Onkyo TX - NR609 7.2 Channel Network THX Certified A/V Receiver (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

You might read my review of the lower end Pioneer 5.1 2011 model receiver which I had so much great promise for given past experience with a very old stereo Pioneer model going back to the late '70's. After two defective units with different problems, I gave up on the Pioneer. Doing much reviewing of other brands, I came to the Onkyo TX-NR609. More than I really wanted at the time, but after many months, I must say, I am so glad I made this purchase.The Onkyo, unlike some others, provides not only 7.1 channel capability (okay, I still currently have it set up as 5.1), but adding THX along with the Dolby, metal construction (cheaper models have plastic faceplates, I don't get it if the rest is metal as the front gets the wear?), the features of streaming internet radio via wireless dongle or wired ethernet works great with my U-verse cable router in another room, the ease of upgrading the BIOS of the system with that means, and even the capability to use that networking feature to access within your home network a computer that homes your MP3 collection via Windows Media. Wow.To tell you the truth, I've yet to fully discover all that this unit promises, and in some cases, sure, there is a learning curve. The manual seems to be good, and I've yet to go online to see if there was any more information I needed in information from Onkyo on this unit, but all said, I am so glad the Pioneer didn't work out. If the Pioneer did work right, I think I would have had a satisfying unit for what it offered, but I'm glad things turned out for the better. I don't know how much more I could ask for and then some in this model, for it really is more than I need, but then I think of the years to come too...So far, I have nothing substantial to report with negatives about the receiver, other than perhaps that I wish the manual were truly more definitive and expansive, such as providing a CD or DVD that really covered the gamut and angles. I guess if that's the worst problem, I ended up spending my money well.Lastly, we all have our own preferences, and with using reseller companies within Amazon.com itself, unless they provide the same 30-day money back guarantee with return shipping, I'll stick with Amazon.com with online orders of more cost and chance of issues. A few others have excellent reputations, but my comfort zone sticks with Amazon.com as opposed to most of the resellers, even despite what might be a degree of price difference. Be patient when it comes to pricing, if you can.ADDENDUM: 3/2012:Now that I have owned this for some time but actually due to work didn't use it much for some months, I have been using it quite a bit lately and still so grateful I landed upon this unit. The sound is excellent paired with Klipsch 5.1 home theater speakers and then adding two older Sony bookshelf 2-way speakers that are likley equivalent to today's offering on the main front channels. I hear things in music, even music I despised for years, through Pandora internet stream, and now have a new appreciation of even that music. I hear far more nuances and such and, surely, part of that has to do with the quality of speakers, so keep note, don't spend more on your receiver and then go cheap on your speaker system. The receiver is the heart of the system, but what it can produce is only represented by the quality of the speakers. I intend to look to further upgrading my front speakers to also help match my cherry wood furniture, but at first keep a blind "eye" to the entire situation, and lend it to your "ears". This receiver does it all with internet capability and then some. No issues as I had with the Pioneer (sadly though because I used to be such a fan of that brand years ago). The Klipsch speakers I now wish I had gone ahead and spent a tad more for the Energy brand equivalent. All said, I'm very happy, nonetheless!No issues, problems, just pure music.ADDENDUM: 4/9/2012:Well sheesh, this model has been updated with a 2012 model (at higher cost). The fact is, even the newer model represents no more than this model. They now tout 3D, this is capable of 3D too. Find this on the cheap and be very pleased with your purchase. Look to only the latest, you are spending good money for it, only to find a year later it is also replaced. I have no regrets with this model or the quality Onkyo seems to represent. I would still feel avoidant with Pioneer due to quality issues, though I admit, I did keep the DVD/CD player, but only because Onkyo didn't have a match to the receiver available here.What I've seen at times with the receiver on internet streaming of Pandora, as the primary example, is sometimes I go to bed to my music theme, and then wake up and find there is no sound at all. Not a problem with the receiver as I would think, the streaming mode of audio was interrupted somewhere and it never simply resumed. The quality of the internet streaming of music is also very good, no complaints at all. I still hear a lot more with this unit than any previous. I still love it!And now, with it being replaced, a great time to look to buy it on the cheap. To this particular date, the low point I bought it at when "new", so pay attention, for as inventory diminishes, so does the price...The only advantage of the new model as far as I can see is more HDMI ports. Do you really need them? This already allows you to port your computer or via wireless networking connection as it is. I'd only look to the latest if you also have the same in the rest of your A/V collection. But this unit would be a great deal on the cheap.

