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Date: 2008-12-11 Torn between Onkyo TX-SR506 and Sony STRDG720 I was torn between the Onkyo TX-SR506 and Sony STRDG720, which both have very comparable feature sets (7.1, 3->1 HDMI switch, optical inputs, component pass through) and are in the same price range. Even though I prefer Sony and have several Sony components (TV, PS3, etc), the Amazon sale price and some good brand recommendations tipped me to the Onkyo -- ordered it Friday, and had it on Monday! First off, I knew the Onkyo only did HDMI pass-through -- which means the 7.1 HDMI audio is not intercepted at the receiver but passed to the TV. This means you either have to connect the TV's audio back to the receiver, or wire each of your components to send audio separately. Sort of defeat the purpose of audio-over-HDMI, but I was willing to accept this. What I didn't realize is that the optical TOSLink connection cannot do 7.1 at the HD bitrate. In fact, the only way to get 7.1 out of the unit is to use the DVD analog inputs (only 1 set of eight available), otherwise your 7.1 unit can only play downsampled or 5.1 audio. After installing, my DirecTV HR20 Satellite/PVR worked fine over HDMI, but not the HD-DVD or the PS3. The HD-DVD unit would play fine for about 90 seconds over HDMI, then would lose picture and audio. Resetting either the receiver or the HD-DVD player would get me another 90 seconds. The PS3 was even worse -- it never passed any video or audio! I could tell I was getting an input signal at the TV, but it was just black. Of course, the same components worked fine directly to the TV directly over HDMI , but failed through the receiver. I suspected HDCP handshaking issues. Now, I'd googled several reports where people had no HDMI audio (due to the pass-through above), and a handful where they had no video either (almost always failed to assign the inputs properly), but there were a couple that had the same problems I did and no resolution. I decided to call Onkyo tech support. It tooks me 2 days of disconnects and unanswered voicemail to get through to a person, and after walking through the necessary steps (reset unit, configure inputs, check connections, reset everything, try connecting directly to TV), he gave up. Said it should work, that they had a PS3 in the office that worked, but didn't know why mine failed. Maybe it was my TV that failed the HDCP -- but of course, everything worked fine *without* the receiver. Anyway, I was promised a call back within 24 hours. It never came. I tried calling tech support again, and again I suffered disconnects, dead ends, and unresponsive voicemail. I finally tried customer service, who redirected me to an open support person. We repeated the above steps, and he suggested I return the unit as defective or bring it to a nearby service center. Given the limitations I'd found, the unexpected failures, and the very poor customer support, I took him up on his offer -- I returned the Onkyo to Amazon and I picked up the Sony on sale for $25 more. It reads 7.1 LPCM over the HDMI (not just pass through), it works with the Sony TV and PS3, and I know I can get through to their technical support. I'd heard good things about Onkyo, and I'm sure the SR506 feature set will suffice for some people, but I wasn't pleased with it. (I also despise HDCP, but that's a rant for another day.) Date: 2008-12-06 1080 pass thur Onkyo TX-SR506 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver, I run my tv sound output to the receiver and that takes care of the problem with 1080 pass thur. Date: 2008-12-06 Hooked up my PS3 and my desktop computer and my 5:1 surround. I used this receiver to easily switch between/connect my HP computer to my PS3 and hook up my 5:1 theater system. Onkyo is very easy to set up (compared to Sony receivers). Only thing I made a mistake on is the 501 model doesn't relay audio through HDMI input to HDMI output (the 606 apparently DOES relay audio through its HDMI). But it worked out fine--I simply used coax cables for the HP computer and an optical out for my PS3. Sounds incredible! I can now push one button on the Onkyo receiver and my desktop shows up on the monitor. I push another button and the PS3 shows up on the monitor. (it's a huge monitor, so I didn't want to invest in a new TV... plus I'm cheap and I just wanted to buy a receiver. The Onkyo 506 on Amazon was the best price I could find anywhere.) Here's a sketch of my theater layout. Hope it helps some people: [...] By the way, definetely buy the HDMI cables on Amazon. They're about $4 each and they work just as good as the $80 Best Buy ones. Also, my optical cable was dirt cheap on Amazon too, and it works just fine. Onkyo TX-SR506 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)Onkyo TX-SR506 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Silver) Date: 2008-11-30 Very good for the price I helped a friend who wanted an inexpensive yet decent receiver. He hooked it up to a pair of Paradigm Titans. The Onkyo sounded very nice - smooth and not fatiguing, both with music and movies. I own a more upscale audio system, and this receiver is a no match for it - as I expected. Then we compared it to an older Marantz stereo reciever (selling for $350 15 years ago) that I still use in my den. The Marantz was clearly better - more detailed, more dynamical, but still smooth. We tried both the digital and the analog inputs. The bottom line is - a very nice receiver from a decent company. If you really care about sound quality however, and will use it for music, as well - get a Marantz or a Denon (within this price range). It will cost a bit more but it is worth it. Date: 2008-11-24 Solid home theater receiver! Would recommend This receiver has a ton going for it, and little holding it back! With 1080p passthrough, 3 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output, 7.1 channel surround sound, and all the dolby and dts decoding, this is a sweet home theater receiver at an amazing price. I have mine hooked up with a blue ray player, a 50" 1080p plasma, and a bose surround sound system, and it couldn't get much better. The ONLY beef that I have with this receiver, is the hdmi inputs only pass through video, no audio! This means that you can hook up 3 pieces of equipment via HDMI and output it all to your tv, but you will have to hookup the audio sources separately. At first, this might seem ridiculous, but here is the scoop. It is equipped with 3 optical inputs, and optical is capable of reproducing any sound quality with the exception of Dolby HD Master. I have heard an HD master track, and the difference is too minute for me to discern. Overall, this receiver is Money in the Bank... literally, at this price
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