 Superb Value..Features.. Performance! |
| Review Date: January 6, 2010 |
| Reviewer: HomeTheaterFan, Michigan |
My experience with the Onkyo 707 has been a pure pleasure. I endorse it wholeheartedly.
It is being used in my home theater. I think it is very important that I spend a moment describing my theater room's dimensions and speaker set up in order that you, the reader, determine whether my experience with the Onkyo is likely to be yours as well, should you be considering purchasing this particular receiver.
My home theater is approximately 14 x 8 x 18.5 feet; this means the Onkyo must power about 2070 cubic feet. The speaker system is 7.1 ; a Snell E center channel with matching front L/R Snell E speakers. They are of fairly normal sensitivity. The side and rear surrounds are modest JBL's. The powered subwoofer is also JBL . The room is drywalled, heavily draped and carpeted. All electronic equipment is placed in a rack room and controlled by IR repeaters.
Previously, the theater room employed a Pioneer THX 5.1 receiver, model VSX 37 TX. Its sonic performance was ok, doing much better a few years ago with the assistance of two Adcom amplifiers, this necessary to power a 7.1 system and to insure necessary power for the front speakers. It was considered, in its day, fairly high end. It did not have DVI or HDMI inputs/outputs. As time passed, it became clear that the Pioneer could not do justice to the increasing audio capacities within the newer , various DVD and Blu-Ray movies being added to my library.
And so I began to read about the current receiver market, and read of others' experiences with this receiver, as well as of competing models in the Onkyo 707's price range. This was my first Onkyo.
Price:
Listing for $899, it has been available in the range of $479-799 since Thanksgiving 2009. Watch and time your purchase carefully here on amazon! I do wish to emphasize that Amazon has consistently been very competitive in price. And it was Amazon from whom I decided to purchase the 707. It arrived timely and without trauma.
The next model up within the Onkyo line is the 807. It lists for $1099 but street price is naturally lower. Generally, it costs about $200 more than the 707. The price gap between the 707 and 807 widens and narrows from time to time. The 807 has slightly more power, and a few more, distinct features, elsewise, it is very similar to the 707.
At its suggested retail price , and in consideration of the Onkyo 707's features and general performance, the 707 is usually regarded as a midrange receiver. But to be emphasized is that for 4x the cost, you will not get 4x the performance from a different receiver; meaning, today, "midrange" receivers do very very well for most purposes and hit the economy of scale point spot on.
Power:
My Pioneer TX 37 receiver had difficulty powering my Snells when applied to DVD/Blu-ray movies. Often I was required to "dial up", completely, to the Pioneer's maximum volume. And even then, often enough, the results were not satisfactory.
The Onkyo 707 handles the same speakers and theater room with amazing ease. I cannot "dial up" the Onkyo 707 to maximum setting without 2 bad things happening; destroying my speakers and service of divorce papers. I find I only need about 35-40% of the 707's power, and this nonetheless results in "room shaking" sound from speakers that are not built to produce thunderous bass etc. And the bass is clean!
I mentioned the Onkyo 807 above, noting it has modestly more power than the 707. I doubt there is justification, however, to purchase the 807 upon the basis of its higher power capacity, standing alone. And this is why I provide you my room dimensions, in order that this review be evaluated as applicable, or not, to your needs. My sense is that if the 707 doesnt have enough power for a given application, then the 807 will not either. Other reviews here, however, suggest that the 607 Onkyo is underpowered and unsatisfactory, notwithstanding close power specifications between the 707 and 607. I suppose the power performance of the 707 is what Goldilocks needed when she was shopping for a receiver; the 707 is simply a receiver's whose power is "just right"
Sound:
Unbelievable improvement over the THX Pioneer VSX 37TX! Surrounds were awakened, made markedly alive. Separation and effects superb. Audio is very clean. Unlike at least one review here, I find the 707 does a wonderful, thrilling job with music, including when played through theater modes. Le Reve, eg, sounds mind boggling though the THX Cinema mode. Nonethless, the 707 has an option permitting stereo through all speakers, or simply thru the front L/R. Some older movies sound better in the all stereo mode. I am advised that many midrange receivers do not have an all speaker stereo option.
