Receivers
| Onkyo TX-NR906 7.1-Channel Home Network A/V Receiver |
| Written by Brian Alvarez |
| Monday, 25 May 2009 00:00 |
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Page 5 of 5
Conclusions Onkyo has hit the ball out of the park. The TX-NR906 has carved a nice place for itself in the market. Other products offer the level of video performance (minus the isf features) the 906 does but at significantly higher price points. The sonic performance is truly superb on movies and just marginally less so with music. If you’re looking at the 1800 to 2600 dollar range of receivers you really owe it take a look at the Onkyo. Is it perfect? No. For one, four HDMI inputs is seeming a bit limiting these days. I alone have five HDMI sources between my two game systems, Tivo, Blu-Ray and DVD player. The lack of music modes for the Audyssey processing is also a bit of a disappointment. There’s also the lag in displaying a picture when selecting a new source or channel. Regardless of these limitations (which product is perfect after all?) I love this Onkyo and its performance. The synergy with my speakers was truly magical. Had I not decided to participate in the 2009 racing season with my car I would have easily bought the review sample. I can’t offer much more praise than that. The TX-NR906 offers a fantastic value of build quality, functionality, audio performance and video processing and also the benefits of isf controls. Comments (14)
Impressed with the TX-SR876 too
written by wim , May 26, 2009 Hi, for what it's worth, I too was enormously impressed with the performance of the Onkyo TX-SR876 thx ISF certified receiver. I owned a few receivers allready and changed every time because I felt something was missing (Denon, Pioneer) until I 'stumbled'upon Onkyo. This was it! From the first moment on I heard the difference and above all : a joy to use! Again, I thought home theater couldn't be better until ... Onkyo tx-sr876thx! Even my Laserdiscs benefit again from the sound. Now that's a compliment I'd say. As you state in your article : it's addicting and I agree completely! The sound is fabulous and the isf mode really works!
Question regarding Audyssey functionality with music
written by steve Sharkey , May 28, 2009 Thanks for an excellent review. I've been waiting for a review of the 876/906 to see how the pros rate these big units. I have the onkyo 876 as well. I came from a Denon 3803. The 876 has stereo, Dolby prologic, neo, all with Audyssey processing. A couple of these roll off the highs more. It also has pure audio and direct bypass, both without any processing. I wasn't entirely sure how the reviewer compared these to the Denon options regarding playback of music, but if the 876 has these options, then the 906 must, yet the reviewer said, "The implemented configuration only allows the default calibration curve to be either on or off. It doesn’t offer the music and stereo bypass modes of other receivers like my own Denon." Were the features I mentioned in the 876 not available in the 906, or inferior to the Denon?
Amp bench-test?
written by WS , June 01, 2009 What does the amp output look like on the bench. What's the real-world output? Thanks,
Audyssey Curves
written by Chris Heinonen , June 01, 2009 Steve, What I believe the reviewer was referring to was the fact that certain receivers and processors allow for different implementations of Audyssey. For example, the Denon offers three different curves you can use with Audyssey: Standard, Flat, and L/R Bypass. The Onkyo offers only a single curve (the Audyssey standard one most likely) which tends to roll off the higher frequencies by default. The Denon allowing you to select your curve lets you choose if you want these rolled off or not, while the Onkyo does not.
Audyssey processing defeat
written by Stephen , June 01, 2009 "The implemented configuration only allows the default calibration curve to be either on or off. It doesn’t offer the music and stereo bypass modes of other receivers like my own Denon." I think he means you cannot simply turn off Audyssey with a remote button, you have to go through the menus if you want to retain bass management and speaker distance settings (Direct and Pure defeat these on my 875 and your 876 as well as the 905/906). His meaning is unclear though unless you happen to know how Denon receivers generally work (I don't).
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written by steve Sharkey , June 01, 2009 Thanks guys, that explains the issue for me. I prefer to run music with 2 channel pure direct,(without any processing whatsoever) anyway, so I wouldn't miss the extra options the Denon offers.
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written by Brian Alvarez , June 01, 2009 I apologize on the delay of the response. What I meant is that the Onkyo only allows Audyssey to be either ON or OFF with no ability to select different curves or modes. As on Denons and some other implementations you can have the "cinema/default" curve which rolls of the high frequencies slightly. The "music/flat" mode is a more accurate EQ curve for music in my opinion but I know even at times the default mode works better on some material. Hope that helps.
HDMI to Hdmi conversion upscale
written by Justin N , June 07, 2009 Hi now I dont want to sound like a fool here. But I have a question I cant quite work out. I love Onkyo and have a lowly old 703 but still love it. But its time to upgrade. Am so close to getting the 906. The question I have is I was comparing it to the Yamaha RX-Z7 and a review says The 'Z7 supports HDMI-to-HDMI upconversion, too: it can scale any incoming HDMI signal to a higher resolution that better matches your HDTV. Now I cant find if that is the case with the 906 as well.And if it is or isnt the case, is it even relevant? I mean from a HDMI source to the yammy or onkyo to your true hd display all via HDMI is it possible to upscale anyway? I mean how could it improve based on the disc IE a DVD made in 85? Could you please help me out here am a bit confused.
Onkyo 906 Signal Conversion
written by Chris Heinonen , June 11, 2009 Justin, The Onkyo 906 will convert HDMI sources to a resolution that you specify. The main benefit of this is that the scaler found inside of the Onkyo is an HQV ReonVX, which is going to be superior to almost all internal scalers that you would find on an HDTV. By setting the Onkyo to output everything at 1080p (if you have a 1080p display), the Onkyo will do the conversion to 1080p instead of your TV, so when it has to display that 480i DVD signal as 1080p, it should look better than it would otherwise. The Yamaha you mention uses an Anchor Bay ABT 2010 chipset to do the same thing, and it is in the same class as the Reon chipset as well.
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written by Bill Overton , June 15, 2009 Just bought a 906 and the HDMI cable from the TV to port #1 on the receiver side got so hot the rubber came apart after one day.
Speakers
written by ashlyjosie , July 08, 2009 Can u advice me to select the best and and value for mony speakers (not so expancive i need tower speakers )
Speakers?
written by FJ , July 17, 2009 If you plan to put any receiver in a cabinet, I suggest you vent that cabinet to its fullest. If any of you run a Gaming Pc you would not take the fan out of the PC and stick the PC in a box right? Also, do not stack equipment. Do not put your Cable box directly on top or below the AV unit or put the AV unit directly above or below the TV. I have never had a problem with heating. On the other hand. I use super quite fans and never run into heat issues.
Speakers?
written by FJ , July 17, 2009 Do yourself a favor. Do not ask people what kind of speakers they recommend. Instead ask what speakers they hate or dislike. Then you will have narrowed your search down to something you can go out and listen to.
906 internet radio
written by Bob Boyd , August 23, 2009 I have the 905 and it only plays the radio stations on the internet that are in the mp3 format. My friend has the Pioneer (don't know the model #)AV audio switcher that will play any of the radio stations that are available on the internet - even my local stations - he's in a different state- mine will not do this - it will only play the mp3's. Will the new 906 work the same as the Pioneer? It not, I will be forced to buy the Pioneer. Will the new Pioneer Elite AV switcher be in the same class as the Onkyo 906? Thank you8. Write comment
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