Customer Reviews

Onkyo TXSR603 / TX-SR603X / TX-SR603X 7.1 Channel Home Theater Reciever

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently purchased a set of Polk Audio speaker and was hunting for a receiver to go with it. After a lot of research going through a lot of gear I finally decided on 2 models - the Harmon Kardon and the Onkyo 603. I subsequently called or visited around 7-8 stores that carried both the HK and the Onkyo and they all recommended the 603. While you cannot go wrong with the HK, the Onkyo 603 was truly a great product and I'm really happy with it.

The auto-setup was a breeze and it automatically calibrated my system. However, it went wrong at a couple of places. For example I had large front speakers and the auto-setup detected it as "small". Also, it had a hard time figuring out the sub-wwofer. But other than that this is one of the best receivers you can get at this price (less than $500)

One thing to note about Onkyo is there incredible poor customer support. If you get an Onkyo product, remember that you won't get much of a customer support from their staff. I emailed them 10-15 times and got no response except their auto-response. I even called up just to get a rather rude lady on the line. Onkyo is a great company with great products backed up by a rather unprofessional staff.

Just got this receiver last week from Crutchfield (via Amazon)and I am really happy with it. I won't go into all the specs because they are available elsewhere. What I will do, is tell you a few things you may not know.

First, the Zone 2 feature allows you to power a separate set of speakers, with a separate mode of input, in another location regardless of what your are listening/watching in your main room. In other words, I can send audio from CD, DVD, IPOD, or FM to a different (wired) room while watching, or listening to anything I want from my main room. This is really cool. If you are buying this receiver because you actually want 7.1 surround sound, then this option is not available when you are actually powering 7 speakers in your main room. I only have 5.1 and really wanted to power speakers in another room, so that is not a problem for me. I was, however, surprised that I could send a different audio source to the other room!

Second, the remote is fantastic! It is a "learning" remote and in just a few minutes I was easily able to teach it to do what 7 other remotes did! This really makes my wife happy! This remote also has the capability of programming up to 3 macro buttons! You can actually program a series of steps and assign it to a button so that when pressed (for example) it will turn on your TV, your receiver, your DVD player and adjust the correct audio connection - all at the same time. What a time saver!

Besides that, it sounds and looks great. It has a lot of accessible connections on the back as well. I like this receiver a lot! The only disappointment was that I saw on some website's specifications that it had HDMI switching. That would have been awesome. But it doesn't and that's ok.

This is a great receiver. I just upgraded after about fifteen years with a Carver amp and pre-amp. This blew me away the first night I set it up. I sat up late blasting all sorts of music and it really sounded amazing. I do agree with the other reviewer who commented on the Onkyo customer support being bad. You can't e-mail them for help when shopping. When I called I had problems and they were a little rude. It's worth calling them though. You can really find some good deals on there shop onkyo site.

I've owned this receiver for about 3 months now.

Inputs/outputs: ample; covers RCA, optical, coaxial, s-video, composite video, component video. I like video signals from different inputs is converted to component output so that I can view say my camcorder connected to the video input in front on my TV which is connected to the component output.

Remote: Quite user friendly and the macros work with some flaws. For example, the remote does not remember your system state, so if you setup a macro to listen to music using your receiver and DVD player, then if trigger a second macro to watch DVDs on your TV, receiver, and DVD player, it will not remember that your DVD player and receiver are already on. I fixed that by getting a Harmony Remote that rocks.

Speaker connects - I like the color coded connectors on the rear panel and also that Onkyo gives you stickers to tag your cables with L, R, LS, RS, C etc.

Zone 2 - not used

Audio Setup: The auto setup using the included mic is pretty cool. I used my camera's tripod to place the mic at ear-height on my couch and it provide enough input to the receiver to adjust relative levels across speakers as well as the equalization. The only error it made was, it thought my rear surrounds Polk R15 were large speakers. I overrid that later.

Sound quality and power: I'm using this receiver with 5 speakers and no subwoofer (Polk R50 fronts, R15 rears and Infinity Entra 2 Center). The sound is excellent. Still don't miss the sub.

I tried the Onkyo TX-SR503 before this and that's a great receiver too. I exchanged it for the 603 in order to get the video conversion and the auto setup.

I have been using the Onkyo 501 receiver for the last three years, and really loved its crisp clear sound and thunderous base. After reading about excellent reviews about it's big brother the 603, I decided to upgrade. I got an excellent deal from Amazon, paying $334.99 after applying a $25 Amazon gift certificate and free shipping from J&R Music World. I received my receiver after 4 days of placing my order. Hook up was a breeze, and the auto sound setup with the mic was a very clever idea by Onkyo. I have never thought my old speakers sounded this good. I can now hear sounds that I never heard before from my speakers. I totally recommend this receiver and the service from Amazon and J&R Music World was excellent.

This unit is no longer available directly from retailers, which is good and bad. It is bad because it is a very nice, full-featured receiver that had a very reasonable MSRP. It is good because it is often available used or through resellers at deep discount prices.

When paired with a good universal remote like one of the units from Harmony, this receiver makes a terrific centerpiece for a reasonably priced home theater. It is a significant improvement in performance from "home theaters in a box," but much cheaper than many receivers with HDMI inputs.

This Onkyo was a step up over my Sony Theater in a Box. All I can say is the difference is amazing. The unit comes with its own mic to set up the speaker levels. If you are not a tech person don't worry the instructions are easy to follow. The important thing with this unit is the wattage is constant to the speakers. This was important because my last unit blew a set of infinities. This happened because the wattage was not constant with the sony so during quiet scenes the wattage would fall then something would happen and the speakers would get a surge of power. Poof their goes my speakers. Anyways for the money you will not find a better unit. Oh if you are a person who needs HDMI imputs you might want to look at the newer versions that have more of those imputs.

After researching many receivers for a few months I decided on this one. With all the features it has you can't beat it for the price. The main thing i was looking for was many inputs with the video upgrading to have everything come out to component. This feature seems to work very well, although i have no prior experience with video upgrade to compare it to. Its a really solid well built receiver and hopefully it lasts years to come. I had read in reviews about it running hot and this is very true. It has no fan and the one draw back is i had to give up room that another component could have sat in as i had to leave quite a bit of space on top for cooling. As I said before you can't beat it for the price and it comes from a good brand. In the price range this one falls in, there were many cheaply made models with less features.