Onkyo tx-sr800

 

Anonymous
Seriously considering buying this receiver to hook up my Klipsch RF-3's, but I just cannot quite seem to take the plunge. Is this a mistake? Should I buy online?
Thanks for any input
 

gecko311
I cannot comment on this particular receiver but I can comment on little brother: TX-SR700. It is a great receiver and don't take my word for it.
Check out CNET's review of the 800 and 600. The perfect vision did a review of the 700.
Consumer reports did a review of the 600 with actual test results:
109 watts @8ohms
127 watts @6ohms

-gecko311
 

Phil Krewer
I had a DS797 which is last years model. It sounded great and I would have kept it if it didn't cut out in certain Dolby tracts. The SR800 to my knowledege doesn't have that problem and if you can get a good deal would be a excellent choice.

Phil
 

Anonymous
Thanks alot for your input. It seems like alot of this boils down to personal pref.; but the reliability issue has got me slightly hesistant to get one, esp. online; only they are about $200 cheaper. Consumer Reports addressed the performance aspects but failed to mention the reliability. Cnet gives it an excellent review; how good of a source are they? Also, I have yet to find a dealer that carries both Klipsch and Onkyo, so I am not sure about how this setup will sound, anyony heard this combo?
Thanks in advance.
Bob
 

Anonymous
I have had the TX-SR800 for a little over two months now without a single problem. Sound quality is much better than my old Kenwood when hooked up to my LSi's. I took home a Denon 3803 at the same time for an in home demo, and although it was close, I prefered the way the Onkyo sounded. When I initially heard the 800, it was hooked up to the Klipsch RF-7's. It sounded pretty good, horn tweets are just not my cup of tea. It has no problem driving my 4 ohm Polk LSi set up, though even more power would be great. :) Make sure you have room for it in your audio rack as this thing is big and heavy.
 

Anon,

Which LSi's do you have and what are your impressions I am seriously considering the 7's, 9's and center.

Thanks in advance,

-h1pst3r
 

Phil Krewer
LOL,

I felt just about the opposite. I liked the Denon just a little better. Like you said it boils down to personal pref. I would be reluctant to spend that kind of money and not get a wararnty. You never know. Electronic express was selling them for 20% off, but I don't know if they still have the sale.

Phil
 

Richard
Hi, I have ONKYO TXSR500E (the smallest brother, I guess). I have been having some problems to make it decode Dolby Digital 5.1 (not a single problem with DTS) and... I have read above someone had a problem with Dolby with an Onkyo as well.

I'd like to ask what kind of problem for figuring out if it's a common problem with Onkyos or... it's just that I don't know how to make it go! :)

Thanks
 

Phil Krewer
Richard,

I had an Onkyo TX-DX797. The sound would cut out in dolby on certain DVDs (Pearl Harbor, Jurasics Park III). Also the sound would cut out on certain dolby broadcasts. According to Onkyo the receivers affected were the 696,797,838?, and the 989. Onkyo said that the problem was the result of Dolby changing their code and corrected the problem. Unfortunately they continued to sell the receivers that were affected long after the problem was discovered. Personally I think this is CS and not consumer friendly.

To my knowledge the SR500 is not affected. Maybe you could tell us what kind of problem you are having and maybe get some help on fixing it.

Phil
 

EEstudent
h1pst3r,
I have the LSi 15, LSiC, and LSi7. I am also using a pair of f/x300 for the surround sides in my 7.1 setup until I can afford to upgrade to the LSi F/X. I really do love these speakers, the highs are crystal clear and ultra smooth. The bass is nice, tight, and punchy, but a sub is still necessary for movies IMO. In case you were not aware some LSiC owners have had problems with shielding, in particular when listening at higher volumes. At four ohms the 800 puts out quite a bit of power, around 160 W/channel (guesstimate). My LSiC had this problem but Polk quickly sent a new crossover, a 10 minute fix. If you have other questions start a new thread in speakers. I have not experienced any of the above problems w/ drop out with the 800 on Pearl Harbor or J.P.III., or any movie for that matter.
 

