Onkyo HT-RC180***** Is this a piece of junk????

[Bilka316]

I have a chance to buy this receiver for $400- The guys says he bought it for his brother online and never opened it- ??? Anyhow he says he will demo it for me to make sure that it works. I am worried that Onkyo will not honor the warranty!! I have read a few reviews. Some are really good, others say they have had major problems ( blowing up, lasting only a week or two) I want to get everyones advice!! Let me know what you think.

[Yura]

The spec and price is right, but Onkyo's do have reliability issues. In general they run very hot compared to other brands, and this particular model does have quite a few reports of it dieing very quickly. For $400 you can find a unit that will work great for years, but may not have the THX2 certification or have fewer watts per channel.

For under $400 you can buy a Denon 1910 (if you want new)

http://www.6ave.com/Shop/product.aspx?sku=DENAVR1910

Or open box Pioneer Elite model with THX for slighly more

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/538319191/pioneer-vsx03txh

I would stay away from that particular Onkyo model though.

[zappa883]

Suggest thinking twice about entry level Onkyo anything. I've also never been a fan of "factory warranties" as once these cards are filled out they cannot be altered by your local AV shop etc. I always perferred flexibility when it came to warranty options. Theres ways around everything.

[synergyfreak]

that is the main thing that scares me about onkyo's is how hot they run

[Ironsave]

Yeah... Me too.....

My computer is right next to it. I connected a fan to my computer (120mm) and use it on top of my receiver to pull out the heat.

Cost me nothing as I got a bunch of extras with my last case purchase........

Good Luck.

[willland]

that is the main thing that scares me about onkyo's is how hot they run

For the record, Onkyo has designed their receivers to run a bit warmer than most other brands. If that is still an issue, get one of these.

http://www.buyextras.com/evavcoblfanf.html

When I added mine, it dropped the temp 15 to 20 degrees and I have my Onkyo in a cabinet with only 1.5 inches of clearance.

I am not going to say that Onkyo receivers are the best thing since sliced bread, but from my experince, I have never had a reliability issue with either of my Onkyo receivers(3 and 10 years old) or for that matter any Onkyo gear.

Bill

[Groomlakearea51]

Same comments as Willand. I'm on year #3 with the first AVR, year #2 with the second and third one, and my son's 8555 receiver has not missed a beat going on two years. I bought them via "Onkyo Direct". (see further below...)

Do they run "hot"? Sorta', but then again I also use a 5" chassis fan similar to described. But then again, I always have used chassis fans on all of my amps. Even the ones that run relatively cool (the big Sansui amps) have the fan, it's just set at the lowest speed to keep the air circulating through the chassis. They do not draw hardly any power when running, and if you set them at the correct speed, the amp will attain it's designed operating temperature, but not become excessively warm.

Entry level? Unfortunately, and I believe that it's irrespective of the brand these days, entry level is just that - entry level. Pushing any "entry level" to or past it's real or implied limitations has risks. At some point, when you "torture" a piece of equipment it will "surrender".

The RC-180 is not really "entry level", per se... I'd look at the SR-607, 707. They pretty much do the same thing, the basic design has been around for several years (that means they usually don't have issues such as overheating, etc.). Best buy right now for a good 100WPC solid performer would be the 707;

See: http://www.shoponkyo.com/detail.cfm?productid=TX-SR707&modelid=54&group_id=1&detail=2

I know I may be bashed on this, but..... their "refurb" specials are actuually the better deal. Reason? Well 99% of the time the reason they were returned was not due to a catastrophic failure, it's usually due to scratches, or something simple. But when a unit is returned, they have to go through everything (again) and test the units which is done here in the US. Whatever was going to break, broke, and it's been tested again to make sure nothing else will break. The result is you can save a couple $100 or so and as likely as not.... it will perform just fine.

All of my Onkyo's (which I use for AVR's, etc.) do "family use" duty in the living room, MBR, etc. I've had Denon's, etc. for those purposes, and all in all, the Onkyo's have proven to be sound good and be reliable. I don't use them in the "Wall of Voodoo" - that's a completely different situation and they are not designed for that type of pure stereo listening environment.

Just some thoughts.

[Olorin]

I'm glad to see the refurb issue brought up. Some manufacturers, and I don't know which ones, do sample testing instead of testng every item. They can do this because the reliability rate is so high that it costs considerably more to test every single piece that comes off the line than it does to deal with the rare bad one on a warranty basis. The testing rate for refurbs and factory certified, though, is 100%. That's why, if I'm on the market for a receiver again, I'll buy one of Harman Kardons refurbs from their eBay store. Not too long ago they had a long run of AVR-347s go through at a very good price.