Onkyo Double Ought Receivers Preview

It's one thing to support channels with a receiver. We've seen lots of offerings all up and down the line that will support multiple zones and extra speakers (over the standard 7 channels). Generally that "support" equates to pre-outs or, at best, sacrificing your surround back speakers for your second zone or bi-amping. If you want more channels than that, you're looking at an external amp or a VERY expensive receiver.

Onkyo is looking to change all that with their new Internet and network ready receivers.

Starting at only $1599, the double ought series will have 9 channels of amplification with two independent subwoofer outputs all with THX Ultra2 Plus and new Audyssey DSX processing. This is pretty impressive for the price point and even more so once you really get into the list of features. The 145 watt per channel TX-NR5007 is the top of the line and will retail for $2699. This will be followed by the 140 watt per channel TX-NR3007 for $2099 and the 135 watt per channel TX-NR1007 for $1599. The two top tier models feature HQV Reon-VX video processing for the some of the best scaling and upconversion on the market (the NR1007 has Faroudja DCDi Cinema processing). They also feature a front USB and HDMI port - a feature that we think will become more and more important and the new mini-HDMI ports become prevalent on portable devices. The NR5007 and NR3007 are the first Onkyo receivers to get Dolby Volume which equalizes the volume so that you aren't blasted out of your chair by commercials. While the amps can be assigned on all three receivers, with the top two, you can run them in bridged mode to give your front speakers the extra boost they may require. They also have separate power supply transformers for audio and video processing and reproduction.

TX-NR5007                                    TX-NR3007

TX-NR-1007

While the top of the line TX-NR5007 has the most features and inputs (8 HDMI 1.3 inputs vs 7 on the NR3007 and 6 on the NR1007), that doesn't mean that the rest of the line is left out in the cold. The entire line features Audyssey MultEQ processing for room correction and auto-setup, a full complement of audio decoders, and Burr Brown DACs (the 5007 does have the 32 bit versions though). As mentioned, all the receivers are Internet and network ready with a rear Ethernet port. They are out of the box ready to stream Pandora, Rhapsody, vTuner, and Sirius Internet Radio. They are all Window 7 compatible and have DNLA 1.5 certification for compatibility with other networked devices. Each receiver has dual parallel HDMI outputs, allowing for display of current programming on dual monitors, simultaneously or independently, for increased setup flexibility. For those worried about video calibartion, all three sport ISF Certified Calibration Controls (ISFccc) so that you can calibrate each source at the receiver to get the best possible picture from every source and still maintain the ease of a single connection to your display.

TX-NR5007                                    TX-NR3007

TX-NR-1007

So, what does 9 channels of amplification give you? Lots of flexibility. You can have a full 7.2 system with two channels for a Zone 2 or distributed audio. You can even run all 9 channels in one theater when employing Audyssey's DSX or Dolby Pro Logic IIz height channel processing. Since the subwoofers are independent (and not mono as we've seen in the past), they can be configured for left and right if you want. You could even run a 5.1 system with a zone 2 AND the mains bi-amped. With the NR5007, you can use the two channels for an additional pair of main speakers in a dedicated 2-channel room (or in the same room if you like to A/B speakers).

Conclusion

All three of these receivers, the TX-NR5007, TX-NR3007, and TX-NR1007 will be in stores by the end of September. We expect they won't be on the shelves for very long. With the feature sets and at these prices, they look to be a hard act to follow. Once again, Onkyo has shoehorned just about every feature on the market into their new offerings. Expect the buzz over these receivers to be huge. 

For more information, please visit www.onkyousa.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.