Doghart
Well-Known Member
Well, you know they say, one thing leads to another....
After the very recent Television upgrade I just made in November getting the LG 77" C5 OLED set from Costco, i was questioning the video passthrough capabilities of my "old" 2011 Onkyo TX-NR809 receiver.
I had the HDMI video board and switching controller replaced under warranty in 2012, and the system has worked well for me ever since, zero issues.
I briefly replaced the Onkyo with an inexpensive refurbished Denon 770H for a few weeks, but found the sound a bit brittle and harsh. I have another 770H in my basement which is primarily used for Xbox gaming an you tube watching, so much less critical listening scenarios for sure. I mostly wanted the Denon for it's blueooth streaming , but found myself not using it as the sound was not ideal. Pair that with streaming media from spotify and I was not loving it. Unsure if Spotify's new lossless options would improve this scenario much.
Keeping in mind I am still using 25yr old Polk RT25i / CS400i / SVS setup, I feel like my audio is on the upper end of mediocre, which is good enough for me. I'm sure someone with a much more critical ear could easily pick it apart, but I'm happy with it.
On to the meat & taters....
The Onkyo has got to be one of the best bang or the buck all in one boxes I've seen. I was strongly considering the Yamaha 6a6, but had read about some HDMI input issues in the past and just decided to go with my gut and get the TX RZ50.
The Pricing in November was a strong deciding factor as well, seeing the unit listed around $1k was surprising, but waiting a few days paid off as sellers dropped prices and offered coupons. I wound up getting the Onko for $899. A true bargain in my eyes,
Pros:
1. Being able to use HDMI ARC vs Toslink
I can truly hear the difference of the full uncompressed audio when watching movies and TV. Everything sounds so lifelike and alive, you'd think this would be a minor nit picking point, but I noticed it immediately and still cock my head occasionally like a dog sniffing bacon. Surround audio is so well defined and fluid. It's extremely easy to get immersed into a movie, show, or game now. Impressive to say the least.
2. Audio soundstage
The sound staging on this receiver when listening to music performs like a high end dedicated amplifier with a price tag 3x-4x the list price of this unit, it's crazy to me when i listen to music how phenomenal it sounds, even on these old Polk bookshelves. The audio upgrade for this alone was worth the price of admission, and somehow was by product of me wanting to future proof my video capabilities. Instrument placement and clarity is spectacular. I keep questioning how this is all in a unit with a price tag of around $1k.
3. Ease of use/setup
Initial setup with the remote is the standard affair of attempting to us an OSD to run through the initial setup and various tweaking to be done, but after discovering I could access ALL the setup options from my laptop while listening or watching media that was a game changer. No more flipping from audio to setup, back to audio etc.... Simply entering the IP address of the unit into my web browser and using default log in info you have access to every tweak and setting you can imagine.
4. DIRAC
Having a DIRAC license to setup the unit for free with your purchase is game changing. Once again, the price of the unit is low enough you'd expect to have to purchase a license, but that is not the case.
I have yet to set up DIRAC, but knowing I have the option to play with it at a $0 cost to me is assuring. Can't wait to play around with it, but honestly I have zero complaints about the audio at this point and don't see a need to dive into DIREC quite yet.
CONS:
Honestly struggling at this point to come up with a real "con". So far the unit seems to be exactly what I wanted and expected at about 1/2 the cost of what I thought I would be spending to get here.
The unit does have a built in cooling fan, which I have yet to hear. I wonder if this will be something needing to be replaced or cleaned regularly, like a PC fan? Time will tell.
Happy to answer any questions, so far I am extremely pleased with all these new toys I've acquired recently.
After the very recent Television upgrade I just made in November getting the LG 77" C5 OLED set from Costco, i was questioning the video passthrough capabilities of my "old" 2011 Onkyo TX-NR809 receiver.
I had the HDMI video board and switching controller replaced under warranty in 2012, and the system has worked well for me ever since, zero issues.
I briefly replaced the Onkyo with an inexpensive refurbished Denon 770H for a few weeks, but found the sound a bit brittle and harsh. I have another 770H in my basement which is primarily used for Xbox gaming an you tube watching, so much less critical listening scenarios for sure. I mostly wanted the Denon for it's blueooth streaming , but found myself not using it as the sound was not ideal. Pair that with streaming media from spotify and I was not loving it. Unsure if Spotify's new lossless options would improve this scenario much.
Keeping in mind I am still using 25yr old Polk RT25i / CS400i / SVS setup, I feel like my audio is on the upper end of mediocre, which is good enough for me. I'm sure someone with a much more critical ear could easily pick it apart, but I'm happy with it.
On to the meat & taters....
The Onkyo has got to be one of the best bang or the buck all in one boxes I've seen. I was strongly considering the Yamaha 6a6, but had read about some HDMI input issues in the past and just decided to go with my gut and get the TX RZ50.
The Pricing in November was a strong deciding factor as well, seeing the unit listed around $1k was surprising, but waiting a few days paid off as sellers dropped prices and offered coupons. I wound up getting the Onko for $899. A true bargain in my eyes,
Pros:
1. Being able to use HDMI ARC vs Toslink
I can truly hear the difference of the full uncompressed audio when watching movies and TV. Everything sounds so lifelike and alive, you'd think this would be a minor nit picking point, but I noticed it immediately and still cock my head occasionally like a dog sniffing bacon. Surround audio is so well defined and fluid. It's extremely easy to get immersed into a movie, show, or game now. Impressive to say the least.
2. Audio soundstage
The sound staging on this receiver when listening to music performs like a high end dedicated amplifier with a price tag 3x-4x the list price of this unit, it's crazy to me when i listen to music how phenomenal it sounds, even on these old Polk bookshelves. The audio upgrade for this alone was worth the price of admission, and somehow was by product of me wanting to future proof my video capabilities. Instrument placement and clarity is spectacular. I keep questioning how this is all in a unit with a price tag of around $1k.
3. Ease of use/setup
Initial setup with the remote is the standard affair of attempting to us an OSD to run through the initial setup and various tweaking to be done, but after discovering I could access ALL the setup options from my laptop while listening or watching media that was a game changer. No more flipping from audio to setup, back to audio etc.... Simply entering the IP address of the unit into my web browser and using default log in info you have access to every tweak and setting you can imagine.
4. DIRAC
Having a DIRAC license to setup the unit for free with your purchase is game changing. Once again, the price of the unit is low enough you'd expect to have to purchase a license, but that is not the case.
I have yet to set up DIRAC, but knowing I have the option to play with it at a $0 cost to me is assuring. Can't wait to play around with it, but honestly I have zero complaints about the audio at this point and don't see a need to dive into DIREC quite yet.
CONS:
Honestly struggling at this point to come up with a real "con". So far the unit seems to be exactly what I wanted and expected at about 1/2 the cost of what I thought I would be spending to get here.
The unit does have a built in cooling fan, which I have yet to hear. I wonder if this will be something needing to be replaced or cleaned regularly, like a PC fan? Time will tell.
Happy to answer any questions, so far I am extremely pleased with all these new toys I've acquired recently.
