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86 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stream lossless music from home computer, December 21, 2009
This review is from: Onkyo TX-NR807 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black) (Electronics)
I've had the Onkyo TX-NR807 for about a month now. It replaced a 10 year old 70W Yamaha Dolby Digital surround receiver. I listen mostly to Jazz vocals, some light pop, and the occasional action movie. My priority is two channel (stereo) music, secondary is surround for movies. Other set-up details: Infinity main and center speakers(see below), small Paradigm surround speakers, Rotel CD running analog outs, Denon DVD, Windows Media Player on PC as music server. Overall satisfaction is high.
Before buying, this unit was demo'd in a showroom against a comparable Denon. The sound was similar on Def Tech floor stand speakers and both performed well. The Denon had a slightly warmer sound, which many prefer. The Onkyo had slightly better clarity, albeit a bit on the brighter side. The issue with a brighter sound is that it can be fatiguing for longer listening periods. This was a problem I was having with my current setup. Tough choice, but I decided to try the Onkyo as clarity is important to me. I like to hear the subtle parts of the music. The Onkyo, after discounts, was also about $500 less.
At home with the Onkyo, immediately I could pick up more details in the music and noticed better mid-range and bass. Not unexpected given I was going from 70W in the old receiver to 135W.
However, after listening for a while, I realized the better sound coming from the Onkyo was now actually revealing limitations of the speakers that were less evident with the slightly muddier sound of the old Yamaha. The vocals were a bit tinny and I was still dealing with the issue of the sound being too bright, although this aspect was a bit improved from the Yamaha. At this point I also looked around the room and realized it may be partially to blame for the brightness. High ceilings with bare walls cause a lot of reflections of high frequencies. There were three viable options: 1) Spend a lot more on a surround receiver or separates in an attempt to get clarity and less brightness ($$$), 2) try room treatments to tame the brightness (costly and usually unattractive), 3) try new speakers. I opted for 3 as the old Infinities were probably outgunned by the new receiver anyway (and I really wanted new speakers).
One of the high-end stores in the area sells B&W speakers and I'd always wanted a set. They have an overnight demo program so I lugged home a pair of mid-range 3-way B&W's to try out. With the B&W's I could hear even more detail in the music, the mid-range was richer, and the bass fuller and cleaner. They did exactly what I thought I was looking for. They made the music very detailed and they were very fast. For those who don't hang out in speaker review forums, this means they respond to changes in volume very quickly. For instance, each snare drum strike might be individually discernable, a cymbal brush stroke may consist of individual strands of the brush hitting the cymbal instead of a constant "whoosh". However, I discovered that after listening for more than 1/2 an hour at a time, that level of detail resulted in a feeling of having my head inside a drum rather than sitting in the audience. The vocals were also a bit harsh. Detail fatigue. So it turned out what I thought I was looking for wasn't what I really wanted.
The B&W's went back and I ended up with Wharfedale Opus speakers for mains and center. These use fabric dome (rather than metal) tweeters and mid's. With these I gave up some of the speed and a tiny bit of clarity, but gained beautiful vocals. They also tamed the brightness. I can listen to these for hours and just smile. A great fit for me when paired with the Onkyo.
Now that the music criteria was taken care of, it was on to movies. I had not really considered the Audyssey calibration tool that comes with the Onkyo to be very valuable. After all, I had managed to set up the surround on the old Yamaha manually. What a pleasant surprise. After running the Audyssey calibration, the surround timing and levels were vastly improved. Note that minor tweaking may still be appropriate. For instance, I needed to manually adjust the level of one of the main speakers by about 1 decibel because the Audyssey settings resulted in slightly off-center results when listening to two channel sources such as CD's.
