Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo TX-SR705 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

After doing a a considerable amount of research and reading several reviews I decided on the Onkyo over the Denon in the mid price range of receivers to replace my 8 yr old Sony. With 3 HDMI inputs, THX certification, True HD , etc, along with a great price from Amazon the decision to buy the Onkyo was a no brainer. Idecided on the 705 over the 605 because of the 3rd HDMI, more power and learning remote.

My set up is a 58" Panasonic Plasmas HDTV (2 HDMI inputs), Toshiba HD DVD player and Comcast HD cable box, Infinity speakers for 5.1. The Toshiba & cable box both have HDMI out puts which made the setup of the receiver to the tv easy leaving me one more open HDMI slot on the Onkyo for maybe a Sony PS3.

The setup of the receiver was pretty easy as long as you read instructions first. Having read some of the other reviews on Amazon about setup of surround sound speakers, I avoided the common mistakes made about the rear or side speakers. The set up and calibration of the speakers was a snap with the on screen display & instructions and took about 10 minutes for setting up 4 listening locations.

I did not use banana plugs as some have suggested which may be better in the long run than standard connections. As the speaker inputs are close together it is a little difficult connecting speaker wires in back of receiver if you have large fingers.

As the Panasonic has 2 HDMI inputs I experimented running the cable box and dvd player directly to the tv and found no difference in the quality of the picture running it through the Onkyo (that was a relief). The sounds generated by the Onkyo are crisp and makes watching movies on the big screen a theater like experience. The Onkyo learning remote works well as it has replaced the Comcast and Toshiba remotes. It even learned the On Demand and DVR functions of the Comcast remote. The display area on the receiver is small and the only thing you can see from 10 feet away is which input it's sending out and the sound mode.

I believe Perfect Vision Magazine's editors voted the Onkyo TX SR 705 as their av receiver of the year. I would have to agree with them, after 30 days I have had no problems with the Onkyo and I have been enjoying HD movies and TV like never before. I am glad I made the right decision. The Onkyo 705 is great today and will be there for the future.

I purchased this receiver just last week at the same time I bought a Toshiba 46" Slim Bezel Set. The HDMI connection from the Onkyo to the TV works great, so that I can change inputs from my TV for everything that is connected to the receiver. It worked right out of the box with video output from the HDMI to my set. From there it took some time to set up all the connections and keeping straight what was plugged into which HDMI port and what optical or coax audio connection I used for the devices I used the component video connections. I also had to adjust the delay setting for the cable box input, the default is set to 40ms and I ended up at 15 ms working best for my cable HD DVR.

For what I needed to connect to it, there are plenty of inputs and outputs, although the 3 HDMI inputs are already full. There are HDMI and component video switches available if needed. The sound is great, rich and deep and keeps up well with all the movies and games I have tried so far. For a reference, the speakers I have connected are: Front - Infinity Interlude 50's each with 10" 250 watt sub, Center - Infinity Alpha, Surrounds - Infinity Interlude 10's and one Infinity Entra Center used for a rear (back surround). I haven't maxed out neither the speakers nor the receiver and until I am in a house I can't, but as loud as I have played it, there were no issues and the sound held together well, as good as my Harman/Kardon 525, if not better.

The Audyssey setup is very easy and works well. I didn't have to adjust any of the distance or level settings once it finished. It is also a very attractive receiver, the typical black of most AV devices, but the understated readout and blue glow around the volume know add a nice clean look. One petty complaint I have is I would like to be able to dim the readout, but still keep the blue volume knob highlight turned on. You can give each input an individual name for the front display and these also show up on the CEC Link list on my TV which is nice. I also liked the remote, it was comfortable in my hand and fairly easy to use. It does have some weight to it, but I like that, my Harmony 880 feels way too light for the price. The back lighting could be brighter however on the Onkyo remote, it is still hard to see in the dark even with it's back light on. So far it has controlled all the devices I have set it up for, but I have not tried teaching it any commands or setting up any macros.

One thing to note that some may be expecting is that the receiver does not upconvert everything to 1080p it allows 1080p to pass through the HDMI connections, but does not upconvert them (at least not that I can find out how). However your TV should be able to upconvert it. It's not important to me that everything gets upconverted regardless of source. I don't think most or any 480i or 480p TV shows would benefit and they may even look worse and the HD DVD and Blu-ray players can and do upconvert standard DVD's to 1080p. I am passing all my devices through the Onkyo (XBox Elite, PS3, HD Cable DVR, ReplayTV and DVD recorder) all using HDMI except the cable dvr and ReplayTV which are through component, and the image looks great. I can't tell a difference between a direct HDMI connection to the TV or through the receiver.

So far I am thrilled with the receiver and would purchase it again and probably will, maybe upgrade to the 805 for the den. The only issue I have so far is the way the dimmer turns off the blue glow and the not so bright back light on the remote.
However, I do note that I have not used the Zone 2, XM/Sirius inputs, nor the analog multi-channel inputs so I cannot speak to their functionality or quality.

UPDATE: After a month+ living with this receiver, things continue to go well. I am still very happy with it and would purchase it again. I have had some audio sync issues, but utilizing the HDMI CEC settings on the TV and the receiver I have been able to adjust the delays out. Still an A+

Purchased a Samsung 1080p, 46 inch and wanted a really good AV. This Onkyo TX-SR705 met all my expectations. Especially handy are the 3 assignable HDMI in, 1 HDMI out connections. Using with Apple I TV hdmi, DVD R HDMI and HDMI from the Cable Box. Very clear set up and remote controls HDMI inputs. Also using with ORB peoples choice (ORB Audio.com). Great product. Highly recommended. You will not be disappointed.

If you're 50plus and still have speakers that you don't want to part with, consider this Onkyo TX-SR705. I considered getting a home theater in a box and I'm delighted with this alternative. My Altec, Marantz, and JBL speakers dating from the 70s never sounded better. The Onkyo offers a wide array of listening choices. It has a phono jack and it makes your vintage records sound like they were recorded this year, driving all eight speakers with 7.1 surround sound. And the movie sound tracks are to die for. It also has all the video connections you need to completely upgrade, but you can take your time as you have multiple ways to connect your system components. It was easy to set up, contrary to some reviews. So don't be intimidated, enjoy!

I ordered this receiver a few months ago, and am perfecly happy with it. It took me about 3 1/2 hours to set it up, between cabling and software setup. Sound and picture are great, no complains. It's working as advertised.

There's a couple of things I'd like to mention:

* Even though it has a wide range of different inputs in the back, it still has a limited set of presets. On top of the usual theater components, I own 3 gaming consoles, and I previously had to have a separate switch box because receivers typically have a limited number of inputs. I was hoping to finally consolidate my system. Turns out I still have the same problem. Even though there's a dozen inputs in the back, you have to manually assign each of these inputs to one of the 6 or so presets (DVD, Cable, Game, Aux, CD...). Which means that I still have to connect a couple of components directly to the TV, missing out on the surround sound.

* When watching cable, the sound system for different programs changes all the time, specially during commercials. The receiver has to adjust between Stereo and 5.1, resulting in a brief silence and clicking sound from the receiver constantly switching between systems. Once you notice this, it gets annoying. Maybe there's a way to turn this off, but I haven't found it yet.