Customer Reviews

Onkyo TXDS989 Surround Sound Receiver

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This receiver has ample power, conservatively rated at around 130Wpc into 8 ohms, and an almost mind-boggling number of connection options for different sources, as well as 7.1 speaker outputs. It handles analog, digital, and optical inputs.
But, and this is only a minor weakness, the high end - that is, cymbals, triangles, etc. - seems to "splash" somewhat. Now, no other equipment I've ever had was better. But, really GOOD equipment can make a cymbal or orchestral triangle sound much better, with more clarity and "true" ring, rather than this "splashiness".
That's all I can find wrong with it. I suspect it's in the pre-amp section because I connected a high-end external amplifier (>300Wpc and >$4000) and still had that splash - from very good source material. BTW, my main speakers are two Final 0.3s with another pair in the back channels, 2 Magnepans for sides, and a Creative Technology BP2004 for center and sub-woofer duty. The external test amp was made specifically for electrostats. Output to each speaker is individually adjustable as to level and we took care to get those right at my listening position.
I use an Onkyo DS939 DVD player (~$1800), an Onkyo CD turntable, a Nakamichi cassette tape deck, and my local cable TV thru a VCR. Video output goes thru a Farudja NRS to a NEC 50" plasma display, 1376x768. Good surround sounds from appropriate DVDs, but I'd like my louder classical pieces to sound better in the highs. I sent Onkyo an e-mail asking about this "splash" but they didn't respond. They would probably say I had bad source material or speakers. That would be nonsense. I even had an audio consultant in for 3 hours trying to figure it out (it was his high-end amp we tested with it), no dice. Still, I'm glad I have this Onkyo equipment. I guess I can't have EVERYTHING (damn!).