One of the other criteria I had for a receiver was its ability to stream music stored on my home computer and preferably also from Pandora. Although I knew the Onkyo would do both, I got lucky here. It turns out the Onkyo is the only receiver in this range that will stream music stored in lossless formats. For those who may be lost at this point, music downloaded or ripped from CD's is usually compressed in a manner that removes some of the information (lossy compression). When listening on an ipod you may not know the difference, but on a nice home system there is a difference. Music can be ripped from CD's in a lossless format. However, only the Onkyo will use all the information. For instance, the Denon says it will play lossless formats, but in a small footnote it tells you the streaming software on the computer has to compress the music in a lossy format (192kbs max) in order for the receiver to accept the stream. Not good. What this all means is that I have now burned CD's on my computer in full resolution (no lost information) and can access and play them on my Onkyo receiver with easy on-screen menus. No more swapping CD's for quality sound. No more messing with ipod docks playing compressed music. In case you are wondering about sound quality of the streaming, I've compared the quality of the full-resolution streaming (which uses the Onkyo's digital to analog conversion) with the analog output of the Rotel CD player noting almost no discernable difference. Very good. Actually, excellent. Pandora streaming also works flawlessly.
In summary:
Advantages
- Great sound quality for this level of receiver
- Technologically ahead of competition. Onkyo tends to throw in lots of bells and whistles.
- Lossless streaming!
- Easy to use considering all the features
- Pandora
- Audyssey works well (most at this price have the same or similar)
- Price, especially if you find discounts
- Ability to bi-amp speakers (unit also seemed to run cooler after I did this)
Could be better
- No surround pre-ins for outboard processing (it does have pre-outs)
- No video or picture streaming from home computer or internet
- Sound character slightly on the bright side
Hope this info helps any prospective buyers.
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Honest, January 27, 2010
This review is from: Onkyo TX-NR807 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black) (Electronics)
The idea is to dl the unwashed facts.
I am not an audiophile. I can and do build my own computers as well as just about anything with wheels and this is the 4th AVR I have owned.
This machine replaces a dead 6 year old Onkyo. It is a drop in into my 6.1 living room setup although it did not just "drop in".
The good:
Connectivity, the global kind- . The packaged internet features offer a vast improvement over the AM/FM airwaves, both in sound quality and shedding the mindnumbing drivel. I have not tried to add alternate sites to the list yet. The machine has recognized my home network and works with my stored musical content.
Connectivity, the input/output kind- Despite omissions to legacy analog stuff, there are ample connections. The amount of HDMI connections alone is atypical of <1000$ machines.
Power- I expect to add an amp and speakers to this setup for a 9.1 height system in the future. The added amp is to get dedicated outputs for true 9.1 which is not possible with the 807. It is a 7.1 AVR with a pile of extra connections to share the 7.1 output in different configurations. DO NOT THINK OF THE 807 AS ANY MORE THAN A 7.1 RECEIVER (with options)!
That said, the power is exceptional. It becomes uncomfotable due to volume but my ears do not detect any distortion at any level. Incidentally there is a maximum volume setting that is factory preset to allow the user to modify the range. I haven't played with the setting and probably won't. No need to put my ears or my equipment through that. This box is not your fathers receiver. It is a beast.
Heat. I am pleased and surprised that this box puts out less heat than it's predecessor. Since it is inches taller than my previous Onkyo I raised the shelving to allow a six inch ventspace over the unit anticipating the Onkyo heat but that turns out to be overkill.
Reliability- Reports of sound cutouts and the need to depower and then restart can be found in these reviews and elsewhere. That has not been the case with my unit. It has performed reliably so far, a month at this writing. I should note that I do depower the unit nightly through my conditioner/generator. I am not an electrical engineer and have no idea whether that activity is affecting the chances of unintended cutouts.
Reasonable interface- Audessey setup was a breeze although I was familiar with the process. I will put my own tweaks in as time passes but for now the time spent was little, the result was impressive.
The On Screen Display is not particularly thrilling. Neither is it rudimentary. Regarding complaints that it is not polished remember the function of the display. It is the point of interface and from it the user gets information and issues commands. On that basis it is both reasonably formatted and intuitive. Further moaning at the bar is for wishes that don't merit granting. In a few clicks of the remote the user will have mastered the fundamentals of communicating with the 807. That is its function and Onkyo has done a fine job of it.
Cost- Within a two or three year timeframe, a machine sporting these bells and whistles would have set me back five times what I paid through Amazon. The package of tech and power, brains and brawn still has me on a learning curve.
