Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo TX-SR805S 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Silver)

This is a fine high quality future proofed reciever.It is a Pain to set up everything and get it working however.Once its all set up its a total pleasure to use. I like Onkyo and having this hefty reciever for 2 weeks I wouldnt hesitate to get it again. You have to Really crank the volume up first time to get the hd surround sound going however. Once I finally understand what all the many bells and whistle's on this do I'll probably be even a happier camper.Bought thru Amazon,Butterfield shipped fast and safely.Called Onkyo service a couple of times during setup and they were very helpful.
thanks
Kenn

The Onkyo TX-SR805 is virtually everything it's meant to be: powerful, ergonomic and sonically quite competent. The video performance of competing Denon models is marginally better, but the audio performance of this unit is excellent. The seven band-per-channel EQ's, however, should be ten band, but that's not a serious shortcoming. You may have read that this unit gets too hot. It only runs hotter than normal, if you fail to give it room to breath, just like any high powered conventional amplifier. The functionality is mostly intuitive and the remote control is feature ladened. The AM and FM sections are a bit disappointingly weak, but the sonic performance is otherwise excellent. For audiophiles, this Onkyo is a great choice.

This was my first receiver I have ever purchased and I researched many different ones for several months before I chose this one. I believe that I made an excellent decision. Even though I bought a cheap, entry-level Onkyo SKS-HT540 speaker system I am simply blown away by the sound! I can't imagine the sound getting much better even after I upgrade to more expensive speakers down the road.

PROS:

+IMHO the best looking receiver on the market.

+Extremely good build quality, VERY heavy!

+THX Ultra2 for under $1000 (nuff said)

+Three HDMI ports that carry both video AND audio, unlike some lesser
models.

+Easy to setup, even for an AVR virgin like myself.


CONS:

-Very tall and deep. (Make sure you have room in your rack or stand, don't forget that connections at the rear will add an inch or so to its already massive depth)

-This unit gets HOT!!! Leave it plenty of room to breathe. The manual recommends an 8" breathing room and I wouldn't deviate too much from that number. (Unless you use fans or something which is also a possibility with the switched outlet on the back.)

-I'm not really thrilled about the way that it downscales my XBOX 360 connection to like 720p or something but I knew that it would do that before I bought it. I just didn't want to spend the extra money on the TX-SR875 so I just used component in -> component out for that connection in order to keep it at 1080p for my Sony Bravia xbr2.

-If you do decide to use the HDMI out for your component connected XBOX 360 it is of note that when I tried it this way not only was the image downscaled as expected, but it was severely washed out looking and the colors weren't as bright or vibrant. Not sure why this was but I did not like it one bit. I tried two different HDMI cables and both had this effect. However, the component in -> component out connection that I ended up using looked awesome.

This Onkyo product is just as advertised. I owned an older 6.1 channel Onkyo receiver that served me well for about 5 years (it lacked HDMI). Immediatly after setup of the TX-SR805, I played some material that I am very familiar with. I was surprised to hear sounds that I have not neard before, not to mention impressed by the raw power of the unit!
When reading reviews before I purchased, I came across several reports of overheating. I was concerned but figured it was something the new owners were doing wrong. Im happy to say that my unit is not even warm to the touch after 8 hours of football on Sundays. I have about 6 inches of clearance above the unit, and about 1.5 inches on either side, about 8 inches on the back, and an open front. Suetup of the unit is almost too simple, and I have yet to use all of this units potential.

The overheating problem with the SR805 is REAL. It fizzled, sparked and died during the Jacksonville-Pittsburgh playoff game Saturday night. What's worse... I called Onkyo and they said that I will have to take it to an authorized service center. I've only had the thing 10 days and they would not even consider swapping it out. That basically means my 10 day old receiver is now refurbished. Fortunately Electronics Express (seller through Amazon) is going to swap it out for me.

Also... I had great ventilation setup. I had a fan blowing across the back and top and had plenty of room on the sides and top.

Onkyo's service people don't even seem to care.