Onkyo TX-SR504 7.1 Channels Receiver
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- Surround Sound: Dolby Digital® DTS® DTS ES® THX EX® Dolby Pro Logic II DTS Neo:6 DTS 96/24
- THX Certification: No
- Number of Channels: 7.1 Channels
- Type: Receiver
- Surround Mode Power: 75 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.08%
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Onkyo - Great sound for a great price!
Pros
inexpensive, great sound, video switching, dolby digital, 7.1 surround capable
Cons
75 watts is less than some other models, no DVI/HDMI switching
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you're looking for a value-priced receiver that will sound GREAT for years to come, and impress you and your company, the Onkyo is a safe bet!
I recently purchased the Onkyo TX-SR504 to replace an aging 5.1 Technics receiver that I'd been using for several years. The instant increase in sound quality, blew me away!
We'll start out with the basics.
The Onkyo is a Dolby Digital 7.1 receiver. That means that it's equipped to handle a center speaker, 2 front speakers, 2 side speakers, 2 rear speakers, and a subwoofer. It's easily customizable, also, in case you are upgrading from a 5.1 system like myself. You can tell the receiver you're only using 5 speakers, and it will adapt accordingly. It offers 75 watts per channel, but don't let this mislead you. My old receiver was 100 watts per channel...and the power of this one blows it away! From what I've heard, with Onkyo, all 75 of the watts are completely usable...which is not always the case with other manufacturers.
There is also two additional "B" speaker inputs...in case you want to place a couple of speakers in an adjacent room.
One of the greatest perks for me was the built in A/V switch. It has 3 component video inputs, 1 component output, a digital coax input, and 3 digital optical inputs available for use. The built in A/V switch let's you change both your picture and audio with the push of a button. This works great with my HDTV! I use the component-video switching to alternate between my Cable Box and DVD Player. The video inputs come pre-labeled, and you can't customize the labels. You have: DVD, Video 1, Video 2, and Video 3. You CAN however, customize which digital audio input matches up with each video mode. This way it doesn't matter which of the 4 digital audio inputs your devices are plugged in to! The receiver also accepts both S-Video, Composite Video, and regular red/white stereo audio, for those who might not have digital audio equipment. It does NOT have a switch for DVI or HDMI video... but from what I've read, the quality difference between Component and DVI is negligible.
The sytem features the following Dolby Digital Decoders: Dolby? Digital EX, Pro Logic IIx, DTS?, DTS-ES, and DTS 96/24. The reciever auto-senses the input, and will tell you what type of signal it is receiving at the push of a button. This makes it easy to see what type of signal your cable/satellite company is sending you for audio!
Each individual speaker has a customizable "volume" control. I like a little extra volume coming from my rear speakers, and this is very easy to do with the Onkyo receiver. The sound is crystal clear with no distortion, even with my relatively inexpensive set of speakers.
The receiver is XM-Radio ready. To receive XM on the stereo, you need to get a subscription at about $12 a month, or you can add it on to your existing XM subscription for about $7/month. You also need to purchase an XM "Connect & Play" Antenna, model CNP1000, made by Audiovox. I found the antenna for $50 at a local electronics retailer. The port for the XM antenna looks like a mini-USB port on the receiver, the setup is very easy, and it works great! there is also an optional iPod dock you can get for about $99, but that I have not tried.
The receiver also includes a basic AM/FM tuner. The FM antenna is a screw-on coaxial type antenna, which allows you to connect a GOOD FM antenna to the unit. Also, many Cable TV companies have FM Radio feeds right over their lines...plug your cable into the receiver and see what you get!
I'll admit, I've never listened to a $2000 receiver. But for watching DVD's, a Football game and the best that Digital cable has to offer, I know this unit is loud and powerful enough that I could easily anger my neighbors! All without any distortion of quality :).
A few additional facts:
All 7 speaker inputs are the "screw-on type", so you can either twist on bare wire, or use banana plugs.
The Composite video inputs will automatically "up-convert" to S-Video...so you don't need both an S-Video and Composite output running to your TV.
The unit comes with a decent Universal Remote, which has successfully worked with my TV, CD Player, VCR, DVD Player and Digital Cable DVR Box.
We'll start out with the basics.
The Onkyo is a Dolby Digital 7.1 receiver. That means that it's equipped to handle a center speaker, 2 front speakers, 2 side speakers, 2 rear speakers, and a subwoofer. It's easily customizable, also, in case you are upgrading from a 5.1 system like myself. You can tell the receiver you're only using 5 speakers, and it will adapt accordingly. It offers 75 watts per channel, but don't let this mislead you. My old receiver was 100 watts per channel...and the power of this one blows it away! From what I've heard, with Onkyo, all 75 of the watts are completely usable...which is not always the case with other manufacturers.
There is also two additional "B" speaker inputs...in case you want to place a couple of speakers in an adjacent room.
One of the greatest perks for me was the built in A/V switch. It has 3 component video inputs, 1 component output, a digital coax input, and 3 digital optical inputs available for use. The built in A/V switch let's you change both your picture and audio with the push of a button. This works great with my HDTV! I use the component-video switching to alternate between my Cable Box and DVD Player. The video inputs come pre-labeled, and you can't customize the labels. You have: DVD, Video 1, Video 2, and Video 3. You CAN however, customize which digital audio input matches up with each video mode. This way it doesn't matter which of the 4 digital audio inputs your devices are plugged in to! The receiver also accepts both S-Video, Composite Video, and regular red/white stereo audio, for those who might not have digital audio equipment. It does NOT have a switch for DVI or HDMI video... but from what I've read, the quality difference between Component and DVI is negligible.
The sytem features the following Dolby Digital Decoders: Dolby? Digital EX, Pro Logic IIx, DTS?, DTS-ES, and DTS 96/24. The reciever auto-senses the input, and will tell you what type of signal it is receiving at the push of a button. This makes it easy to see what type of signal your cable/satellite company is sending you for audio!
Each individual speaker has a customizable "volume" control. I like a little extra volume coming from my rear speakers, and this is very easy to do with the Onkyo receiver. The sound is crystal clear with no distortion, even with my relatively inexpensive set of speakers.
The receiver is XM-Radio ready. To receive XM on the stereo, you need to get a subscription at about $12 a month, or you can add it on to your existing XM subscription for about $7/month. You also need to purchase an XM "Connect & Play" Antenna, model CNP1000, made by Audiovox. I found the antenna for $50 at a local electronics retailer. The port for the XM antenna looks like a mini-USB port on the receiver, the setup is very easy, and it works great! there is also an optional iPod dock you can get for about $99, but that I have not tried.
The receiver also includes a basic AM/FM tuner. The FM antenna is a screw-on coaxial type antenna, which allows you to connect a GOOD FM antenna to the unit. Also, many Cable TV companies have FM Radio feeds right over their lines...plug your cable into the receiver and see what you get!
I'll admit, I've never listened to a $2000 receiver. But for watching DVD's, a Football game and the best that Digital cable has to offer, I know this unit is loud and powerful enough that I could easily anger my neighbors! All without any distortion of quality :).
A few additional facts:
All 7 speaker inputs are the "screw-on type", so you can either twist on bare wire, or use banana plugs.
The Composite video inputs will automatically "up-convert" to S-Video...so you don't need both an S-Video and Composite output running to your TV.
The unit comes with a decent Universal Remote, which has successfully worked with my TV, CD Player, VCR, DVD Player and Digital Cable DVR Box.
