Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo TX-SR506 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Silver)

I was torn between the Onkyo TX-SR506 and Sony STRDG720, which both have very comparable feature sets (7.1, 3->1 HDMI switch, optical inputs, component pass through) and are in the same price range. Even though I prefer Sony and have several Sony components (TV, PS3, etc), the Amazon sale price and some good brand recommendations tipped me to the Onkyo -- ordered it Friday, and had it on Monday!

First off, I knew the Onkyo only did HDMI pass-through -- which means the 7.1 HDMI audio is not intercepted at the receiver but passed to the TV. This means you either have to connect the TV's audio back to the receiver, or wire each of your components to send audio separately. Sort of defeat the purpose of audio-over-HDMI, but I was willing to accept this. What I didn't realize is that the optical TOSLink connection cannot do 7.1 at the HD bitrate. In fact, the only way to get 7.1 out of the unit is to use the DVD analog inputs (only 1 set of eight available), otherwise your 7.1 unit can only play downsampled or 5.1 audio.

After installing, my DirecTV HR20 Satellite/PVR worked fine over HDMI, but not the HD-DVD or the PS3. The HD-DVD unit would play fine for about 90 seconds over HDMI, then would lose picture and audio. Resetting either the receiver or the HD-DVD player would get me another 90 seconds. The PS3 was even worse -- it never passed any video or audio! I could tell I was getting an input signal at the TV, but it was just black. Of course, the same components worked fine directly to the TV directly over HDMI , but failed through the receiver. I suspected HDCP handshaking issues.

Now, I'd googled several reports where people had no HDMI audio (due to the pass-through above), and a handful where they had no video either (almost always failed to assign the inputs properly), but there were a couple that had the same problems I did and no resolution. I decided to call Onkyo tech support.

It tooks me 2 days of disconnects and unanswered voicemail to get through to a person, and after walking through the necessary steps (reset unit, configure inputs, check connections, reset everything, try connecting directly to TV), he gave up. Said it should work, that they had a PS3 in the office that worked, but didn't know why mine failed. Maybe it was my TV that failed the HDCP -- but of course, everything worked fine *without* the receiver. Anyway, I was promised a call back within 24 hours. It never came. I tried calling tech support again, and again I suffered disconnects, dead ends, and unresponsive voicemail. I finally tried customer service, who redirected me to an open support person. We repeated the above steps, and he suggested I return the unit as defective or bring it to a nearby service center.

Given the limitations I'd found, the unexpected failures, and the very poor customer support, I took him up on his offer -- I returned the Onkyo to Amazon and I picked up the Sony on sale for $25 more. It reads 7.1 LPCM over the HDMI (not just pass through), it works with the Sony TV and PS3, and I know I can get through to their technical support. I'd heard good things about Onkyo, and I'm sure the SR506 feature set will suffice for some people, but I wasn't pleased with it. (I also despise HDCP, but that's a rant for another day.)

This replaced my older JVC receiver and the difference in sound and its quality is very satisfying. Clear sound can be heard at much lower volume levels than the JVC. In surround sound the quality is great, escpecially at this price. It has HDMI but this lower end model is only a run through, you need an optical cable for the sound which is very good. Can't go wrong with this receiver.

I had a hight problem with the space I needed to put a receiver into (less than 6"). This Onkyo fit. It was not as powerful as I wanted to buy, but to my surprize it's performance is much better than I expected.

I especially like the capability of the receiver to automatically adjust the speakers using a mic that I place in the center, right and left of the sweet spot in my room. I did not expect that from an inexpensive 70 watt per channel receiver

OK, you have a game room, bedroom or other location where you want the benefits of a good receiver but don't want to bust the bank. This is it. The 506 hits the nail on the head. The only thing I might add, is audio pass through for the HDMI. Not a problem with digital audio outs but it would be nice to take advantage of that HDMI capability. I have it on my 705 and like it. I have 5 Onkyo receivers in my home and can tell you, I believe in Onkyo. 1 is a stereo source and the other 4 support surround sound systems at various locations. With the exception of one unit that has issues with a "hot" signal from my FIOS connection, they are flawless, easy to set up and offer good value!

There seems to be a lot of complaining of late about the HDMI pass through but not enough reviews about how great this receiver really sounds, so I just want to throw my 2 cents in with the other happy SR506 owners.

Yes, the receiver doesn't extract audio from the HDMI connections and doesn't do any video upconversion processing (its a $200 receiver for Pete sake). That's what the words "pass though" in the specifications mean. Do you really need your audio extracted from the HDMI connections and video upconversion processing? That all depends upon your needs, but I didn't need it. My blu-ray player does all the upconversion I need, my TV has 4 HDMI inputs, and my universal remote coordinates the input switching for me. So what if you have to run Toslink (and/or coax audio) cables from each component into the receiver. You do it once. It's not like you have to re-wire the thing every time you power it up.

Anyway, on to the sound quality: I have been a Yamaha receiver fan for years, and was hesitant to buy an entry level Onkyo, but since this was going in the living room where the kids will be beating on it, I decided to save a few dollars and give it a try.

Much to my surprise the sound right out of the box was very good, and once I ran the Audyssey 2EQ setup the sound was incredible. I have the same set of speakers in our master bedroom that I have hooked up in the living room. The bedroom has a Yamaha HTR-5860 7.1 YPAO configured surround receiver. So, to do some comparing, I played a few scenes from a few blu-rays on each system, and I hate to say it, but the Onkyo TX-SR506 just sounds better. The bass is stronger and tighter, the highs are cleaner, and the surround sound effects are more enveloping. Not to say that the Yamaha is terrible, it is a good receiver with different features than the Onkyo has. Perhaps the Yamaha could be tweaked to sound better. And Yes, the rooms are differently shaped which could affect the perceived sound, but both YPAO and Audyssey are supposed to correct for this. All I am saying is that, as installed, the Onkyo sounds better to me, without any tweaking, for a lot less money. So if you are contemplating getting this receiver, and are OK with its HDMI pass through, then don't hesitate to save some money on this receiver.