The Onkyo TX-DS787: For serious sound enthusiasts.
Written: Nov 22 '01 (Updated Aug 18 '05)
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Pros: Dolby Digital, DTS, THX Select certified, high-current power, learning remote.
Cons: Could use more optical digital inputs.
The Bottom Line: If you have any questions, e-mail me or leave a comment. I will get back to you.
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| symbiosis's Full Review: Onkyo TX-DS787 6.1 Channels Receiver |
I entered the world of home theater about a year ago. My first digital home theater receiver was the top of the entry-level line Sony. Hooked up to my Paradigm speakers, I was amazed. The sound was crisp, clean, and powerful. However, as I read more and more reviews, and listened to many receivers at local audio shops, I learned that my Sony receiver was really not that great. Brands like Sony, Technics, and Pioneer, at least in their entry-level lines, are low-current, use cheaper components, and often offer only a one-year warranty. My research soon lead me to three main brands of high quality receivers. These brands were Onkyo, Marantz, and Denon.
When I was ready to shop for a really nice receiver for my living room setup, I went to a local dealer who was authorized to sell all three of these brands. I went in thinking that I was going to purchase a Marantz, but after talking to the salesman and listening to all my options, I chose the Onkyo TX-DS787. Here is what I think of this receiver:
The Company
Onkyo is well known in the audio world for making high quality audio components. All of their receivers have high-current power, which delivers fuller, richer sound. Onkyo components are manufactured without many frivolous features, which allows them to use the money they save to use only superior quality parts.
The TX-DS787
Important Features
Dolby Digital and DTS
The TX-DS787 has built in decoders for both Dolby Digital and DTS digital surround formats. Dolby Digital is the most popular format for digital surround, and can be found on virtually every DVD. DTS digital surround offers a slightly fuller, more-detailed sound, but DTS encoded DVDs are less common.
THX SELECT
This is a certification from ultra-picky George Lucas’s Lucas Film that this receiver meets their extremely rigid standards. You will not find a poor, or even mediocre, receiver that is THX Select certified.
THX Surround EX
This is a 6.1 channel, 360 degree digital surround format. The TX-DS787 was the world's first THX Select-certified Surround EX receiver. I have not been able to try this format out yet, since I don't have room to add another surround speaker right now.
POWER
This receiver boasts an impressive 6.1 channel amplifier that delivers 100 Watts of high current power into 8 Ohms (the most common speaker resistance.) This should be more than enough power for almost all home theater applications. I think the volume goes up to about 80, and the highest that I have had it is about 35.
Zone 2
This is an extra set of speaker outputs for a second room. Using this feature, you can power a second set of stereo speakers in another room, even while listening to a different source in the main room.
12V DC Trigger
This is a very cool feature. The receiver has two AC outlets on the back. They can be assigned to power up automatically when the receiver is turned on, or can be turned on or off from the receiver or the remote.
Onscreen Display
This shows the menu for your receiver on your TV screen. This makes setup quite a bit easier.
Preamp Outputs for 7.1 channels
If you want to add more power to your system later, you could add a power amp and use this receiver as a preamp, outputting the signal to the power amp through the preamp outputs.
7.1 Multichannel Input
This would allow you to hookup a Super Audio CD player for multi-channel music.
The Remote
The remote for this receiver is very useful. The remote layout is well thought out and the buttons are spaced so that you shouldn’t have to worry about pressing the wrong one. You can control most, if not all, of the functions of the receiver from the remote. The remote comes programmed with commands for other Onkyo components. If your other components aren’t made by Onkyo, the remote can learn the commands from the original remote or from a universal remote which can operate the component. So far there hasn’t been a command that my remote hasn’t been able to learn.
The remote also has macro capacity. This means that you can program a series of commands to be activated when you press a macro button. There is one direct macro button, which only requires you to press that button to activate the command series. For example, I have mine programmed to turn on the receiver, set the sound input for the TV, then turn on the TV. There are also 8 mode macro buttons, which only require you to press two buttons to activate a series of commands. So you would press the mode macro button and then one of the mode buttons, such as TV, CD, etc., and it would activate the commands that you programmed.