Phil Krewer
To my knowledge none of the new Onkyos are affected

Phil
 

Richard
Phil:

My problem with Dolby is that my Onkyo does not recognize the Dolby tracks. I mean, I have no problem with DVD movies in Dolby Digital, but I'm not able to make it recognize a Dolby track of music. DTS is another story: DTS tracks are recognized easily, but with Dolby Digital... :-???

I download the WAV in Dolby and burn it to a CD-R. Then, I read it from a DVD player with coax digital line out connected to the Onkyo amp.

Do you think I'm doing anything wrong?
Thanks in advance ;-)
 

EEstudent
Richard,
I'm a little confused as to what you are trying to accomplish. Regular cd's (650-700 MB) do not have enough storage space to carry multichannel sound (ie DD 5.1 or DTS). So if you are trying to burn 5.1 channel music, onto a cd-r at best you would only get stereo reproduction, if it would even work at all. Not everything passed through the coax digital cable is 5.1. If it is only a stereo recording, that is how your Onkyo will play it back unless you have one of the soundfields (Dolby Pro-Logic II, DTS NEO:6) enabled.
 

Richard
EEstudent:

No, I mean, I download WAVs of Dolby Digital 5.1 music, for example from:
http://www.sr.se/multikanal/english/e_arkiv.htm
You can download DTS WAVs or Dolby Digital WAVs and burn them onto a CD-R cdrom. I have already done it with DTS and it runs perfectly well. The coax digital line takes out the sound of the WAV that DTS or DD data and the amp decodes it after recognizing it as DTS or Dolby Digital.

As I tell you, this runs ok for DTS music burnt in CD-R. Of course I can only burn up to 700MB of DTS music, but it sounds OK.

The problem is my amp does not recognize the Dolby digital tracks as Dolby Digital and generates white noise (DD 5.1 without decoding). This does not happen when the track is DTS. The Amp recognizes DTS and decodes it perfectly well.

Any idea?
Thank you!
 

EEstudent
Richard,
Ok, thanks for clarifying. I am not sure why this would be happening. I will try both the DD and DTS on my 800 and older kenwood to see if I get the same results.
 

Phil Krewer
Richard,

Like EE I have never tried this so I really can't comment. But like EE I'll try and download some and give it a try it may take a couple of days but I'll get back to you

Phil
 

Phil Krewer
Richard,

I downloaded the track called joggin and then used Ez CD creator to creat an audio disc with the tract. It played fine and my receiver recognized it as dolby. Are you creating an audio CD or are you just adding the tract?

Phil
 

Richard
MM... you got it!
Congratulations. I just get it when I download the DTS version. I create it as an Audio CD with Nero... but the Dolby tracks are still not correctly decoded. :(

I'll keep on investigating! :)

Thanks in advance.
 

Phil Krewer
I don't know what to tell you Richard. Maybe EE will have the answer for you since he has an Onkyo. Good Luck

Phil
 

Phil Krewer
Richard,

I just had another idea. If you're worried that your receiver is defective. You can take your CD to the local Circuit City and try it on the receivers they have there.

Phil
 

Mike Hutchings
I just bought the Onkyo TX-SR800 at www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com and saved alot plus no tax and free shipping. I had checked the Denon and Yamaha but Onkyo performs.........
 

Richard
Yes... that's a good idea. I don't know whats the "circuit city" :-? , but I guess I can try at one of my friends' home who listens DTS too with a Creative set of speakers and decoder and his Playstation2 as CD player.

I'll ask him to download and give it a try.

Thank you!.

Hey, don't you feel like "WHAT??" when you listen DTS for an hour and then you return to the old normal stereo????. I feel like... :) Well, Is it possible that I said once this was a great sound??? :)
 

gecko311
Richard,
I tried to burn and play the some of those DTS and DD tracks through my Onkyo TX-SR700.
I used Roxio (Music CD creation) for burning and I burned 2 DTS tracks and 2 DD tracks (They were WAV format).
I tried to play the burned disk through my DVD player (it is hooked up to my receiver using optical cable). Unfortunately my DVD player was not able to recognize the disk as a music CD. Ah well!
-gecko311
 

Richard
gecko:

Mm.. none of those songs were recognized?. I mean, not even the DTS tracks were recognized?.

You say your DVD player did not recognize the CD as an audio record?. Can't you see the tracks?. Maybe your problem is not the amp but the DVD player or your burnt CD.