I purchased this receiver after about a month of research on internet forums and in local stores. I've owned the receiver for a week now and i'm very pleased with my purchase. I upgraded from a Sony STR-K700 home theater in-a-box (5 years old), which was a bottom-of-the-line receiver and speaker system. While that system was of excellent quality for the price, I needed a receiver that could handle multiple HDMI sources to use with my new Samsung UN55C8000 LED TV. The receiver arrived packaged very well. I was very impressed with the manufacturing quality of the unit. It looks like a very expensive piece of audio equipment.Sound Quality:I am using the same speakers that came with the sony unit (pretty low quality speakers, will upgrade in the near future) with a Polk PSW10 powered subwoofer and I could immediately notice a difference in the sound quality produced by this receiver. The sound quality was excellent right out of the box, and even better after the Audessey 2EQ calibration. I was a little concerned with the lack of MultiEQ calibration, but the 2EQ did an excellent job of calibrating subwoofer volume. The calibration was quick and painless and makes the system sound excellent in my 17' x 12' room. I have used the receiver to listen to HD Cable television programing, video games on my PS3, and blu-ray movies on the PS3. All sound outstanding. There is a very dynamic range of volume when listening to blu-ray movies but dialog is always audible.Video Quality:The video quality of HDMI sources is the same if not better than having the components connected directly to my Samsung UN55C8000. I am using Monoprice 6ft 28g high speed HDMI cables with ethernet. I also have an N64, connected via composite and displayed via HDMI, that looks better than a direct composite connection. HDMI switching is very fluid and takes almost no time at all. I have not experienced any HDMI handshake issues, although once I had to reset my cable box because it was not sending any signal via HDMI (not sure if this was due to receiver or my cable box). But its worked fine ever since.On Screen Menus:The OSD displayed over HDMI looks much better after I updated the firmware (sharper text). The menus are very easy to navigate and it makes setting up the receiver and adjusting settings very easy.Remote:I set up the onkyo remote control to control my Samsung UN55C8000 television as well as my Motorola HD cable box. The remote is very easy to use with the receiver but its functions are a little more difficult to use with my other components. But compared to other AV receiver remotes, this one is excellent. The remote was not important to me when making my purchasing decision, but I was surprised by how easy it is to use and its compatibility with other components.Internet Connectivity:I have used the network feature to install one firmware update. Luckily, my wireless router sits right next to the TX-NR609, so I hardwired the receiver to the network. The firmware update completed after the first attempt in about 45min with no problems. I haven't used any music streaming programs yet but I assume based on my firmware update experience that the network feature works well. I am also working on setting up a media server to stream all of my movies and music over the network, so I can update the review when that is complete.Overall I would highly recommend this receiver. Even to those who own iOS devices and want airplay. I've done a lot of research online that suggests the TX-NR609 coupled with an AppleTV does a much better job of streaming than the built-in airplay on competing receivers. At this price point, I could not find a better receiver than the Onkyo TX-NR609.

This receiver stopped working after only 2 years (Three weeks after the waranty expired)No sound and the Speaker/Channel indicators no longer comes on.This apparently is a common failure with Onkyo receivers.Be warned.