The not so good:
Relays clack- Onkyo claims that that is the way it is. Relays click and clack when they are called on to shunt power. Shame on Onkyo. Onkyo should say "Unlike other Onkyo receivers, both legacy and current, as well as the receivers sold by our main competitors, the NR807 uses the clacking variety relays. They were speced for this machine, we have made thousands of these units which we absolutely refuse to admit fault with lest we be forced to do the honorable thing and correct this issue." I'm not holding my breath. As it is the click happens maybe once every ten minutes on average. YMMV.
For the record I am not put off by the clicking. If I had a dedicated theater room with all the toney accoutrements I would have long since boxed this up and returned it from whence it came but the course of my life is less refined and my home theater is 90 percent home, 10 percent theater. A little background noise is hardly reason to lose sleep.
Passthrough?- Maybe. If you can call at a minimm layering your information, like input type, volume indicator, etc. over the top of the signal. The data stream may not be altered but the resulting picture is not the same as the source material. Small potatoes you say? Maybe so, but I would like the passthrough function to be exactly that.
Analogue sound outputs- Not. No concern of mine but there are many who swear by them. This is their showstopper.
Wireless connectivity- Not. I can't imagine why someone would spend this kind of money and then mench about lack of wireless capability when hardwired ethernet is so much superior but there you have it.
Net functionality- Not stand alone. These subscriber services that Onkyo includes require the use of a computer to make functional and to maintain. It doesn't have to be connected to the machine or even the network but it does have to happen. I have a HTPC at the TX-NR807 so it is a nobrainer for me, but by the same token I already subscribed to Pandora and VTuner through the computer and played those stations and others through the home theater prior to the addition of the 807 so what I gained in the 807 networking is redundancy, and limited redundancy at that. Still, too much is better than not enough and if I were in the market for a receiver and my computer was not regularly integrated into my home network, the net functionality would be a big deal.
Net funtionality Part 2- Not a showstopper but the net log on is automatic and it is hit and miss. Mostly miss. I am a high speed DSL subscriber and have wired ethernet throughout the home. Things happen quickly on our monitors. Nonetheless the 807 takes minutes to do its business on startup handshaking the worldwidewebs. Makes me cringe. That is if it gets lucky on the first date. Often the process has to be repeated a time or two but once connected it never drops out. So there's that.
Output sourcing. You get what you got. I run practically everything out of the 807 through HDMI but I have need of component out also due to the wife persons unwillingness to adapt to the seamless integration of the 807 into our lives that I promised.
That means that I have to run a macro through the remote forcing the series of button pushes the Onkyo needs to change from HDMI to component out for my wifes ancient DVD changer. It doesn't strike me as that hard a thing for Onkyo to do to retain routing patterns for activities. I guess I'm wrong on that because I have had to teach the remote to create the changes each time the demand changes.
On balance, I feel like I made good use of my home theater budget this year. The 807 will have to last me at least five years for me to feel good about the outlay. In the meantime if it continues to behave itself it was money well spent.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoroughly satisfied..., October 21, 2009
This review is from: Onkyo TX-NR807 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black) (Electronics)
Upgraded from a twelve-year-old Yamaha with lots of oomph but little in the way of current sound processing and of course no HDMI. Did a massive amount of research in advance, but in the end decided that the NR807 gave me everything I need for now and well into the future. One of the fullest and most immersive soundstages I've ever heard, a comparatively intuitive interface, auto firmware updates and PC audio streaming via its Ethernet port, more setup and configuration options than I knew existed, and a full half-dozen (!) HDMI inputs. And plenty of power sitting in reserve for those moments in a movie that are crafted to make you jump out of your chair. Never boomy or tinny or lacking, the unit simply sounds "fluid."
Yes, it has its bells and whistles, but this is by no means a "bells and whistles" receiver.
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As a product category that straddles the three-figure and four-figure ranges, A/V receivers face a dilemma. A consumer who would shrug at a $999 price tag is suddenly overcome with caution when the price goes up to, say, $1,099, the price of the Onkyo TX-NR807. Yet this receiver is reasonably powerful, and it’s loaded with the latest features.
