverage). Such is no different than stating "dont use the blow dryer in the tub while bathing". Just common sense. Second, my experience with the 707 receiver is that it does run hot at times (when active-not usually when merely on) but not toooo hot. From time to time it will get fairly warm to hot when not powering anything---but it should be in the standby mode under such circumstances. Standby produces zero heat. (Yes I have watched for the "too hot" issue in light of the criticisms.) Please know that my 707 is in a rack room, placed on the top rack with nothing but air above (the right place for any receiver). The rack room is closet size and the heat issue, well, isnt for me. I have no need for an external fan .

Other Features:

Beyond that already said about the audio quality, I should note that the unit does have Audyssey. The 707 includes a microphone with a generous amount of line permitting hook up to a fairly distant receiver (that was my case). This was my first experience with acoustic adjustment using Audyssey or any equivalent. The Pioneer TX 37 permitted the manual setting of speaker distance and volume levels of the speakers on an individual basis, but went no further. In my case, this meant alot of experimentation (I do not own a sound meter, I walked around alot at night clapping my hands-and that wasn't moments of self-applause.) Setting up and executing the Audyssey system was a breeze, taking about 15 minutes. I should tell you that I used the 707 receiver in its natural default settings briefly, just to hear and determine if any real differences resulted from employing the Audyssey option with my movies and music. Well, yes. The brightness and front center domination produced by the 707's default settings were reduced to appropriate levels, and the surrounds greatly improved as a consequence. My previous set up with the... Read more ›

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Onkyo TX-SR707 vs TX-SR507 which I replaced., November 8, 2009

By 

Average Joe (US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Onkyo TX-SR707 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Theater Receiver (Electronics)

I originally purchased the Onkyo TX-SR507 and was unhappy with it.. I thought it would be the right model because I only wanted 5.1 support and that model also had the universal port for the Onkyo iPod dock.

I decided on the Definitive Technology Mythos and a Definitive Technology Supercube 1 as my speakers and sub and I found the 507 to be somewhat underpowered plus the 507 did not support on screen display which at the time i didn't think was that bid a deal.

Well this 707 model is WAY better than the 507.. I know the wattage is only rated at 20 watts more into 8 ohms but the 707 seems much better at powering all my speakers. On the 507 I had to turn the amp to about 75 percent ( my room is fairly large but not huge) on dvd's to fill my room.. the 707 does this at about 40-45 percent of the available volume. Plus for some reason, the upgraded DAC's maybe but the sound is far superior to the 507. I've extremely pleased.

Also, I thought THX Select2 Plus would just be another codex available but it is by far my favorite.. it doesn't color the sound but seems to balance everything just right.. I love the THX modes in movies and the modes for music..

Also, the on screen display is fantastic.. these receivers are realy complex and it is very nice to sit in your chair ( listening position) and make all the adjustments you want.. it's easy to compare and determine what you like best.

Also, if your looking to use the universal port for the iPod doc you can chose two modes, basic and extended with this model. With extended display you get to see all your folders, lists .. etc from the iPod on screen. This display is powered by the processing power of the iPod so scrolling is a little slow but its very nice none the less.

I believe this receiver is easily worth the extra money over the 507 ( only has basic support for the iPod and seems underpowered with no THX modes).

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy successor to my old Carver, December 8, 2009

By 

adx442 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Onkyo TX-SR707 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Theater Receiver (Electronics)

My old Carver HTR-880 had been with me for about 14 years at this point, and was beginning to show its age, being an analog receiver with only the most basic of hookups. The channels were beginning to become a little noisy, and I finally, grudgingly, looked to replace it.

My wife found a fantastic deal on the Onkyo SR-707 during this holiday shopping season, and we ordered it at just the right time.

A major concern for me was that the care and concern for the quality of music reproduction would not be as great as my old Carver ... I have pretty good ears, and the Carver was one of the only amps available at the time (in my price range) that I really liked listening to. As it turns out, it was an unfounded worry.

The SR-707 sounds better than my old Carver in every way, particularly with my Klipsch speakers, which sounded a little harsh with the Carver. Being able to control every component with one remote by using a few simple HDMI cables and one TOSLINK optical cable (for PC sound) is fantastic, and the HDMI implementation on this Onkyo was painless to set up and configure. I particularly liked that it is so seamless to set up things like "Video from HDMI on this port, but use digital sound from this input (TOSLINK)". I have a PC set up for our DVD and video watching, and the motherboard doesn't have an HDMI output, so thanks to the Onkyo, we can still enjoy all the benefits of HDMI video routing and maintain digital sound paths. I love being able to switch the video and audio from one source to another with one remote, and being able to turn everything off or one with one button.

The DSP effects and Pro-Logic modes are very thorough, and the manual does a fantastic job of charting out which ones are best for (or available for) which speaker configurations. We have a fairly simple setup of 2 main speakers, a center channel, and a subwoofer. No surround speakers to speak of, and the Theater-Dimensional and "Surround Sensation" modes really do expand the soundstage to give you a "kinda" surround sound feel.

The Direct and Pure Music modes sound accurate, as compared to a very neutral headphone amp and Sennheiser 580 headphones, so, at least to my ears, the Onkyo does a fine job of not coloring the sound when you turn off most of the signal processing by using these modes.

Some of my positivity about this product comes, naturally, from moving from almost exclusively analog source connections to pure digital connections ... and wow, does it make a difference. However, the Onkyo has done a great job with everything about this receiver. I like the amp, I like the control, I like the number and variety of inputs, and I love the fine-grained control it gives you over your sources.

Many people have talked about the heat generated by this amp. It's entirely possible that it is much hotter when you're running all 11 possible speakers from it, but with my setup (only 3 speakers being driven directly by the amp) it's just warm on the top. It obviously needs good ventilation, based on the manual and design of the chassis. That's just the price you pay for a high-current amplifier, which was one of my "must-have" features when replacing the Carver.

The only test left for this amp is if it can last as long as my old Carver did ... I'll update this review if I have any reliability issues.