Onkyo Power
Written: Feb 23 '01 (Updated Mar 05 '01)
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Pros: sleek design, powerful and clean sound, easy to use and setup
Cons: only 2 component inputs
The Bottom Line: For the price; with rich features and sound,tremendous clean power and an easy to use interface you cant go wrong with the Onkyo TX-DS777
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| slipline's Full Review: Onkyo TX-DS777 |
Onkyo has a long history for producing top-notch products and this piece certainly fits that mold to a T. I have had this unit for about a month now and I have enjoyed it quite frequently. This piece of equipment is really the centerpiece of my theater setup since all audio and video signals pass through it. I could not be more pleased with its performance and function.
To start with the Onkyo is finished in a nice black that almost disappears when the lights go out. It is sturdy and extremely heavy due to the high quality components inside. The fit and finish is highly professional and gives a hardy performance look to the unit. The green display is easy to read even from across the room and has a great feature where you can dim or disable the display as to not distract from the movie you are watching. You can also program in names for all of your inputs, which is nice. Instead of VIDEO1 or whatever, you can make it say Play station, or DVD PLAYER. Even "I Like Cookies" if you want. Perhaps some don’t find this amusing but the depth of custom features like this are what set it apart from other similar units.
The dials and buttons on the unit give a good solid feel to the piece and you know it is high quality by operating the manual controls. They are smooth and the buttons give a firm click. This thing is made to last a long time.
The Onscreen Menus are very simple and not fancy to look at. I like this because it makes setting up the receiver very easy and completely unconfusing. You literally cannot get lost in the menus. The OSD offers a full range of functions including speaker and input setup as well as listening preferences. I have only needed to use the OSD one time and that was to set the unit up the first time. The only bad thing about the display is that it will only overlay via a standard video out or s-video output to the TV set. It is unable to process the component video signal and for me this is a downfall because the majority of things I use are component video. This is because I have a HDTV.
There are a plethora of inputs on this beast. The only area it is lacking is in the component category. This receiver has only 2 inputs for component video and uses switching technology to select between them. You have lots of room to grow into this receiver with all the inputs. If you are an audiophile you will be able to hook up as many as 6 to 8 audio and video sources to the unit in a variety of ways. Each input has the ability to be mapped to an optical or coaxial input, which is a nice feature.
How does it function?
The sound from the unit is stunning. For the price I have to say that I was blown away. I was using a model a few steps under this one and the difference is absolutely clear and defined.
Before: my speakers sounded muddy and it was hard to get a nice volume with them. Their range seemed limited and I was truly displeased with my setup at first. I thought I had purchased the wrong speakers.
After: Now I am a happy camper. I sit and listen to my music with a whole different ear now. I can hear the slight differences in recordings from all types of music. The string plucks of classical instruments to the breaths before and after verses in a song are truly things you don’t appreciate until you have equipment like this. It really brings the art of studio recording into a whole new light. CD's are no longer mere copies of music to listen to now and then. They are an experience.
The reason for this is that it can output 130watts per channel in a stereo mode. 2 speakers. This is how most all music is made to be listened to. By allowing the speakers this extra bump of power they can really shine. I would not say that this receiver is going to make your current $99 speakers shine, but it may help. What it will do is provide a set of high-end speakers with the energy they need to do what they were designed to do. I use a set of NHT Super Two for my front and rear speakers. (You can read my review of them to see how I like them.) The speakers like allotting of power because they are not extremely efficient. This is not a bad thing it just makes one have to supply a bit more power. It is simply the way they were designed. This receiver can do that and more. At reference volume levels you can FEEL the music and the kick of a drum will knock pictures off the wall if you are not careful. The pure power of the receiver is translated well.
The raw power of the receiver is also noticed not only in stereo mode but also in surround modes. There is plenty of power here to power not only small speakers but also large ones all the way around. The fan in this thing is enormous and ensures that it runs cool and clean and none of you signals will suffer from heat soak.
For home theater listening the unit is THX select certified. This is not a full THX Ultra certification but it does guarantee that the components inside are able to produce the full range of sound and visual quality that THX stands for. It has built in DTS and Dolby Digital decoders for both regular or standard and extended parameters. I wont get into the extended features of surround sound but you should know that it could produce them.
My DVD player is matted to an optical input and component video. I use the receiver to switch between it and my play station 2. There is no visible loss of quality on the signal and it is amazing. The sound in all aspects of surround is highly distinguished and exact. All the subtle sounds are easy to hear, such as crickets on the lawn, cars in the distance or interim people noise. Some of these things are lost on low quality systems and the surround is only heard when the "action" scenes kick in. I can say that this unit will glorify all movies that have been encoded in surround. Anything the director wanted you to hear is heard and heard well. There is no noise in the signal and when a scene is supposed to be quiet it is. No hiss at all. Period.
I connect a few other devices through my receiver like my cable TV box, my HDTV receiver and a VCR. The reason I do this is because the Onkyo comes with a superb remote control. It is backlight so you can see it in the dark and it will easily learn all the functions of any component you use. By connecting them all together I only have to use one remote to turn everything on, and control the sound the way I like. I could go on for hours about how much I like the remote but that would be pointless. You only have to hold it and use it one time to realize that it is far superior to many other units. The digital readout on the top tells you what component you are currently using so you cant get confused about what piece of equipment you have selected. Sure you could spend 500 bucks on one of those fancy digital display units but why? This one is slim and light and it works.
I spoke of the listening preferences and sound modes but I don’t use them too much. Probably the best 2 features in this area are going to be the late night listening mode and the THX Cinema Mode. The late night listening mode allows the receiver to "normalize" the sound to one volume so you don’t wake the neighbors trying to watch an action flick at night. The loud action scenes are no louder than the quiet monologues. The THX mode is for, as you would guess THX movies. I can’t exactly describe what it does but it sounds more like theater listening with each channel being separated at a much greater depth.
For a grand I don’t think that this unit can be beat.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 999
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Epinions.com ID:
slipline
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Member: Christopher Collins
Location: round Rock , Tx
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 32 members
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