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

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.

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.

Easy to set up. Excellent sound and lots of power for my small system. Sound field options are limited (especially in stereo mode)but controls, including the remote are simple and intuitive. Great value.

We already have a 7.1 receiver that is Onkyo and we have been happy with it so we purchased this one for our basement.

We are very pleased with this brand.

This unit provides all the features I need and has ver good sound. It was easy to set up and use. A good value for the price if you don't extremely high end results,