Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

The electronic giants have pretty much confused their intended market. They introduce "must-have" technologies every year, at least. There are buildings full of people making up acronyms that add to the confusion. They have billion-dollar fights over various technologies. As the song says, "What's a poor boy to do?"

Lots of people clearly have not done anything. Their equipment is already digital, so the movies and music are clear and sharp. They are not unhappy with what they have. And, they are confused about what the new stuff, worried that it is just another path to obsolescence. I was pretty much in this camp as well.

Why did I buy a new receiver? My old one broke and I had no choice, so I started looking around. Actually, I had some issues with the old unit. It did not have HDMI connections, so I had a dozen cables running all over. The TV and the DirecTv HD satellite receiver had HDMI connections. I also wanted to get a Blu-Ray player and those are at their best with HDMI. In short, I was getting cable envy.

Then there was the sound. My living room is the worst possible place for good sound. It is all wood and glass with an odd shape and other rooms open to it. I hated the harsh and bouncy sound, the unintelligible voices and ringing high notes. I knew the new AVRs had microphones and automatic speaker set-up features. That sounded good to me. I thought that this was a technology that might make a real difference.

I did not worry much about the power. They are all loud enough in a typical room. I did not worry much about the claims of subtle sound quality issues. Home theater sound is highly processed, loud and dramatic. Musical nuances that are important in a dedicated quality stereo system are just lost in playing The Dark Knight!

In the end, it was all in the room dynamics for me. A million dollar receiver without near-perfect speaker playback would not sound any better than the cheapest one out there in my room. This is going to be true for most people. Few of us have dedicated and properly configured listening rooms.

Onkyo uses the Audyssey system to set up the speakers. Other companies use different, although similar, technologies. I believe that Audyssey is as least as good as anything in this middle range price class. The supplied microphone was connected to the unit, strange noises were emitted and in a short time all the speakers were putting out the appropriate signals. The TX-SR606 has plenty of actual power, so the sound is strong and effortless. I can hear dialogue, the surround sound is fun and everyone is amazed at how much better it all is. Even my Luddite brother, who feels most of this is all a waste of money, thinks the sound is fantastic. This was a huge upgrade for me, much more than what I was expecting.

The improvement is very noticeable on every show, newscasts, everything, not just with jets and explosions.

My system is 5:1. I hope to never hook up seven speakers. Maybe if I had a huge dedicated engineered theater room.

I like the HDMI cabling. Three cables and everything is connected and it all works perfectly. The Onkyo has four HDMI inputs, so you can connect a disc player, a sat/cable box, an Apple TV (or such) and a game console all at once. A good feature. Most other receivers in the same price category only have two inputs.

I was able to buy the cheapest Sony Blu-Ray because the Onkyo does the decoding of the new sound formats. If the receiver does not have that capability, then you must buy the more expensive Blu-Ray players that have the ability to do the decoding themselves. It is confusing.

The Onkyo will upconvert, so a regular DVD looks almost as good a a Blu-Ray disc on the screen. In fact, we think many TV shows look better now. Maybe it upconverts DirecTv as well as discs.

Onkyos have honest power ratings and the power is enough to easily drive my nice but inefficient B&Ws. It is fairly big and heavy, so I like to think it is rugged and has lots of good stuff inside.

Some reviewers hate the Onkyo's style. I think it looks interestingly different, maybe a bit of a vintage look. I think it is fine. A more conventional design would just be ho hum. I do like the option of silver. Nobody else offers anything but black. Personally, I don't like the black scientific instrument look.

The remote is fine. I used it to set up the receiver, but use a Harmony One (see review) for everyday operation. That is the way to go.

The manual could be better. I would like suggested set-ups and settings, rather than pages of optional ways of doing things. How many people are AV hobbyists and how many just want to get it to work correctly?

The SR606 hits the sweet spot in price and in features that are important to most users. It decodes and connects everything. It seems that it will not be obsolete for a long time. I recommend it.

Why only fours star then? I think having to choose between twenty-seven different listening modes is stupid. A modern receiver should simply output the best signal it can, automatically. One can get paranoid that, gee, should I be listening to "DTS 96/24" or "DTS-ES Discrete". Or what? That costs it a star. It would cost any receiver I know of one star.

I purchased this item as a Christmas gift for my father. I hooked it up when it arrived and discovered that the S-Video and single analog video input for the cab/sat input did not work. I knew this because I could get the video signal to work by hooking it up to the other inputs in the same manner. Rather disappointed, I contacted Onkyo customer service. They were not very helpful and recommended I contact the dealer. I exchanged the item through Amazon, who were excellent about it as they paid return shipping and shipped another unit very quickly. Knowing the problem I had with the previous unit, I made sure to test all of the inputs on the second one. Unfortunately, the new unit was worse than the original one. Not only did the cab/sat video inputs not work, but neither did the video inputs for the dvd input. The 4th HDMI input also did not work. I returned this unit as well. I would advise anyone who buys this unit to test all of the connections when they get it. I suspect many people probably have defective units but never notice because they never use the defective connection.

I thought I had researched well before buying the unit, and noted that it tended to get very good reviews on amazon. Some more investigation after the fact has led me to believe the Onkyo's quality control has slipped in recent years. As has been noted in several reviews here, these units sometimes have a buzzing sound, and this can sometimes develop over time. These units also run exceptionally hot, and heat is the enemy of electronics. If you get one of these units make sure you can put it somewhere with at a lot (8+ inches) of overhead clearance. I have also found websites that claim Onkyo's high end (which is not this unit) customer service has gotten very bad.