Vocal articulation in movies is very good. Some options produce better sound than others depending on the source material. And the night mode ( to stay married mode) does a very good job of allowing all sounds at relatively lower levels such that you can hear the whispers and enjoy the {mini} booms without a visit from upstairs.
My theater room is prewired for 7.2; meaning, adding additional wiring for additional speaker set ups would now be difficult. That said, you should know that the 707 permits as many as 11 speakers to be run within Zone 1. If you are not familiar with this set up, it simply allows a total of 5 front speakers (permitting vertical and horizonal directional sound). I have not heard this effect and perhaps someome else will describe its value.
There are many audio processing options. All current state of the art formats are processable thru the 707. Historically, receivers offered proprietary audio processing options only to disappoint. Eg, acoustical options like: " Miami Underwater Cave" , "North Carolina Woods" or "U of M/Ohio State coliseum " modes (I jest but I trust you get my point). This is not the case with the Onkyo. Its many audio choices are well thought out and quite legitimate; in fact, these options have very particular reasons to be employed. And the manual provides a chart to guide your selection. Choosing wisely results in even greater audio pleasure. The 707 is a Select 2 THX receiver , and listening to its THX cinema options prove the very real value of THX technology and the resulting certification. This THX label of approval is far more than mere marketing or simple window dressing. Onkyo THX Cinema and other THX modes are very well balanced to the 7.1 ear. To me, THX certification is a feature than goes on the "must have" list when shopping for a receiver.
In evaluating a receiver's audio abilities, and deciding whether to upgrade, I believe it is very important to measure the receiver you are considering in view of what it can do with your existing movie/music library; meaning, most of your library probably lacks many of the latest audio codecs. So what improvements can you get with the 707? That is why I described my previous equipment when beginning this review. Against my background, the 707 has been a huge step up in audio perfomance when processing my existing library containing mono. stereo, Dolby, THX, DTS etc. Allbeit an overused expression , the Onkyo 707 blows away the audio performance of my Pioneer TX 37. The sound of my music and movies, when processed through the 707, are greatly improved.
Heat:
A fairly common criticism is that this receiver (and the 807) run "hot"; meaning, toooo hot in the most critical reviews. Two comments. First, the 707 has a cautionary , instuctional sticker on its top, stating that it occasionally runs "fairly hot". This means dont put anything on the receiver's top ( like your favorite Blu-ray or beverage). Such is no different than stating "dont use the blow dryer in the tub while bathing". Just common sense. Second, my experience with the 707 receiver is that it does run hot at times (when active-not usually when merely on) but not toooo hot. From time to time it will get fairly warm to hot when not powering anything---but it should be in the standby mode under such circumstances. Standby produces zero heat. (Yes I have watched for the "too hot" issue in light of the criticisms.) Please know that my 707 is in a rack room, placed on the top rack with nothing but air above (the right place for any receiver). The rack room is closet size and the heat issue, well, isnt for me. I have no need for an external fan .
Other Features:
Beyond that already said about the audio quality, I should note that the unit does have Audyssey. The 707 includes a microphone with a generous amount of line permitting hook up to a fairly distant receiver (that was my case). This was my first experience with acoustic adjustment using Audyssey or any equivalent. The Pioneer TX 37 permitted the manual setting of speaker distance and volume levels of the speakers on an individual basis, but went no further. In my case, this meant alot of experimentation (I do not own a sound meter, I walked around alot at night clapping my hands-and that wasn't moments of self-applause.) Setting up and executing the Audyssey system was a breeze, taking about 15 minutes. I should tell you that I used the 707 receiver in its natural default settings briefly, just to hear and determine if any real differences resulted from employing the Audyssey option with my movies and music. Well, yes. The brightness and front center domination produced by the 707's default settings were reduced to appropriate levels, and the surrounds greatly improved as a consequence. My previous set up with the Pioneer TX 37 required much work and produced lesser results. While I do not believe the Audyssey option worked miracles, it did greatly assist the speed of setting up my system, and did improve the acoustic outcome. And I was made confident that my speakers were adjusted properly and thus could move on to other matters.
