Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo TX-SR304S 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Silver)

I was looking for a low-cost receiver with surround sound capability for a vacation home. I have never purchased any components from Onkyo before, but a friend of mine more familiar with audio components recommended it. The price was very reasonable, especially after Amazon recently reduced the price to just over $140.

The receiver was shipped from J&R Music World. The packaging was good, and everything arrived in good shape. The directions weren't great, but having set up 5.1 systems before, this was not a tremendous hurdle. Once the unit was turned on, though, the actual setup of the speakers and other features was much simpler and much more effective than the unit I have in my primary home. It was really a snap to get the speakers configured and balanced.

The sound quality is excellent. I don't have a sub-woofer hooked up yet, but the compensation by the unit is excellent, and the sound quality is still top notch. It does not have many of the bells and whistles of other units, and it is just a 5.1 system, but if you're looking for a basic unit that provides all of the necessities, good sound quality, and ease of installation, this unit would be an excellent choice.

A great price on a really nice 5.1 surround receiver. My biggest concern was the power rating. I was worried it wouldn't fill my theater room with sound. That concern ended the moment all 5.1 speakers were connected. Immediately my wife turned to me and said, "Can you turn it down?"

Onkyo is a quality company that rates its wattage at full bandwidth and that's why it appears to be a little low on power in the specifications. Many other manufacturers rate their wattage at only a fraction of the bandwidth, thus making them look more powerful than they really are.

This receiver does DTS and Dolby sound and will automatically choose the superior DTS sound if both are available. If it doesn't detect any surround, it will automatically choose a surround emulation. I watched a football game broadcast in stereo, and the receiver split the sounds perfectly into 5.1 surround, even placing the crowd noise in the two rear speakers!

I can't say enough about this receiver. It has plenty of input and output connections - more than the average person will need, and all at an outstanding price.

This is quality at a bargain price.

It's not a bad receiver, sound quality is decent, it has enough connectors, but I've compared this receiver with Yamaha HTR-5930 (which you could get for the same price as Onkyo) and here's where Onkyo loses:

1. The biggest disappointment: I've connected subwoofer to the unit and could hear humming noise coming from it. Yamaha is dead quiet unless, of course, music is playing.

2. Yamaha is more powerful (110 vs. 65)

3. Sound from Yamaha is more "natural". This may be something that you won't like if you prefer a lot of high frequency tones, but for me it worked better.

4. Inputs are named 'DVD', 'Video 1', 'Video 2', etc in Onkyo. In Yamaha they have 'DVD', 'Cable', 'VCR', 'Aux' - it is much easier to remember what you need to switch to. On top of that you can customize Yamaha's input names, which makes it even easier.

5. Yamaha's remote works very well as universal remote. My favorite feature: when you press a button to switch receiver's input to DVD, for example, remote also switches into DVD mode, so you can immediately press 'Play' on the remote and your DVD will start playing. Press 'VCR' button and receiver starts playing sound from VCR and remote controls VCR as well. Very convenient.

6. Onkyo's appearance is somewhat dated, finish gives impression of a cheap product (again, I am comparing with Yamaha here), screen looks like it came from 80-s.

7. In terms of size, Onkyo is about 1.5 times deeper then Yamaha (width and height are the same).

I went with Yamaha.

Why would anyone think an entry level receiver would have HDMI inputs? It doesn't state so in the description here nor at the onkyo site. Plain ignorance. There is an error in the wattage rating, though, onkyo says it is 65w/ch, not 75w/ch. Inconsequential.

On to the review, this is a fantatic sounding receiver for the price (consider getting a refurb for <$100). I have it hooked to a $1500 Definitive Technologies speaker system and the sound is crystal clear and quite impressive. The opening scene of Lord of the Rings 2 where Gandalf is fighting with the whatever it is will make you a believer. The amplifier makes use of discrete output transistors, a sign of quality construction. Overall, an excellent product for the price.

In this price range, you should also consider the new Panasonic low end models that incorporate digital amplification. I have not heard them yet, but this technology is just entering the mainstream and will soon be standard approach for all audio amplification.

This receiver really packs a punch for the money and features it offers. Plenty of power sounds just as loud as some receivers that claim 100 watts/ch. This is due to Onkyo rating there systems 20hz-20khz vs the 1 khz that most other companies rate on plus Onkyo rates there power usually lower than it really is instead of inflating it like other companies. The sound quality is excellent with very little distortion even at high volumes also has no speaker hiss during music or sound pauses like some receivers. Ability to power A and B sets of speakers at the same time. No other receiver that I looked at pioneer,yamaha does that until you get into $300+ price range. Some don't even power two sets. Sound fields sound great and really give depth to the music and movies. Receiver has buttons on the front panel for all the controls so I don't even have to use remote if desired. Separate buttons for video 1,2,3,dvd,cd,tape,tuner no jog dial to deal with! Has plenty of connections for most needs and even 2 optical inputs! Runs fairly cool for a receiver. Bass and treble controls and easy to use and very effective menu system for setting up speaker levels etc. Overall I am very happy with the quality of this easy to use and great sounding receiver and would not hesitate to buy another onkyo product. Great job Amazon and Onkyo! Fast shipping and great prices as always! Oh yeah my speakers I have hooked up are Polk R50's in front and Polk R150's for the surround. No center yet and no sub yet and still sounds great. I also have a cheap set of sony's bookshelf 2 ways hooked to speaker B for music in the garage even those sound good! The Polk's are a great match and sound awesome. I recommend them also!