The unit is not all bad though. Here are a few positives:
-Ample connections. You won't find other units with 4 HDMI inputs at this price range. It also has numerous other connections, and will output analog signals over the HDMI output.
-Seeming Playstation 3 compatibility. I have seen reports that the PS3 does not play nice with some receivers, although that does not seem to be the case with this one.
-Intuitive to use. I have some technological ability, but I found the unit intuitive to use and control, including through the on-screen guides. I was also able to teach my father the basics of operation, which was an accomplishment. Some very nice brands, such as Dennon, tend to be overly complicated and suffer in this category.
-Features/price ratio. This unit sells well because it has a lot of features relative to its price, such as video upscaling, decent power, ample connections, all the current surround codecs, and Audessy features. I never tried out the Audessy features, but I have read good things about them.

But, as I've mentioned, there are some cons:
-The biggest con imo is quality. I got two units in a row with defective connections. The units also run very hot, and many have been plagued by a buzzing sound. Onkyo customer service is also questionable.
-The video upscaling is not all that great. This unit only goes to 1080i, and audio/videophiles tend to frown on the Faroudja chips. It won't be long before virtually all video sources are hi-def anyways, and upscaling will not be necessary. If you have a nice TV it might already upscale as well. When I look for my next unit I will try to get one that doesn't touch the video signal at all.

My advice would be to look for a higher quality unit in this price range without the video upscaling, because you probably don't need it, and might not even want it. My advice if you decide to get this unit though is:
1. Buy from a good dealer who will let you return it if need be. I found Amazon's customer service to be good.
2. Check all of the connections when you first get it.
3. Make sure there is ample room around and above the unit for heat dispersion.

This system is amazing. It has every bit of the presence and almost indistinguishable in sound quality to the more expensive Denon. Unlike the Denon, I was very pleasantly surprised at how smoothly everything just worked. I am using the Onkyo receiver, an Onkyo CD changer, A DirectTV HD Receiver, SONY PS3 (as a Blue-ray player), and an HDDVD player. I am running a full 7.1 setup, using the Definitive Audio ProMonitor series. Sound quality is great, and frankly the setup is so overpowered for my living room that it is a little ridiculous.

The high point, however, is the extremely easy installation. I just plugged the video sources in (HDMI), ran a single HDMI out to the TV, and the HD signal up-conversion seamlessly adjusts everything to 1080i. Even non-HD channels are no problem. I don't get any picture jumping around when I switch between channels, just smooth video. The automatic speaker setup, common on most high end receivers these days, worked perfectly. I also run audio from three different networked PCs through the system, and it handles their inputs well.

In contrast, I have also recently spent three days of my life struggling to help my father set up his more expensive Denon receiver, which may have actually been the most difficult to configure device I have ever encountered. Video up-conversion just performed poorly, on-screen menus didn't show up, configuration had to be done via an insane number of button pushes from the lcd screen on the front of the unit, and menu options were undocumented in any manuals or on any online support forums. After fighting it for three days, we finally patched each video device directly to the television and separately routed audio through the receiver.

My point is that, unless you have a HUGE room with a cathedral ceiling, this unit is everything you need, and I think better than other, more expensive models.

Whoever said this Onkyo 606 is subpar or not 5 star, I think they have some problems connecting or adjusting to work with their components. I have to say this is the best receiver @ $377.80 with 4 HDMI inputs and 1 output, it performs superbly, you get the taste of true hometheater sound & video. Everything works as advertised or reviewed by earlier buyers, I have no problems hooking up or adjusting to my upconverting 1080p HDMI DVD recorder, VCR, DVD players and Samsung 52" LCD 60hz HDTV, hooking up via HDMI. Running on 2 floor Paradigms, 1 Paradigm center, JBL sub, Insignia rear L/R surrounds and Sony bookshelf as L/R surrounds (mix and match as budget allowed years gone by), this 606 delivers very clean and clear, powerful sound and beautiful video on DVDs from blockbuster, even music off FM local stations turns into beautiful music. The bass delivered with beauty, soft, deep and low. My old Pioneer barely wakes my JBL sub except big movies, coming from 5.1 old pioneer Dolby prologic surround to 7.1 all channel True HD & DTS-HD MA is a big trip and well worth, for those who hesitate to upgrade to 7.1 channel, GO FOR IT ! Onkyo 606 is worth every penny bought from Amazon.com. (I am waiting till thanksgiving to get a hand on Blu-ray Sony S350, and that will top off the system) sweet!
PS: make sure you read thorough manual cause that will make setup a smooth and enjoyable ride, especially those who upgrade from older several years old A/V receiver that have no HDMI. read it first, everything is digital now not much of fidgeting like old day, no more analog cord red, blue or yellow, green stuff...just HDMI and volla!

UPDATE 2/08/09: I finally got the Sony S550 to match with this 606 and have already played movies both forms: Dolby TrueHD (Traitor) and DTS-HD-MA (Rambo 2008). I have to say that those who doubt or question this receiver, say no more the movies sound in those two formats decoded and performed by the 606 are stunning (bad axx. period) If you have never watched blu-ray in those formats you have missed, I repeat, missed one of the best things on earth ever happened! You will love the end enjoyment that this onkyo can give you in your own home.

This receiver lived up to all my expectations. I have owned Onkyo Studio Monitor 500 speakers for a long time, and have finally found an amp that matches them. We just picked up a 42" HD TV, and bought this receiver because we don't have a Blue Ray Player yet... Upscaled video quality is excellent.

Before I bought the unit, I researched many brands, and chose Onkyo. I downloaded the instruction manual, and that was a good thing. There are soooo many awesome features, I advise any potential buyer to do the same. Be familiar with it before it arrives at your house. Then you can pop it out of the box --- hook it up --- and you have awesome sound and video!

I was most impressed when I played a "regular, lousy ol DVD" and the "THX" logo with thunder/lightning rain, shattering glass, and digital sound came on, jeez, it was like being in the theater! I knew that I had made a wise purchase!