Onkyo TX-SR505 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

Other products by Onkyo

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 17.1 x 5.9 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 27 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000OBOGEG
• Item model number: TXSR505
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,156 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #94 in

  Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Receivers & Amplifiers > Component Receivers

• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 15, 2007

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
Experience Seriously Capable Home Theater with Stunning Versatility To best appreciate the versatility of the TX-SR505, think of the home entertainment components that define today’s consumer electronics landscape. It’s a formidable selection, with HD-ready displays (from the first generation to the latest 1080p models), DVD players (including the latest Blu-ray and HD DVD players), gaming consoles (such as the Xbox and PlayStation 3), set-top boxes (consider PVRs offering HD transmissions) and MP3 players (specifically the dominant iPod).With the TX-SR505’s HDMI transport enabling pass-thru sources up to 1080p and component video supporting 720p and 1080i sources, this A/V receiver is a fine investment for those who want the best of what’s available today…and tomorrow. Also, with the ability to tune the TX-SR505 to your room’s surroundings through Audyssey 2EQ, you’re looking at a seriously capable entertainment control center, without the excessive price tag.

192/24 digital-to-analog converters
Costly, extremely powerful digital-to-analog converters , that not only boast a dynamic range of 120 dB, they process information faster and are virtually resistant to clock jitter, to ensure the best possible performance from DVD-Audio, DVD-Video and audio CD.

Audyssey 2EQ to Counteract Room Acoustic Problems
Loudspeakers are specifically designed to deliver sound without distortion or coloration. Nevertheless, walls, furniture and other objects reflect and absorb sound, creating distortion that is unique to your own space. To counter this, Audyssey 2EQ corrects problems both in frequency response and in the time domain (where most of the problems lie), across the entire listening area. The results are immediately obvious—a clear, precise and natural sound.

DTS-ES 96/24 Neo6
There are two DTS-ES (Extended Surround) formats: DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 and DTS-ES Matrix 6.1. The DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 format is, as the name implies, a 6.1-channel system with a discrete back surround channel, while DTS-ES Matrix 6.1, like Dolby Digital Surround EX, provides a matrix-encoded back surround channel. There’s also DTS Neo:6, which derives a 6-channel surround output from a stereo soundtrack, and regular DTS, which, like Dolby Digital, is a discrete 5.1-channel system, but which uses less compression than Dolby Digital. Receivers carrying the "96/24" designation are able to decode a new high-resolution audio format, DTS-96/24. This breakthrough allows for high quality, 5.1 channel audio encoded at 96kHz/24-bit resolution to be stored on a DVD-Video disc (or the DVD-Video portion of a DVD-Audio disc). This format is compatible with all DVD players, with those able to pass a 96kHz signal providing the highest quality output (DTS-96/24 is also backwards compatible with older 48kHz DVD player models).

HDMI
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) This high-bandwidth interface supports not only brilliant digital video, but digital audio as well. Up to 5 Gbps of data—more than twice what’s needed for a high-definition movie with surround sound—can be handled, with room for future requirements. All this data is kept in the digital domain, as there are no D/A or A/D conversions needed, to ensure the highest sound and video quality available.

HDMI is fully backward compatible with PCs,displays and consumer electronics devices incorporating the Digital Visual Interface (DVI) standard. Both HDMI and DVI were pioneered by Silicon Image and are based on TMDS®, Silicon Image's powerful, high-speed, serial link technology. HDMI supports standard, enhanced, or high-definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and supports 8-channel digital audio, and with 5 Gbps of bandwidth, HDMI can accommodate future enhancements and requirements. Because HDMI was designed specifically for consumer electronics applications, it offers an array of additional consumer enhancements. As digital content can manifest itself in a variety of sizes, resolutions and formats, HDMI-enabled systems will automatically configure to display content in the most effective format. In addition, HDMI enables a single remote point and click, allowing manufacturers to deliver home theater systems that automatically configure from a single command from a remote control -- turning on or off the components necessary to view a DVD, listen to a CD, or watch cable or satellite TV.

WRAT (Wide Range Amp Technology
Imagine turning up the volume and filling your entertainment room with noise-free, impressively powerful, true-to-life sound. That's the benefit of Wide Range Amplifier Technology. Originally developed for our most expensive high-end amplifiers to handle the sonic demands of today's digital age, you'll now find WRAT even in our lowest-priced A/V receivers. The WRAT family of technologies includes a broader frequency range with lower noise entering the signal path – perfectly suited for new high resolution DVD-Audio and SACD formats.