There are many many connections, including 5 rear HDMI inputs (and one HDMI out). It is probably already known by you, but if not, 2 LFE subwoofers out are supplied; many believe 2 subs are better than one and this makes using 2 subs very easy. Nice. I especially appreciate that the receiver's front includes both an HDMI input and standard inputs for auxilliary purposes. I have XM radio, and purchsed a Belkin home unit to plug in thru the front Aux inputs. The 707 is Sirrus ready for those with Sirrus, accessed by a connection in the rear. With either Sirrus or XM, a modestly priced receiver must be purchased. A wireless IR antenna, a bit more costly, may be required if the supplied XM/Sirrus antenna is unable to recieve the satillite signal, meaning, if the antenna is not able to be located against a geographically appropriate window. XM antenna must face S, Sirrus antenna must face N/E/or W. In any event, a purchased home unit can then be used to supply XM/Sirrus to your car or elsewhere to other components within the house. Nice.
The 707 front inputs allow use of headphones, and further permit "pure audio" sound; ie, unprocessed audio. Also nice. And the last resort for late night music and movies. Finally, the Onkyo 707 includes a phono input; as vinyl is making a comeback, you are all set to hear the rarified sound of records. And for a few, this feature means alot as it isnt found on many receivers in the 707's price range.
Video:
I am using a Pioneer 320 Blu ray (known for its audio and video qualities. I previously reviewed the 320 here on Amazon). I do not need video processing from the Onkyo 707 for DVDs/Blu-Rays; however, the 707 is available to process other legacy sources such as VCRs,etc.. It appears you can avoid the Onkyo video processing by selecting "pass through" video out. My testing suggests my Pioneer 320 blu ray is doing the video processing when I select the "pass through" option. The manual lacks clarity and explanation here. But the pass through option is accessible by the remote and all this is discussed in the manual at pages 42-44. I can say little else here; I can say the Onkyo 707 processing appears smoother, a tad softer and "more film like" when displaying other video sources , but I personally prefer the sharper video details produced by the Pioneer 320. In my view, the Onkyo 707's video processing is good but not great, and not, accordingly, a strong point.
Set-Up and Remote:
I am no technocrat but no stranger to receivers. The Onkyo 707 was easy to connect and included several user friendly assists to make the set up a pleasant experience. I have yet to set up Zone 2. But Zone 1 speakers were connected and in use within 15 minutes by quick use of banana plugs. Set up for other primary features is made all the easier with the 707's use of on the screen display. Without a serious study of the lengthy manual, I was able to navigate thru most of the essential set ups intuitively. Incidentally, you may read or simply download the 707 manual- in whole or in part- from Onkyo's online homesite. While waiting for my receiver to arrive, I downloaded and browsed portions of the manual, just to become familiar with location of key connections and the like. Nice.
The point here is that despite its many offerings, the 707 is not a difficult receiver to master. The manual is not badly written and is useful and necessary to understand some of the advanced features which need not be accessed until you are in the mood to explore. The on screen programming is easy to follow.
The remote is fine. It is slightly larger than most. It isnt backlit, but I prefer the use of a small flashlight when using my remote during movies anyway. The remote is able to learn from other remotes, this is a very nice feature. Furthermore, the on screen display reveals codes of many other products to allow you to program and thus rely on the Onkyo remote for controlling most components and home theater applications. I should emphasize that you can create many macro options with this remote; meaning, a series of instructions may be programmed and set in motion by the push of just one button . Nice. That feature used to be found only with the remotes of very expensive receivers or by purchase of costly, high end stand alone remotes.
Value:
The proper place to end this review.
This mid range receiver has been consistently judged a great value and performer in many professional reviews. Lay people usually repeat these very conclusions-witness the other reviews here on Amazon. As my enthusiastic review infers, I strongly agree ! Features, Power, Audio Qualities are uniformly very pleasing for all but the most demanding (and well-financed) consumers. Frankly, the Onkyo 707 is worth far more than its street price. If money is an object, then purchase the Onkyo 707 with confidence, its easily a Best Buy!
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Onkyo TX-SR707 vs TX-SR507 which I replaced.
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| Review Date: November 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Average Joe, US |
I originally purchased the Onkyo TX-SR507 and was unhappy with it.. I thought it would be the right model because I only wanted 5.1 support and that model also had the universal port for the Onkyo iPod dock.
