The Onkyo Tx-sr607 - A Review

Looking for a home theater system capable of handling anything you throw at it? Check out the Onkyo TX SR607 Plus. It's a Dolby 7.2 Channel A/V Surround Home Theater system, with 90 watts per channel, and HDMI support (going to the 1.3a specification). The system is relatively compact, about the size of a breadbox, and is comparatively lightweight at 18 points. This makes it an ideal 'starter' solution for people who live in an apartment building or flat, though it's probably overkill for a dorm room. (Not that that's ever stopped any of the college students we've known)

Because this is a modern digital audio controller, you may experience some legacy compatability issues. Make sure that you've got the adapter cables (if necessary) before trying to hook everything up. Nothing makes a home theater project more frustrating than having to constantly run to the electronics store to get more parts. Setup is pretty easy, with an on screen menu that will walk you through all the steps.

Sound quality is excellent, with good clarity and sounds very open. If you've never experienced personal theater quality at Dolby 7.2 standards, prepare to be blown away. There's not much more to be said about the directional clarity than this: I could actually make out all the words on Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time.

Even if you are only using three speakers to connect to the Onkyo, the sound will still be perfect. If you are watching a BluRay movie you can expect realistic sound effects that can be heard when watching a movie at the cinema. Who needs to go to the cinema when you can bring the cinema to you! It is easy and affordable, and anybody can use it.

One place where there's a drawback with this system is that the HDMI control doesn't quite meet the full backwards compatibility mode of the HDMI specification. It's close - and we were eventually able to get it up and running, but CEG HDMI proved to be a bit challenging to configure.

One workaround to this sort of issue, which crops up when working with Samsun, Sony and Toshiba displays, is to get an IR repeater. We've been told that future production versions will have this firmware problem fixed, and there may be a downloadable upgrade you can run to perform this upgrade yourself. Still, even so, an IR repeater can help cover your needs.

What sets this system apart is the sound quality, and the value per dollar. It's one of the best value Dolby 7.2 systems, and its compact size means it's apartment friendly - even dorm room friendly. Its reasonable price puts it into a good price/performance target area. The only downside we found was the HDMI implementation, and we got a pre-release version.

You might have to spend a few days playing around with the remote just to get to know the different features of the Onkyo, because there is a lot to learn.

By: Chard Greenwood

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Richard Greenwood is a long time guru of consumer electronics. He is now providing home theaters at a surprising low cost that are reliable as well. See his website today and find out about the Onkyo TX-SR607.