Onkyo TX-NR777 THX-Certified 7.2 Channel Network A/V Receiver

Getting a THX certified Bluetooth receiver with 100 watts/channel at 20-20k at this price point is a very good bargain. I am running this receiver in a 2.1 mode with Infinity speakers and an Infinity powered sub for a large man cave 130 x 35 feet and it does a good job and sounds very good. My main point of connectivity is Bluetooth streaming through phones. Sometimes I have had connectivity issues, where the phone will connect, but does not stream sound. I have had to disconnect power to reset the unit or have had to try several times to connect before streaming can be done. I have not had a lot of time to diagnose this issue, but it can be annoying. This is specially true if you switch phones. Other than that it is a good receiver.

This is a very decent receiver in that price range. The initial setup correctly detected that I had a short in one of the speaker wires inside the wall (interestingly audio could be heard!). After replacing the faulty wire (someone had driven a nail through the insulation!), things worked flawlessly. The setup process does not always identify the speakers the same way (cut-off frequency changes from 150 to 190 Hz) and the center speaker is sometimes identified differently from the L+R even though they are identical.To be fair, they are placed differently and they may end up having a different response.When streaming Pandora I often get a connection error message even though the device is still streaming. This may go away when I finish the Ethernet wiring (I don't like to rely on WiFi for any of my connected devices that have an Ethernet jack).Someone reported that the display is from the 80's and I have to agree. The song names are scrolling in a not very elegant fashion but in reality the device is designed to be used over a monitor so this is a minor inconvenience.The "NET" features are very rich so this is definitely a plus for that device. I also tried Bluetooth streaming and it only worked after upgrading the F/W.On the subject of upgrading the F/W, this is a very long process but it should not happen very often.It would be nice to know when the development stops on a given device. I have plenty of connected devices that are frozen in time because the developments have stopped.

Pro:Amazing picture. The Dolby Vision on my AppleTV 4K is perfect on my LG OLED 65" TV!Amazing sound. More than enough power to blast everyone out of the room! Sounds clean and clear.Adjustable without being complicated. The menu system is easy to navigate.I often have a hard time hearing the dialogue in movies. You are able to turn up the center speaker to your liking!Also was able to create preset EQ settings that are easy to flip through depending on the movie or TV show.Con:You must have the highest quality, latest version HDMI cables to get the full benefit from this receiver.AppleTV 4K signal sometimes is not initially sensed by the receiver. (I turn to another device and back to get it to work)

Paired with a 5.1 (soon to be 7.1) set of Monoprice Alpha in-wall speakers, this receiver sounds great. Setup was easy, and I can drive the speakers to uncomfortable levels without noticeable distortion. The only drawback I've found so far is that when connected to a source via bluetooth, it seems to drop fairly frequently, often within minutes of connecting. It's not a matter of distance or interfering objects, as I've tried with the unit sitting on the floor and the source sitting literally on top of it, and it still drops the bluetooth link. Disconnecting/reconnecting works, but doing this every couple minutes is not exactly a tenable solution. As long as you don't expect to use bluetooth, it seems like a great value for the price.

Bought this amplifier from Amazon to replace a similar, defective Yamaha amplifier , that I returned to Amazon.Setup was easier than the earlier Yamaha setup, and nearly all features worked on the first try. Difficulty arose when using my Samsung TV ARC, or Audio Return Channel, which is an HDMI feature intended to simplify setup. However on reading more about ARC, I learned that ARC does not always work as intended, due to individual manufacturers' protocols.The problem wit ARC enabled on the Onkyo amp, the connection would revert to TV input and not stay on the selected HDMI input. After reviewing the Onkyo advanced manual, downloaded from the Onkyo support site, I disabled ARC and presto, the TV connection worked as expected.It should be noted that with ARC disabled, and when watching a smart TV using the smart TV's built in app for Netflix, for example, an optical audio return cable is required to send the sound back to the Onkyo amplifier.I found the ability to cast music from my smartphone to the Onkyo amp especially satisfying.All other connections were made without any unexpected surprises...DVD player, VCR for my old tapes along with bluetooth and chromecast inputs.Based on my experience with two different AV receiver amps, the Yamaha RX-V485BL that I returned to Amazon out of frustration and this Onkyo TX-NR777, I am 100% satisfied with the Onkyo and would recommend it highly.