7.1 Multichannel Inputs
The emergence of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs promises to bring unparalleled realism to home theater. Dolby and DTS have each developed improved audio formats to be encoded on these new DVD discs that will superbly complement the latest in highdefinition video. By connecting a player compatible with these new audio codecs to an Onkyo A/V receiver equipped with 7.1 multichannel inputs, you will be able to experience extreme sonic clarity from these new discs, while retaining the full use of the receiver’s other onboard codecs.

CinemaFILTER
The tonal balance of a film soundtrack can be edgy and bright when played back over audio equipment in your home—this is because film soundtracks are designed to be played back in large theaters, using commercial equipment. Onkyo has developed its own solution that restores the correct tonal balance of a movie soundtrack in the smaller environs of your home theater.

Dolby Digital EX / Pro-Logic IIx
Home theater realism reaches new heights with the creation of Dolby Digital EX. By adding a matrix-encoded surround back channel derived from the existing discrete left and right surround channels, the lack of rear surround in 5.1 channel is eliminated. The result - a fuller 360º experience is created…even from 5.1-channel DVD releases. Best results are obtained when Dolby Digital EX is used with movie soundtracks recorded with Dolby Digital Surround EX. Pro-Logic IIx is the latest improvement on the original Pro-Logic and subsequent Pro-Logic II standards. Pro-Logic IIx adds post-processing to 5.1 channel and stereo signals, creating a realistic 7.1 channel surround environment from 5.1 channel movies and stereo sources, such as CD, Tape, FM Radio.

RI (Remote Interactive)
With Onkyo’s exclusive RI (Remote Interactive) system capability, you can integrate and operate all compatible components through a single remote control. What’s more, RI capability enables you to simply connect the iPod® to your receiver through Onkyo’s RI Dock for the iPod (DS-A1). Your iPod effectively becomes another Onkyo component from which you can relish a fuller sound that just can’t be experienced through headphones. RI capability will also give you remote operability of your iPod for hands-off control over your digital music.

Product Description
To best appreciate the versatility of the TX-SR505, think of the home entertainment components that define today's consumer electronics landscape. It's a formidable selection, with HD-ready displays (from the first generation to the latest 1080p models), DVD players (including the latest Blu-ray and HD DVD players), gaming consoles (such as the Xbox and PlayStation 3), set-top boxes (consider PVRs offering HD transmissions) and MP3 players (specifically the dominant iPod).With the TX-SR505's HDMI transport enabling pass-thru sources up to 1080p and component video supporting 720p and 1080i sources, this A/V receiver is a fine investment for those who want the best of what's available today¿and tomorrow. Also, with the ability to tune the TX-SR505 to your room's surroundings through Audyssey 2EQ, you're looking at a seriously capable entertainment control center, without the excessive price tag.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High Quality but Lacking a Key Feature, July 13, 2007

By	Jeffrey H. Hight (Winston-Salem, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is no doubt that Onkyo builds very fine electronic equipment, and this receiver is no exception. It boasts Onkyo's usual fine build and finish quality and comes with a host of features making it an extraordinarily flexible receiver at a very affordable price. The one feature lacking in its predecessor (TX-SR504) was the presence of HDMI connectivity. This shortcoming has been addressed in the new model but, unfortunately, is not fully implemented. The HDMI circuits in this receiver DO NOT pass the audio portion of the program; they pass only the video portion. This necessitates the use of the analog audio or optical digital audio outputs to provide the audio portion of the program to any connected device (such as a high definition television). Since one of the main reasons for the existence of the HDMI specification is to simplify connectivity, one has to wonder what the engineers (or, more likely, the marketing and accounting department heads) were thinking when they decided to hamper this connection circuitry! While it's true that many people may only want to pass the video program portion to a connected monitor, routing the audio through the receiver's amplifiers and on to the connected loudspeakers, one should not purchase this receiver thinking that it has full HDMI connectivity, because it doesn't. Otherwise, this product represents a very good buy.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good receiver at a good price, September 17, 2007

By	Lenny (NY) - See all my reviews

-- Start of 10/15/07 update --
I have now moved my home theater setup into the new 20x20 room. I installed the new 4 Polk Audio RM6751 surround speakers on the side and rear walls and reused the Energy speakers up front. I ran the receiver's Audyssey 2EQ automatic speaker setup which did a surprisingly good job at determining the size and distance of the speakers from them main TV viewing position. It was perfect, off by a foot for some speakers but very close. I proceeded to test the entire home theater using some action space sequences from Star Wars Episode 3 which has a Dolby Digital EX 6.1 audio track. All I can say is WOW. The new room and 7.1 speakers has really allowed this Onkyo receiver to shine. It sounded good in the old room but was somewhat limited by the poor room layout. In the new room it sounds nothing short of amazing. The surround effect sounds very well blended and non-localized as they should. This is an excellent sounding entry level 7.1 receiver.