Do you hear the white noise of the DTS or DD data tracks when they're played without decoding?.

I can't confirm you that the DD tracks have to be played correctly, as I have not still got it, but I can tell you that DTS tracks should be played. I'm doing it right now.

Bye
 

gecko311
Yeah my problem is the crappy DVD player I have. The receiver doesn't even get a chance to decode it because my player does not recognize a music CD.
-gecko311
 

h1pst3r
I also downloaded those 5.1 DTS and DD tracks from the Swedish National radio site.

Both formats worked (decoded through either my DVD or my HK Receiver. You have to burn an audio CD and then make sure that you atre passing bitstream data to the receiver.

The tracks are really incredible...like the car chase if you haven't tried it.
 

Richard
I'm doing it! h1pst3r , but my Onkyo only recognizes the DTS tracks. Did you burn them the same way (DTS and DD, I mean) ?

Thanks.
 

Hmmm, Richard I don't know, but when I first tried to send the digital data to my reciever directly from S/Pdif out of my computer I DID get the pink noise that you mention (for both DD and DTS). It didn't make any sense to me. Once I burned the CD it was fine.

It may just be that the DD bitstream coming out of your DVD player is just the slightest bit non-standard. That was what I concluded with the coax out of my CPU. It may also be that the DD file is slightly non-standard making some decoders "see" it and others not.

Good luck,

-h1p
 

Richard
Well, maybe you're right, but don't forget that trying to listen DTS played by the computer through a SPDIF connection is a difficult mission as most sound cards happen to resample everything going out through SPDIF up to 48KHz. Of course, this transformation corrupts the DTS bitstream and all we hear is white noise.

DVD players and CD players as well do not make this resampling task and let data get out through SPDIF without changes, what makes it possible to connect it to an amp and let it decode it.

SO, your not getting it through the computer can be linked to a different kind of problem, instead of the amp having problems with DTS or DD.

But in my case, both kinds of tracks, DD and DTS, are burnt onto the same Audio CD, so... it's very strange that those tracks in DTS are decoded but those in DD aren't. I listen Track1, MUSIC, Track2 MUSIC, track3 WHITE NOISE, track4 MUSIC, etc.

It's strange.

Thank you!
 

Mike Zed
Wow, small world! I just picked up a Onkyo TX-SR800 and searched for about a week for speakers. I settled on the RF-3II package after hours of listening in several stores. The Klipsch sounded like exactly what I expected from top grade speakers. I can't wait for the receiver to arrive so I can hook these puppies up!
 

EEstudent
Richard,
Finally got a new dvd player to check this out, (previously using XBox, it doesn't like CD-r) and both DTS and DD worked fine.
 

Richard,
Have you checked the setup on your DVD player? I mean just to make sure that your DVD player is allowing DD signals to flow through. Hope this helps
 

Anonymous
Does anybody know a quick way of adjusting the bass and treble on the tx-sr800 without going through the setup menu?

Also, whatever happened to the traditional balance control?

Thanks!
 

Anonymous
I have the tx-sr600 and there does not seem to be an easy way to adjust the bass and treble without going to the setup menu.

Also, there does not seem to be a "traditional" balance control. But I understnad the reason behind this. It only makes since to make this adjustment on a speaker to speaker basis, using the pink noise output by the Onkyo for this task. Why would you want to pan left to right once you have it setup? Also, I recommend getting a Radio Shack SPL meter for this task.

One question: I am noticing not a dropout but a sudden reduction in level on certain dolby digital tracks. I just noticed it tonight during Shrek. I switched to DTS and did not notice anything for the rest of the movie. The sound did not completely cut out when it happenned, but still very annoying. Does this sound like the dolby digital problem of the 696, 797, 838, etc?
 

Phil Krewer
I'm not sure, in my case with the 797 it was a complete cutout of sound at intervals, but what you describe doesn't sound like it working right. I'd call Onkyo.

Phil
 

Anonymous
Well, I guess this confirms the absence of the balance control on the tx-sr800. And it would have been really nice if Onkyo had put the bass and treble adjustment on the remote. Other than those two issues I think this receiver is quite awesome!

have not had any problems with any DD or DTS tracks so far. so now i'm real curious about the movie Shrek. What scene or scenes did you notice DD level reduction?
 

