Onkyo

I was looking for 2.0 system after 3 years in HT entertainment. I used to have some good Pioneer Separate Amp and integrated amp from Yamaha, Sansui, Harmon Kardon and Dynaco tube before HT. As the convenience of Yahoo bid, I acquired this Onkyo Integra M-5060R lately. After a week of listening (mainly classical plus many other types), I am sold by it. The music details are more abundant than I had with my Pioneer M-1500 ( I still use the pairing C-1500 as preamp ). The vocal has more ambient and the high is filling higher frequencies without fatigue. The bass is going lower and controlled. I am re-listening many of my dust-plated CD's which I previously rated muddy ( blur ) or too-bright.. and quite a number of them are actually gold-mines instead through M-5060R now as either the previous muddy was due to less analytic or bright as little headroom for the low frequencies by previous equipments. I took 1 point off because though in playing large orchestral music, the details are more abundant but while on playing some chamber music, the clarity of the instruments is not as crisp (palpable) as Pioneer M-1500 - may be due to a much simpler circuit - 7.7 Kg by Pioneer compare to 18.5 Kg. by Onkyo. I also noticed the pairing P-306R (P3060R) is also a great component to couple with from knowledge forums. P-3060R is my next search. Maybe the Super Servo pair can make Onkyo a perfect 10 for my listening. One last thing,Power Amps need warm-up. This starts to be in good working condition after 30min and needs 1.5 hours to bring to its best sound quality.

I have used the 9711 together with Quadral Amun VI (Phonologue) speakers. Overall good sound, especially the lows and the mids are excellent. The highs are also good, but transients sound a bit 'rounded'. I have put a lot of effort in improving transient behaviour. In my tuning and listening trials I finally settled with Van den Hul TEATRACK HYBRID ( http://www.vandenhul.com/p_C26.aspx ) for the speaker cables and Nordost flatline interconnects. This improved transient response and made instrument position much better. I encountered the same problem with the degradation of one channel as described in the previous review. In my case it was the right channel. I replaced the volume control circuitry and the input selection circuitry, but without succes. Than I found a service manual for the 9711 and tried the prescribed adjustification of the bias current setting. That did the trick, both channels are working well again.

(Originally written by lewkey/translated from Audiofanzine FR) - How long have you been using it? I've been using it since October 2008 (in a 2.0 setup). - Which feature do you like the most / the least? Pros: Lots of inputs/outputs, output power, high sound quality... It has a very linear response: low-end and high-end are always well-balanced no matter what volume you set it to!! Cons: Weight and price - Did you try any other models before buying it? For home cinema, I owned a Sony STR-DE598 but it sounded very bad compared to this one (no comparison possible). - How would you rate its value for money? Average but it's the price to pay if you want a very good system instead of a mediocre one!! - Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? Yes but one is enough for me. In the beginning, I chose a Sony bundle (STR-DE598 amp plus 6 speakers) but I've always used it mostly in a 2.0 setup (I'm more of a hi-fi fan than a home cinema freak). But this amp opened a totally new world for me: It's 5 times as expensive as the whole system I had before, but quality and performance are incomparable. I'm currently using it with the Sony speakers but I ordered a pair of Klipsch RF-7 which ought to arrive soon. In comparison, the high-frequency response of the Sony amp is very sharp. Video signals are upgraded pretty good to HDMI. It can manage a second audio (line or powered signal) and video plus a third audio zone (line signal). It can also handle bi-amping (not needed with Klipsch speakers because they have a very dynamic response) or bridge the amps for both main loudspeakers. /!\ : I don't recommend it: see note below : /!\ It's nearly impossible to use all functions (particularly all inputs/outputs and zones 2 and 3!) of this very comprehensive amp. Also worth mentioning is the remote, which is quite big, it needs three AA batteries, has a backlight (activated with a knob on the right side) and you can manage a complete system with it. You can use it to manage the amp and all other devices. You can program it (a code list for most hi-fi and video manufacturers is provided) or program each knob with the original remote of the slave device. EDIT: After 2 weeks of use, I tested the WEB radio function (and the quality is lousy!!) but since I have a hard disk full of PCM WAV files I tried out the front USB connector and played back audio files from a multimedia server (I have a Maxtor). In these playback modes you can't hear a track while you're searching for another file on the hard disk or the media server. It seems you can't deliver video signals through both HDMI connectors at the same time (I couldn't find this function): You can choose either one in the menu (for the video output, you can choose between Composite, S-Video, YUV, HDMI Main and HDMI sub). The last setting of every connector is stored so you only have to select the output and its setting is automatically recalled. The device can upgrade every signal to HDMI but it can't downgrade (HDMI to YUV or Composite). For example, if you connect a TV in S-Video mode, you'll only be able to watch Composite and S-Video sources but no YUV or HDMI signal. Anyway I think people who buy this amp already have an HDMI screen or a beamer!!! When I connected my Klipsch RF7 speakers, I bridged the amp but I recommend you not to do this: The bridge mode decreased the overall sound quality and the sound became less accurate and dynamic. I haven't tried out the bi-amping mode because it only enhances the dynamic response of the speakers (mine have enough dynamic) and it requires a second cable, as well as precise settings. I used special AWG12 (4mm2) speaker cable. I didn't give it the best mark because it's a bit expensive but then again, if you want higher quality it all comes at a cost.