| Onkyo TX-SR805 Receiver |
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| Home Theater AV Receivers AV Receivers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Andrew Robinson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, 01 October 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Page 3 of 3 The Downside While the Onkyo TX-SR805 multi-channel receiver is rather exceptional, there were a few things about it that concerned me. For starters, it runs very hot – hotter than most receivers in its class. At times of extreme usage, it became too hot to touch. I had to re-rack my whole system to allow for more ventilation about a week into my review to combat the heat issue. Those of you with space constraints or enclosed racks should pay close attention or install a cooling system of some sort to lessen the effects. I would not stack components on top of the TX-SR805 under any circumstances, even for a short while. While the TX-SR805’s HDMI inputs functioned without fail, passing every signal thrown at them, they were at times a bit sluggish to respond to changes on the fly between various HD sources, mainly my HD DVD and Blu-ray players. Because of handshake issues with just about all things HD and HDMI these days, it’s hard to say if this sluggish performance was the result of the TX-SR805 or the players themselves. Needless to say, it was present. Lastly, and I am nitpicking, I would’ve liked to see the face-mounted input buttons backlit, much in the same way as the TX-SR805’s manual volume control. Despite its killer remote, I still manually operated the TX-SR805 from time to time, and the inclusion of lit input buttons would have been much appreciated. Conclusion With a retail price of $999, the Onkyo TX-SR805 is a juggernaut. How Onkyo is able to pack so much performance, technology and livability into such an inexpensive package is beyond me. A year ago, a receiver boasting half of what the Onkyo TX-SR805 delivers would have run you twice as much, which speaks not only to the sheer value of the TX-SR805, but also to the efficiency and prowess of the Onkyo designers themselves. The TX-SR805 does so many things right technologically, and sounds more high-end than any other receiver I’ve heard in recent memory, that I have no inclination to remove it from my rack any time soon. As bowled over as I was with the Yamaha RX-V861, nothing could’ve prepared me for the TX-SR805. Don’t get me wrong, there are other great receivers out there, but it’s the completeness of the TX-SR805 that astounds me most. Be it music or movies, high definition or standard definition, adding or subtracting gear or even operating another zone, the Onkyo TX-SR805 simply shines. It is the first feature-packed receiver I’ve encountered that doesn’t appear to be preoccupied with its own technology. Instead, the TX-SR805 opts to entertain and, while the latest technology may play a role in the total enjoyment of your system, tearing your hair out to get to it isn’t entertaining. The Onkyo TX-SR805 is a wonderful receiver, one Onkyo should be proud of and one you’d be silly to pass up.
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
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