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Help - What to buy: Denon AVR 888 or Onkyo TX-SR606?

5K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  bdgtor 
#1 ·
#2 ·
"and the winner is...Onkyo!" (I think?)

Have a look at the audio specifications.
If I am reading the spec's from Denon and Onkyo correctly, the Denon does not decode the lossless HD audio formats whereas the Onkyo does.

With your 1080p projector, I assume you will eventually feed a 1080p signal (i.e. BluRay) and along with the HD video you will probably want those improved audio formats that the Onkyo provides.

P.S. I'm using the Denon 886.
 
#3 ·
Thank you for the input timbo. I can't believe I missed that! It makes the Onkyo look like even greater bang for the buck (despite it being cheaper than the Denon.) It actually pisses me off since I recommended the Denon to someone else a little while ago (and they bought it). I wrongfully assumed that it would do master audio due to its price point and I made the fatal mistake of not double-checking.
Anyone else have any input on how much sound power these 2 receivers pump out when compared to each other in real-life setups?
The only "negative" (if you want to call it that) that the Onkyo has from what I see is that it will upcovert the analogue inputs to just 1080i to the HDMI out (not 1080P), but having the projector deinterlacing from 1080i to 1080P isn't really that big a deal picture quality-wise (since the projector won't be doing any actual scaling).
 
#4 ·
I'm considering the Onkyo 606 for my family room receiver as well. Looking for a good "bang for my buck" receiver (this is my secondary theatre environment, so I don't want to spend too much).

Feature-wise the Yamaha 663 is supposed to be similar as well (decodes all the codecs at a similar price).

Perhaps this year's Denon line (the 888 is last year's model) will have a comparable entry. I'd say pricing would be a little higher though for the same feature set.

I'm not too interested in the upconverting capability of the receiver in this particular environment, so the whole 1080i limitation is not a big deal for me.

What concerns me is the oft-repeated heat issue stories I hear about the Onkyo line. Understood that you have to take what you hear with a grain of salt, and that the problems, if they exist, are probably very rare. But still, it concerns me because I'm forced to house this unit in an open backed cabinet that may not have the best air circulation (wife mandated).

Still though, at the price point of the Onkyo 606, it's really tempting to pick one up.

Anyway, I probably didn't help you any with my post. Guess I'm just chiming in that I'd like to hear more about this unit as well. Seeing that's it's relatively new, maybe we'll need to speak to some 605 owners.
 
#5 ·
Be careful with price points unless your using US$. Some manufacturers are still using Canadian MSRPs like we were at 0.70 US dollar. Buying Denon has been very expensive in Canada over the last few years. The good thing is, its getting closer. Looks like were down to a 10-20% difference.
 
#6 · (Edited)
As an update, I ended up purchasing a Denon AVR-988 from Futureshop yesterday. Got a decent deal on it (few hundred off their list, so there is room to bargain on this unit).

I didn't need more than two HDMI inputs in this environment, so that worked out for me. And the receiver decodes all the latest audio formats as well, so I think I've future-proofed the environment for a while.

I passed on the Onkyo 606 for two reasons. Number one, I read that this year's model still runs hot like the 605. I think it's designed to run hot though, and normally this wouldn't bother me too much, but as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm forced to house the unit in a cabinet that doesn't have the best airflow.

Second reason I passed on it was due to the apparent popping issue that affects the receiver when hooked up to a PS3 (loud pop when audio format changes...like from a menu to a movie). Apparently this issue is exclusive to all Onkyo receivers and the PS3. Unfortunately, that's what the Blu-Ray device is in my living room environment.

I also passed on the Yamaha due to the fact that all the current generation of Yamaha receivers are apparently clipping BTB and WTW information from video feeds, even in passthrough mode. I realize that for practical purposes this is probably not a huge deal 95% of the time, but I like calibrating my displays, and this could be a factor there.

I settled on the Denon as I think I managed to get a decent discount due to the newer models that are around the corner. I didn't really think I needed any of the new features that are coming with the 989, so I bit the bullet and bought the 988. It allowed me to get a higher model than I would get with the new line (Burr Brown DACs, etc.) for the same price.

I hooked it up last night and I'm pretty impressed with what I heard in the few minutes I had the chance to play around (finished the installation and setup a little late last night). I'm particularly impressed with the way the Audyssey MultEQ XT setup worked in my environment. It managed to nail down the speaker types, distances and crossover frequencies perfectly (including the subwoofer). And I also like what it did with the equalization. Definitely opened up the soundstage for me and increased the "sweet spot" (I sat in multiple seats to test this). I guess this comes at the cost of losing a bit of headroom, but that doesn't bother me too much as my listening habits wouldn't ever put me in a spot where I miss it.

I'll provide another update once I play around with it a bit more.
 
#7 ·
Is this issue of popping with the PS3 confirmed to be a problem with this Onkyo receiver for sure?
I went with my brother-in-law to buy the Onkyo. He ended up getting 2 instead of just 1 (he needed one for the family room too).
 
#8 ·
I can't confirm it's a problem with the 606 yet since the receiver is relatively new and there's not much about it on the net. The issues I heard about were with the Onkyo *05 lineup (605, 705, 805, 875, etc.) and the PS3.

With that being said, I've never heard it in real life, as I haven't been around an Onkyo/PS3 setup. My information is only from a lot of forums on the internet. Do a search and I'm sure you'll be able to read up on it. Posts on it are all over the place.

However, I don't think it's a cause for major concern even if it hasn't been fixed for the 606. The folks that have the issue tend to think that it's the type of "pop" (or "click") that won't damage your speakers.

This was only a secondary reason I didn't purchase the Onkyo 606 (or 805, which was my other Onkyo target). The main reason I didn't purchase the Onkyo is their operating temperature. If I had the ability to house the unit somewhere where it would get a lot of airflow, I would have jumped on either one as I think they represent a really good value. One of the best receiver values out their in my opinion considering their low cost. I would have lived with the PS3 pop. But unfortunately, I needed something that runs cool. So I ended up picking up the Denon. I ran it for quite a few hours yesterday evening. Only got slightly warm to the touch, which is perfect for me.
 
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