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Got my Onkyo TX-SR 706 yesterday


ClaudeJ1

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Easy hookup, great upgrade from 5.1 because it has Pre Outs, a Phono input, all the latest Blue Ray HD goodies, AND the Audyssey Auto Dynamic EQ setup, which still works for 2-channel listening. Made my stacks sound even more detailed and airy. I'm pretty sure it only boosted the high end a little bit, since I'm running my CD horns without EQ through just a capacitor with natural rolloff. Now the cymbals sound more real than before, which they were good before.

That's a lotta bang for the buck at $538 plus free shipping!! Amazon rules. I'm in sonic nirvana and I'm not even doing Blue Ray yet. Most are still 5.1 and the so called "superior" sound is overrated IMHO, sound on good ol DVD's is just fine. I tested Transformers on Blue and DVD and the DVD sounded better on my old receiver (I used the Sony analog outs). so I took my Sony 550 back. I will wait until I have a 1080P projector to go full Blue.

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thanks to this post, i was looking at the onkyo site for 'factory recertified' recievers and they looked really interesting.

the 706/806 can be had for under $500. i will have to keep an eye out on these. any one had experience with factory recertified recievers? i had severall dell factory certified desktops/laptops and loved them. they are pratically new unshipped computers. am i looking at the same quality with regards to receivers? thanks

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thanks to this post, i was looking at the onkyo site for 'factory recertified' recievers and they looked really interesting.

the 706/806 can be had for under $500. i will have to keep an eye out on these. any one had experience with factory recertified recievers? i had severall dell factory certified desktops/laptops and loved them. they are pratically new unshipped computers. am i looking at the same quality with regards to receivers? thanks

My 805 was factory reconditioned directly from Onkyo's website. The box said the receiver might have cosmetic imperfections but mine was 10/10 mint and still even had the plastic on the front display. Haven't had a single problem, owned it since October and its definitely seen a watt or two through its speaker outputs.

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Onkyo user here to... 806(S model) for about $530 shipped.

I am still wondering how to hook up pre outs... anyone?

If you take a look at the bottom right side on the back of your Onkyo, you will see the pre-out section. You can use these to hook up an external amp to drive your speakers. Each channel (ex. left, right, center) is connected to an external amp using standard RCA cables (usually Red & White cable). For example, if you had a three channel amp like the Emotiva XPA-3, you would simply hook up one end of three RCA cables to the Left, Right and Center on back of the receiver and connect the other ends to the corresponding RCA inputs on the back of the amp. Then from the amp, you would connect your speaker wire to each of those three speakers.

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I'm not sure there is really a difference between a Digital Coax and RCA. Check out this thread. I always believed there was but recently I am beginning to think otherwise. It appears that this is a marketing strategy rather than a different format.

There is NO difference. I can confirm this because I have been using old RCA cables for the digital coax connection for years. Digital is digital and "bits is bits". That makes the cable in this case just a means of transferring that digital data. The industry's use of an pre-existing 40 year old connector (RCA) is a beautiful thing as a result. There was no need for a totally new connector.

Sadly, it seems in recent years, more electronic gear is coming out with the newer digital optical (Toslink) instead. In that case you will have to spend a little. No worries there either. The cheapest $3 optical cables work exactly the same because digital is digital (signal data vs signal quality). The generic one's on places like Ebay or Amazon will work. Optical cables can now be found in much longer lengths too, just like RCA.

This also means the days are numbered for the companies raking in money selling outrageously expensive cables for better analog signal quality. They are are the same companies trying to sell higher priced digital cables with the selling point of "better" performance. SAVE YOUR MONEY!

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Hello MONSTER?????

Um YEA! They would be #1 on the list! I'm glad I didn't fall for that trap back in the analog days. Just a descent set of gold-plated shielded ones was good enough for me. I was too cheap anyway to let the sales folks at The Good Guys, Dow, Tweeter, and Best Buy try to add Monster cables to my orders for their own added credit or commission.

BTW, same goes for HDMI cables. All that matters is they are rated as compliant to the gear's standard (1.3, 1.3a, etc).

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That's what I was thinking as well. I've been buying all of my cables recently from Monoprice. Great products at very affordable prices. Monster Cable has just done a fantastic job of marketing because most people are not aware of this.

BTW, same goes for HDMI cables. All that matters is they are rated as compliant to the gear's standard (1.3, 1.3a, etc).

I recently attended the EXPO and sat in on an HDMI seminar. One thing he mentioned is that the different formats of HDMI 1.3 do not effect home audio so don't get caught up in that hype either. I believe the a, b, c etc has to do with the corporate applications, not the consumer audio/video market.

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That's what I was thinking as well. I've been buying all of my cables recently from Monoprice. Great products at very affordable prices. Monster Cable has just done a fantastic job of marketing because most people are not aware of this.

BTW, same goes for HDMI cables. All that matters is they are rated as compliant to the gear's standard (1.3, 1.3a, etc).

I recently attended the EXPO and sat in on an HDMI seminar. One thing he mentioned is that the different formats of HDMI 1.3 do not effect home audio so don't get caught up in that hype either. I believe the a, b, c etc has to do with the corporate applications, not the consumer audio/video market.

Good to know about the HDMI standards. I was convinced it meant there were different features the gear could do with each one. MONOPRICE! Love them! Professional, reliable, great shipping prices, and better than Ebay in many cases for price. In fact they have a store on Ebay too which is how I learned about them. Now I go directly to their website.

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I was convinced it meant there were different features the gear could do with each one.

That's exactly what the manufacturers (ahem Monster Cable) want you to believe so they can sucker people into buying a 1.3a and there is no benefit for the consumer. The main difference between version HDMI 1.2 and 1.3 is that 1.3 introduced the ability to transfer HD Audio. So if you want to take advantage of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-Master, you will need an HDMI 1.3 cable.

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I was convinced it meant there were different features the gear could do with each one.

That's exactly what the manufacturers (ahem Monster Cable) want you to believe so they can sucker people into buying a 1.3a and there is no benefit for the consumer. The main difference between version HDMI 1.2 and 1.3 is that 1.3 introduced the ability to transfer HD Audio. So if you want to take advantage of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-Master, you will need an HDMI 1.3 cable.

So there are differences certain numbers afterall, just in the example of 1.3 to 1.3a. What I was told about 1.3a introducing deeper HD colors is not correct.

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So there are differences certain numbers afterall, just in the example of 1.3 to 1.3a. What I was told about 1.3a introducing deeper HD colors is not correct.

Yes, each revision has it's differences. This should help. All of the 1.3 versions support Deep Color. This article suggests that deep color extends beyond what the human eye can perceive.

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