Onkyo TX-NR609 audiovisual receiverI have started to use the Onkyo 609 receiver as the heart of media systems. It's a substantial beast and produces 100W rms for each of its seven amplifiers. You have to read the specification carefully to discover the true power as the headline value is 160W. Harmonic distortion is commendably low at 0.08%. Not equal to the best hi-fi amplifiers but very good. With good quality speakers the sound is sweet and unstrained.Its a very flexible device, which is both its strength and its weakness.Strengths firstYou can use the seven channels very flexibly. Most installations will start with the standard 5.1 arrangement, of front left and right, front centre and two surround speakers at the rear sides. One or two sub-woofers can be connected. They have to be self-powered or have their own amplifier, fed from one or two RCA phono sub-woofer sockets, which each carry the same signal. These can have the bass part of the other channels fed to them as well. The other two channels can be used for surround rear speakers, front high speakers to add height to the sound, or as the tweeter drivers on bi-amped front left and right main speakers if they are bi-ampable. If you are bi-amped and have a sub, you are effectively tri-amped. If you use a record deck for vinyl you will need to buy a phonograph pre-amp such as the Behringer PP400. The remote can be set up to control other equipment. However many functions are not supported.Another strength is the Audyssey set up system. Once you have done the basic speaker set-up, you put a supplied microphone on a tripod in the central listening position and run some software. This measures distances to the speakers and responses and optimises the levels in the amplifiers. You then run it twice more to the left and right of the central position. Very clever and effective. If you prefer, you can set everything up manually.The power is more than adequate. I have used it in a large room with dimensions of about 8 x 5 x 2.5 metres. Even when driven to high levels the sound is solid and clear. There is no audible noise and no sign of strain. The quality possibly wouldn't satisfy a dedicated hi-fi fanatic. I used to be one, but am now cured. Diminishing returns set in, and however good the sound got, it still wasn't as good as listening live. So now I listen to the music and don't strain to hear the faults. That said I am very happy with the quality from the Onkyo. The steps on the volume control are finely graduated so it is easy to find the correct level.WeaknessesThere is a mind-boggling array of tweaks that you can do manually and a huge range of options for when you view, or listen to, different sources. I haven't got to grips with this myself yet and perhaps never will. I might well want to remove all processing for stereo music by pressing the Pure Audio button on the front panel, but this switches off the sub-woofer. I think I will probably leave the rest alone. Audyssey seems to do a competent job.And then there is the manual. Onkyo have a problem. There is a huge range of standards for the sound varying from mono, through stereo to umpteen versions of surround sound. Even within the 7.1 standard there is a wide range of speakers position options. Though a genuine problem, this is not an excuse for the confusing manual. The section on speaker positioning is reasonably easy to follow. Once you get on to set-up, the manual descends into chaos. A huge list of possible audio standards is presented without clear guidance about which to use in a particular set-up. Though it would add a few pages, it would be better to have a separate description for each of the most common set-ups, rather than a single route with many options at each stage. One option would be a disk or website download containing a set of common options and how to set them up.To avoid un-necessary energy use, it is best not to use the main screen when only listening to music or radio, especially if your main screen is a projector where each hour costs money. There is only one output from the Onkyo. Whilst there is a monitor output for recording or a second screen, it is only composite video and cannot display menus nor any digital input. I will therefore have to add an HDMI splitter so I can place a small screen near the receiver. These are cheap but surely it would not have cost much to add a second HDMI output?Overall all then an excellent piece of kit with very little to criticise.

I bought this after reading the What HiFi reviews and many sites around the net (including the reviews on this page) and I am so happy I decided to get the NR609.I previously had an Arcam AVR100 with the B&W 6 Series S2 floor stands, centre and surrounds. What HiFi had paired this with a set of (newer) B&W's and the Stereo sound when hooked up to my Arcam CD player is rich and detailed with lovely bass. I say this because its easy to tell the difference between CD and MP3 (but that's just not a fault of the Onkyo but the bit rate of the MP3/MU4 file).I have this hooked up via the ethernet cable / switch to a Synology DS211 NAS drive and the Onkyo picked this up no problem and the menu system is not bad and reasonably quick. Using DNLA it pulls down the album cover as well. The internet radio is also very good, once you add your favourites. These two functions have been a god send for the wife as its so easy to skim through the hundreds of albums we have put on MP3 and the ability to listen to the radio. My only down point is that there is no screen dimming or screen saver so listening to a radio station for several hours leaves a temporary "print" on my plasma TV.The universal remote control is excellent as I was able to setup and control my SkyHD+ box, TV and Blue Ray player. The main functions are usable for the Sky Remote (menu, navigation, pause, rewind).The HTC (android OS) remote is amazing and gives an instant response. Updating the NR609 firmware was a doddle, via the internet and added a new internet radio tuner into the menu.Can't fault the surround sound support (THX, DD etc) and the configuration set-up either.You can configure the HDMI inputs to pair them with the optical and digital coaxial inputs so you can get the fully Dolby Digital feeds from Sky and the Blue Ray player. And you can also label the panel display to show anything you want - set mine to "SkyHD" for the CBL/SAT input.This is an amazing bit of kit and recommend this to anyone! 5 STARS!

Sound is very good, set-up is easy, and the product is well made. Connections are a bit fiddly, but you only need to do this once. What more could you want?