Anonymous
i just recently got the tx-sr600 receiver, and there IS an easy way to adjust treble and bass from the remote. just hit the small button (iconed as cd eject) but labeled "audio adjust" (center/right on remote). the display on the receiver will show bass and treble adjustment options that are toggled with the joystick "enter" button in the center. hope this helps.
 

Anonymous
I wish my remote had the "audio adjust" button like the TX-SR600 does. I tried but it didn't work, solely for cd eject only. But I appreciate the response nonetheless.
I've gone through the manual quite a few times and did not see any reference to the bass and treble adjustments other than from the setup menu. A negligible inconvinience I suppose.
 

Phil Krewer
Have you tried to make sure the remote is set to select receiver and then hit the audio adjust or cd eject button. Just a thought.

Phil
 

Anonymous
Thanks Phil. Yes, the remote was on the receiver mode when i tried it, but I think the unit is just not programmed for that button feature. We'll just have to live with it. I don't see myself adjusting the bass and treble much anyway. I've actually left both at zero level and I've kept them there, and sounds just fine to me.

Curious. Richard has posted hearing "white" noise during Dolby Digital playback. I know how "pink" noise sounds like. But how does "white" noise sound like? And I wonder if he ever got that problem resolved.
 

Jeff Simpson
Phil, thanks for your response regarding my tx-sr600 dropout problem. I noticed this level reduction problem in Shrek and in Zoolander, but not in Fight Club. It is an abrupt reduction in sound that lasts usually 5-10 seconds. I just thought of the idea that it might be my Sub switching off. Most subs have an auto power option, after all, and wouldn't it be possible if there was a scene where there was not a lot of bass for the sub to decide to turn off? Then maybe once its off it takes a second to turn back on again as it warms up. I can test this later today by forcing the sub to the power on option.

Maybe this isn't a realistic idea for what is happenning, I am new to this. The sub is the Klipsch Reference Series 10". Does anyone else have any ideas? I'd hate to assume my 600 is having a problem. I feel like I should leave their line open for people who own the 797, 500, etc. One friend of mine suggested trying to use the digital coax output on my DVD player instead of the digital optical output for the audio...
 

Jeff Simpson
I thought I'd give you all the specs to help someone determine what the problem may be:

Mitsubishi 55511 55" RP HDTV
Sony DVP-NC655P/B DVD Player
Onkyo TX-SR600
Klipsch RB-5 II (2)
Klipsch RC-3 II
Klipsk RS-3 II (2)
Klipsch RSW-10

I just started putting this system together at the the beginning of February, and all components were purchased new. Thanks!
 

Phil Krewer
Jeff,

I'm really not that familar with the Klipsch speakers, but I wouldn't think it was you sub that's causing the problem. It could be the LFE channel cutting out. I know that many people have had that problem with the SR500 and have read a couple of threads with people worring about their SR600. but this was only a couple of users. But even if that were the case the rest of the speaker should be at the normal level. Maybe you could find a way to test the DVDs that are giving you problems on another SR600 or another brand of receiver. But, from what you have said the impression I have is that the receiver is having a problem.

Phil
 

Anonymous
The problem with the Onkyo receivers is they don't come with Dolby Pro Logic installed. They have Dolby Digital EX & Pro Logic II and DTS and DTS-ES Extended Surround but no good old Dolby Pro Logic. This can hurt the TV viewing experience as well as movie watching depending on the movie and the set up you have.
 

Anonymous
Hi All,
Has anybody else noticed a faint hum or buzz coming from the TX-SR800 itself (with the cooling fan off) when you're standing maybe less than a foot away from it? If so, any idea where it's coming from? It's definitely not the cooling fan. Thanks!
 

I just recently got the TX-SR600 receiver. The problem is that went I adjust the volume to maximum level I can heard some noise distortion.I did this without running any input.Why and How? It's because of the onkyo quality.
 

Brett
I'm having a problem with my Onkyo TX-SR500 auto detecting analog signals. I have it set to DVD at it stays stuck on Auto(Coax). I have to manually switch it to analog or multichannel to hear the analog sound. I called Onkyo and they tell me it should auto dectect the analog so...