I decided on the Definitive Technology Mythos and a Definitive Technology Supercube 1 as my speakers and sub and I found the 507 to be somewhat underpowered plus the 507 did not support on screen display which at the time i didn't think was that bid a deal.
Well this 707 model is WAY better than the 507.. I know the wattage is only rated at 20 watts more into 8 ohms but the 707 seems much better at powering all my speakers. On the 507 I had to turn the amp to about 75 percent ( my room is fairly large but not huge) on dvd's to fill my room.. the 707 does this at about 40-45 percent of the available volume. Plus for some reason, the upgraded DAC's maybe but the sound is far superior to the 507. I've extremely pleased.
Also, I thought THX Select2 Plus would just be another codex available but it is by far my favorite.. it doesn't color the sound but seems to balance everything just right.. I love the THX modes in movies and the modes for music..
Also, the on screen display is fantastic.. these receivers are realy complex and it is very nice to sit in your chair ( listening position) and make all the adjustments you want.. it's easy to compare and determine what you like best.
Also, if your looking to use the universal port for the iPod doc you can chose two modes, basic and extended with this model. With extended display you get to see all your folders, lists .. etc from the iPod on screen. This display is powered by the processing power of the iPod so scrolling is a little slow but its very nice none the less.
I believe this receiver is easily worth the extra money over the 507 ( only has basic support for the iPod and seems underpowered with no THX modes).
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A worthy successor to my old Carver
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| Review Date: December 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: adx442, |
My old Carver HTR-880 had been with me for about 14 years at this point, and was beginning to show its age, being an analog receiver with only the most basic of hookups. The channels were beginning to become a little noisy, and I finally, grudgingly, looked to replace it.
My wife found a fantastic deal on the Onkyo SR-707 during this holiday shopping season, and we ordered it at just the right time.
A major concern for me was that the care and concern for the quality of music reproduction would not be as great as my old Carver ... I have pretty good ears, and the Carver was one of the only amps available at the time (in my price range) that I really liked listening to. As it turns out, it was an unfounded worry.
The SR-707 sounds better than my old Carver in every way, particularly with my Klipsch speakers, which sounded a little harsh with the Carver. Being able to control every component with one remote by using a few simple HDMI cables and one TOSLINK optical cable (for PC sound) is fantastic, and the HDMI implementation on this Onkyo was painless to set up and configure. I particularly liked that it is so seamless to set up things like "Video from HDMI on this port, but use digital sound from this input (TOSLINK)". I have a PC set up for our DVD and video watching, and the motherboard doesn't have an HDMI output, so thanks to the Onkyo, we can still enjoy all the benefits of HDMI video routing and maintain digital sound paths. I love being able to switch the video and audio from one source to another with one remote, and being able to turn everything off or one with one button.
The DSP effects and Pro-Logic modes are very thorough, and the manual does a fantastic job of charting out which ones are best for (or available for) which speaker configurations. We have a fairly simple setup of 2 main speakers, a center channel, and a subwoofer. No surround speakers to speak of, and the Theater-Dimensional and "Surround Sensation" modes really do expand the soundstage to give you a "kinda" surround sound feel.
The Direct and Pure Music modes sound accurate, as compared to a very neutral headphone amp and Sennheiser 580 headphones, so, at least to my ears, the Onkyo does a fine job of not coloring the sound when you turn off most of the signal processing by using these modes.
Some of my positivity about this product comes, naturally, from moving from almost exclusively analog source connections to pure digital connections ... and wow, does it make a difference. However, the Onkyo has done a great job with everything about this receiver. I like the amp, I like the control, I like the number and variety of inputs, and I love the fine-grained control it gives you over your sources.
Many people have talked about the heat generated by this amp. It's entirely possible that it is much hotter when you're running all 11 possible speakers from it, but with my setup (only 3 speakers being driven directly by the amp) it's just warm on the top. It obviously needs good ventilation, based on the manual and design of the chassis. That's just the price you pay for a high-current amplifier, which was one of my "must-have" features when replacing the Carver.
