Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo TX-DS494 Surround Sound Receiver

Used with
Panasonic DVD RV31
Klipsch SP1 speakers (built in powered SW)
Infinity center channel,
Infinity reference rear surrounds.
optical connection, monster cables/wires

First of all, I like it, but don't pay too much for the DS494. (...).

- A bit difficult to figure out, had to refer to manual for a while to make sure I had it right to enjoy DTS...or Pro Logic II. But I enjoy that aspect.

-The remote is pretty bad, surprisingly bad.. Very small buttons, almost impossible to see in *any* light, let alone low light situations. I feel like an old lady, squinting at the little words on what the little buttons do. And you can NOT adjust BASS and TREBLE with the remote...must be done via knobs on unit itself...

Recently tested it with Jurrasic Park III in DTS and once I tinkered a bit to balance it all, I was very very pleased. Giddy is more like it...:)

This unit lacks a lot of those silly soundfields, which are fun for a minute, but I find a waste of time.....unless maybe you use only 2 crappy speakers and want it to have a synthetic echoey weird effect.
It has Orchestra, Unplugged, and maybe one other, all of which I don't find too appealing...and serve zero purpose for 5.1 surround sound movie experience....so if you want a system for theater like sound for movies, don't let the lack of these phoney 'sound fields' bother you.

Great sound + little gimmics +poor remote=good value for the tight budget yet high standards taste!

Solid, simple, sounds good. We live in a fringe area for FM reception -- heard stations perfectly this morning that hadn't heard in years.

Bought this reciever back in 2000 and have been using it daily ever since. I utilize it to listen to everything from vinyl to DTS 5.1...And I mean EVERYTHING. The receiver is very clean and in stereo, the 55 watts overpowers many manufacturers "100 watt" rating. It is a great musical reciever. I also own an Onkyo TX-8211(50w ch stereo only) reciver and the two are identical in clairty. However something about the reciever in Surrond mode, isnt quite "stunning". The sound, albeit good, isnt great and the volume could stand to be a bit louder. I'm not one of those people who likes to turn the volume to the max just to get loudness. Maximum volume is usually at or over the threshold in which the reciever can efficiently operate. The sound also seems somewhat dull and lifeless at times. Onkyo makes great products and I am not denying this one, But there just seems as if there is something "not right" with this reciever. Its about time to upgrade and I'm currently looking into Denon as an alternative.