Connections
Digital Inputs
Digital inputs allow you to take the audio signal from a device such as a DVD player or CD player and run it directly into your receiver, bypassing the DVD or CD player’s DAC (Digital to Analog Converter, a device that takes a digital signal and converts it into analog sound which your speakers can reproduce.) The advantage of this is that unless you have a really expensive CD or DVD player with an excellent DAC, this receiver’s DAC is probably better. This means that it will do a better job of converting the digital signal, giving you cleaner, more precise sound.
The TX-DS787 has four digital inputs, two optical and two coaxial. All four inputs are assignable, so you can assign them to whichever source you want. For example, in my system I have my DVD player assigned to optical input 1, and my CD player assigned to optical input 2. There is also one optical digital output.
RCA Inputs/Outputs
There are normal RCA inputs for a CD player, tape deck, and a phono input. There is also an output for the tape deck.
Video Inputs/Outputs
This receiver had inputs for 4 video sources and a DVD player. These all have normal RCA connections and a S-video connection. Video 1 and 2 also have outputs, with the same connections. Video 4 is located on the front of the receiver for easy hookup to devices such as video game consoles or video cameras.
Component Video Switching
Component video is the best quality video connection, even better than S-Video. Component video basically splits the signal into three component parts. A component hookup consists of three RCA jacks, one green, one blue, and one red. I have not been able to use the component video hookups yet, since my TV does not have component video inputs. There are two component video inputs and one output on this receiver, allowing you to hook up two different component video sources and switch between them using the receiver.
Setup
I found setup to be relatively easy. However, I have kept up with electronic trends fairly well, I have always found this stuff to be pretty easy, I am a bit of an electronics dork, and I have a girlfriend who once worked at Radio Shack. So I am not sure how easy it would be for the average person. (Is there any such thing as an average person anyway?)
The connections on the back are clearly marked and well organized. The onscreen setup was easy and only took about 15 minutes. Like many home theater receivers these days, you can set the receiver to optimize the sound for your system by setting speaker size, presence or absence of subwoofer, speaker distance, surround location, etc. You can also set which listening mode you want to use for each source. For example, if you want to listen to your CDs in stereo mode, but your DVDs in Dolby Digital surround, the receiver will remember your choices.
Two aspects of setup particularly impressed me. First, you can set the volume the receiver will be at when it is turned on. This is really handy, especially since digital sources are usually a lot louder than normal sources. So if you were watching TV pretty loud last night, and put in a DVD this morning, (assuming you turned the receiver off in between) the sound isn’t going to wake your neighbors/children/pets/significant other before you can turn it down. Second, you can set a maximum volume. This could keep your mischievous children (or drunken friends) from ruining your speakers by turning the volume up too high.
The Warranty
The TX-DS787 has a two-year parts and labor warranty.
Negative Aspects
I am happy to say, after using this receiver for several months, so far I only have one thing to complain about. If you knew how picky I can be, you would realize what an accomplishment this is for the Onkyo corporation. My main complaint is: not enough optical digital inputs. Most widely available digital sources have optical outputs, and only a few are starting to incorporate coaxial digital outputs. Therefore, I would have liked at least 3 optical digital inputs.
And finally, the most important feature,
THE SOUND
Amazing. Incredible. Awe-inspiring. And lots of other synonyms of the word good. I was truly amazed by the sound produced by this receiver. The difference between this and my Sony receiver was immense. In fact, the tweeter of my right Monitor 9 speaker had been blown for a while. With the Sony receiver, I thought there was a difference between the two speakers, but wasn’t sure. The day after hooking up the Onkyo I knew for sure that something wasn’t right with the right speaker. This shows how much clearer the sound was with the Onkyo. The only problem with this sound is that you get used to it, and then listening to music/movies on other people’s systems can be almost painful.
Overall
The TX-DS787 is a large investment. I doubt that many people with normal incomes would consider buying this receiver unless they are really serious about sound. Onkyo recently switched to a newer model, the TX-DS797, so you may be able to find this model on sale soon. If you are serious about sound, and this receiver falls within your price range, I highly recommend purchasing the Onkyo TX-DS787.
Final Note: Onkyo has a high-end sister company called Integra. Integra products are only available at local hi-fi shops. The Integra 7.1 is almost identical to this receiver, except that it has gold-plated RCA inputs and a 3-year warranty. If you can find the Integra 7.1 on sale, you might get it for about the same price or less than the TX-DS787.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 800
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symbiosis
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