The only test left for this amp is if it can last as long as my old Carver did ... I'll update this review if I have any reliability issues. |
Excellent High Value Receiver
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| Review Date: January 4, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Kevin B., Maryland |
I compared the Onkyo TX-SR707 to a Marantz, a Denon, and the Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K. I didn't want to invest in a high-end receiver that cost thousands of dollars since technology changes so fast (which is the reason I am replacing my previous receiver - apparently bluray no longer requires both Dolby Digital and DTS to be on every disk). I was looking for a high value receiver with a good pre-amp that included all the connectivity, and reasonable amplifier power to use in a small 18.5'x12' room. In big rooms, the Onkyo has preamp outputs that can be used with higher power amplifiers. The 707 also has a phono input and I still listen to vinyl once in a while. Thus, spending a little more for the 707 over the 607 also bought me a little extra power, S-video inputs, and THX Select. The sound is considerably better than my previous JVC. I attribute the better sound quality mostly to better digital processing, but also to better amplifier design. The 707 is considered a low-to-mid range receiver that specs its power rating when 2 channels are driven at one time - not all 7 being driven simultaneously.
Preamp/Processing:
The Onkyo includes all the latest DD, DTS and THX decoding. The sound is wonderful for both music and movies. It is significantly better than my previous JVC. Much of this improved sound quality is most certainly due to Audyssey correcting for room and speaker colorations, as well as bass management. All the receivers I considered had this long overdue technology (Microsoft has a version in Windows). After running Audyssey, some of the settings seemed off but I would recommend going to the Audyssey website to understand why before changing them. The folks there are very nice and will answer your questions. For music, I don't particularly care for reprocessing using the various DD, DTS or THX formats, but I do like the "all stereo" for some soundtracks which puts stereo sound on all speakers. After setup, the speaker balance was superb. The surrounds added clarity but the music still sounded like it was coming from the front. As far as video, the 707 does a good job, but not a great job, of upscaling analog video signals. Apparently, Anchor Bay chips found on higher end receivers are better regarded than the Faroudja which Onkyo uses.
Amps:
The power available to the Onkyo amps is similar to that in my old JVC as both use 12000 uF power supply capacitors which is one reason I claim the sound improvement has much to do with processing. Further, the available power for the Onkyo amps is spread over 7 channels whereas that for the JVC is over 5 channels. However, I believe the Onkyo amps are better designed based on their specified damping factor of 60. There are a few good articles on the web describing what damping factor means but fundamentally a higher number generally means the amp can control the speakers better. For reference, a high end Marantz receiver costing several thousand dollars has a damping factor of 80 which is pretty good. The damping factor in high end amplifiers from Outlaw Audio or NAD can be as high as 400. Most receivers I was looking at don't even list the damping factor making me suspect that they have values less than 40.
Remote/Miscellaneous:
I generally hack cheap remotes to get deep level, multi-component functionality (search "jp1" if you are interested). However, I must say that the remote that came with the Onkyo is the best factory remote I have used by far. It is intuitive, well laid out, easy to set up and can control every component I have. The remote usefulness nearly matches those that I hack including the use of macros. The Onkyo uses CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) standards that can control other components through the HDMI cable. They also use proprietary codes for added functionality with other Onkyo components. I really don't like proprietary stuff and stay away from companies that use it exclusively, so I was happy that Onkyo included the CEC specification.
Overall, I am very impressed with the processing and feature set on the Onkyo TX-SR707. The amp power is decent and can drive lower impedances than some of the other amps I was looking at. As I once discovered from an older NAD integrated amplifier, this can be critical for some speaker systems. I don't think you will go wrong with any receiver in this price range for smaller rooms (I would strongly recommend including Audyssey though). However, I am very happy with the Onkyo TX-SR707 and it gets 5 stars for value, feature set and sound quality. Hope this helps!
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This receiver is incredible
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| Review Date: December 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Wanda, martinsburg, WV |
| This receiver is incredible. It has most of the features of the step up model (807) minus the networking capability and about 1db worth of wattage. It is a great value. Burr brown DACs, 6 HDMI inputs, Audessy! wow! It sounds great too. The audessy dialed my room in perfectly for me. I have it paired with the Paradigm cinema 110 speaker system and couldnt be happier. Buy it now |
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