The ONLY reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of the quirky behavior of the HDMI video switching. Not because it doesn't switch audio over HDMI but because of the few problems it caused with my cable box and DVD player when they were connected through the HDMI of the receiver. I now connect them directly to the TV as I did with my old receiver and everything works great.
-- End of 10/15/07 update --

I'll start by saying that overall I am very pleased with this receiver and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an full featured budget priced receiver. I am NOT an audiophile. I'm just a guy who enjoys watching movies in surround sound. As such I try to buy components that offer the features I need without all the extra stuff I don't need at a low price. This receiver fits that description perfectly.

This receiver is an upgrade from a 7 year old Pioneer VSX-D608 5.1 receiver. The main reason for the upgrade was that I plan to move my home theater system to a larger 20x20 room and felt that a 7.1 speaker arrangement would be really nice in that room. I'm currently using the new Onkyo in the old room with 5.1 speakers. The move into the new room is a few weeks way.

Since I'm still in the old temporary room I didn't use the Audyssey automatic setup system instead I manually configured all the speaker settings and distances. I found the controls and menus to be fairly easy to navigate and use.

When shopping for a receiver one of my top priorities is a clean low distortion amp which gives you very nice and detailed sound. Be careful when shopping. There are some receivers with 1% THD which IMO is too high. You can tell the difference in sound between 1% and the Onkyo's 0.08%. The SR505 is excellent in this regard.

The SR505 supports the standard formats like DD (Dolby Digital) 5.1 and DTS and also supports many new formats such as DD EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, DTS 96/24, DTS-ES, DTS-NEO6 and others. Even though many of these are 7.1 formats they work just fine in a 5.1 setup. The SR505 automatically handles the missing 2 speakers. These formats give a lot of versatility to the audio because they allow conversion of 2 channel audio up to 7.1 and 5.1 up to 7.1. It all works very well. It also remembers what listening mode you have selected for each kind of source audio signal. For example I have it set that when I'm watching TV through my cable box (digital connection to receiver) any channels in 2.0 stereo are converted to DTS Neo:6 and any HT channels in 5.1 stay in their native DD 5.1 format. As I switch channels the SR505 automatically uses the correct listening mode based on the source audio signal. The only negative is that the SR505 makes a 'click' sound whenever it changes listening modes. It's not really annoying but is loud enough to hear.

Regarding video connections the SR505 does allow video switching but does NOT do any conversion between different types of video inputs. For example if you have a DVD and cable box connected to the SR505 with Component inputs then the SR505 will switch the video on it's Component output to your TV. However if the DVD was using S-Video and the cable box Component then the SR505 will NOT convert the S-Video up to Component. It will only output the S-Video over it's S-Video output. The more expensive higher end Onkyo models will do that type of conversion. You just need to decide if that feature is worth the rather large increase in cost. For me it wasn't worth it.

If you read other user reviews on the net for the SR505 it seems the HDMI switching is an area of confusion. The bottom line is that the SR505 will switch ONLY video over HDMI and NOT both video and audio. All this means is that in addition to the HDMI connection you will also need a separate audio connection between the device and the receiver. So between your cable box and SR505 you would need an HDMI connection for video and a coax or optical digital for audio. Full HDMI audio/video switching is available on much more expensive higher end receivers. Again the buyer needs to decide if this feature is worth the extra money.

I have also found the HDMI to be a bit quirky so I decided not to use those connections myself. For example, when I add my cable box connected to the SR505 over HDMI the display on my cable box would flash 'd00' every few seconds whenever the SR505 was turned off. I found the flashing annoying so I connected my cable box directly to my TV. The only other HDMI device I own is an upconverting DVD player. The player doesn't show any usual behavior when connected through the SR505 but I noticed that whenever the receiver is turned off my Sony TV forgets which wide video mode it was in for the DVD player input and I have to change it back manually the next time I play a DVD. I don't know if it's a quirk with my TV or what but it doesn't happen when the DVD player is direct connected to the TV over HDMI so that how I have it connected now. The bottom line is that I tried to use the HDMI switching on the SR505 but because of the unexpected side effects I mentioned above I decided to not use it and went back to direct to TV HDMI connections.

The SR505 includes a nice manual a fairly good remote which will also operate your other devices.

Overall I'm pleased with my purchase. The SR505 is a great receiver for the price. I have no regrets. Recommended.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Future Proof, June 8, 2007

By	Bryant Robinson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this receiver because it offered all the features I required. My current setup is 5.1 but this system will allow me to easily transition to 7.1 It comes with three connections. My only gripe was that it required an additional conection for audio. The HDMI cable would only passthru the video signal, audio has to come through a separate connection. There goes the simple setup solution. Other than that, this is a wonderful unit that offers many highend features of more expensive units.