Has anyone else had this problem. Maybe I need to set the analog inputs to Video 1 instead of DVD. I'll try that tonight, but any help is appreciated.
 

hedonio
Onkyo is a great product for the price! I'll be buying my 4th Onkyo receiver to replace my 575X (great receiver)only because I'll like to upgrade to 6.1 in my TV room setup (athena\velodyne speakers setup). My living room and yard are powered by the 8211 (50wpc, bose in living room and mirage speakers in the yard) and my front projection room is powered by the 898 (7.1 PSB image/stratus speakers system). The 575X and 898's remote controls every item in each of the rooms. I'm looking at the TX-700 or the Integra DTR6.3 (almost he same price) for my next investment. Yes, you can hear some noise in the 575X (not on the 898) when the CD\DVD is connected thru the optical and cranked to the maximum volume (with the CD off). I demo the Integra line and did not noticed the noise. Onkyo is the middle of the road when it comes to excelent HT reproduction and clear music playback. Denon and Marantz may have better music playback but are not as accurate in HT playback as Onkyo. Yamaha is a great HT receiver but compromise two channel music reproduction. About the drops in DTS soundtrack, try turning off the cinema Eq when playing DTS.
 

Anonymous
Just purchased the Integra 6.3... very satisfied..
 

Julius De Guzman
I just bought the sr800. I need help in configuring bose acoustimass 10 speakers. It has a subwoofer and 5 satellites. The subwoofer has no pre-out connection. I can only connect it to the speaker terminals. My question is, how do I configure the speakers. For Subwoofer do I pick Y or N?, for Front L & R do I pick Large or Small?, same thing for Center and Surround Backs. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
 

Anonymous
I chose small all around for the sattelites( i have RBH compact series, i returned Bose Accoustimass 15) and yes to sub..But my speakers are directly connected to receiver, not to the sub as is the case of Bose...
 

gecko311
Hi Julius...
I too have a Bose system with a passive subwoofer (AM-7). First of all..try ALL settings and see which one sounds best to you..thats part of the fun. What I did, is turn the subwoofer to N since it is not directly connected to the receiver (TX-SR700). I then turned the L/R/Center to small. What puzzles me is that in the bass management section, I have the ability to turn the crossover from 80-120. If I turn my subwoofer to N (NO) then I should not have any bass management abilities..I think. But for some reason, the sound does change and for bose speakers, I set the cutoff to 120 (highest possible value).
Hope this helps,
-gecko311
 

hedonio
My 8211 is attached to an AM-7 too (I'm not using the center channel) and after trying different locations for the sub, I got the optimum location. The sr800 have more than enought power to make the AM10 rock. If you do not have a powered subwoofer, set the sr800 to NO SUBWOOFER and set all the speakers in your system to large. Be carefull were you place your passive subwoofer. Powered subs are also sensitive to placement. Try (and I know it is difficult with five in-and-out wires running thru your sub) to place the sub in the optimum placement in the room. I used to have an old sony receiver driving the AM7 in front and the AM3 as sorrounds and they can do the job for HT. I will recommend adding a powered sub (8" or 10" driver w/100watts minimum) and setting your speaker system to "small" (80Hz cut off as per THX recommendations).
 

Julius De Guzman
Thanks for the help. Right now, I have the SW set to 'N' which automatically sets the L/R to 'Large'. Then I set the Center to 'Large' and the Surrounds to 'Small'. This seems to be the optimal combination that I've noticed. However, I will also try to set the cutoff to 120 to see if that would improve it even more. I thought too that you shouldn't be able to adjust that when you have the SW set to 'N', but we'll see. Thanks again.
 

Anonymous
I have a Onyko TX600 Receiver,Onyko DV-CP500 DVD,Sony 36" Wega TV, Samsung SIR-70 DolbyD Sat Recvr, Bose Speakers (Front - AM-5 Front,Center Front & Rear - VCS10 and Surround - "New Edition" 301's.

Now the problem. At random times when sending remote commands to the Samsung Sat Recvr the Onkyo 600 will turn off speaker bank A and turn on Speaker bank B or just turn off speaker bank A. This happens regardless if I'm using the Samsung remote or my Sony Universal or even the Onkyo 600 remote programmed with Samsung Sat commands.

All comments and assistance will be greatly appreciated.
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