Very clean sound, accurate dynamic reproduction.

A hum exists when cranked up--unnoticeable if you're actually listening to music at that volume though (rather than just turning it up w/no sound to see if it hisses)

I would definetely recommend this receiver. I am very satisfied with the sound and price (I paid $250 at circuit city and it came with free speakers)

Some people have said they thought it didn't have enough bass. I would imagine those people did not set it up right...you have to specify if or if not you have a subwoofer (default is yes)

Similar Products Used:

$400 Sony of some kind

Quality, channel-splitting, lack of background noise

remote - basically useless - get a 7-in-1 home theatre remote

This was my first foray into home theatre, and I found this on sale on Circuit City on line for $270. I have been very impressed overall with the quality of this receiver. With my Sharp DVD and Wharfedale Modus Movies satellite/sub system I have enjoyed a number of good digital movies, esp. the Matrix - amazing sound effects. I felt like I was at the theatre! As a new dad who has not been to the theatre in 9 months, this was greatly appreciated. I would recommend this to anyone interested in home theatre and on a tight budget. The sound with CD's is equally as good, and on neither mode have I had the volume in the (+) dB range. Enjoy.

Quality, Value, and Features

slight humm or hiss

i've been a two-channel purist for many years. while i have what is considered to be a hi-end 2 channel system; i wanted to put-together a good quality budget 5-channel system... for obvious reasons. i have unmatched speakers, a crappy 15 yr old portland 19inch t.v., and a crappy cheap sony c.d. player. all of this with in-box interconnects. i have no dvd player and a avg hi-fi vcr. as you can see i have alot of building to do and alot of money to find in the street.

however all i needed was a receiver as the last piece of the puzzle. my first receiver was a 2-channel 55watt tx-830 onkyo. which could play louder and better then most name brand (kenwood, pioneer, sony (not es) 100 watt 2-channel recievers. and not a problem for 11 years! so onkyo was the way to go in my book.

for $275 including shipping, although i could have gotten it cheaper, is an excellent value. you have the usual onkyo standards; dual heavy duty heat sinks, large transformer, direct signal paths, high current amp, solid constuction, and very, very cool dimmer and sleep controls. nice touches!

the remote control not being universal isn't a problem at this price range. if you want one, spend the extra $100 and purchase the 575 along with dts capability and more power.

as for sound quality i compared my older onkyo with the 474 and use my main klipsch klh-20 speakers. my old onkyo sounder good but the 474 sounded more natural and smooth. overall more pleasing to listen too. i was satisfied. i was hoping that was going to be the case.

as with all "hi-end" components, the most direct signal path is the cleanest. that is why onkyo omitted a loundness "button." no extra coloration or bass-boost here. if you don't have a full ranged left/right speakers and no subwoofer you simply cannot get the bass that you are use too. get a $70 technique 7-band equalizier if you want cheap loud bass. i have cause my c.d. player to skip from bass from this receiver.

as with the humm. it is there and it is slight. if you are running unmatched speakers with different sensitivities, as i am, you have to adjust you db ratings accordingly for the different channels. thus cause extra output for some channels and more hiss. i am willing to bet if i purchased a match surround sound speaker system and properly calibrated the test tone settings the humming or hissing would be greatly reduced. however there will always be a slight humm or hiss, but let us not forget the price.

bottom line, for the price and quality i dare you to find a better sounding and performing system with more features.

Similar Products Used:

none...first multi-channel A/V receiver

Performance value ratio, build quality

Hum/hiss, not to much of a problem if listening at reasonable levels

I already have a high end multi-kilobuck system for music and cinema in a dedicated room and was looking to set up a system that all members of the family could use at any time for under $1k. At $230 delivered (new, not refurbished) the TX-DS474 is exactly what I wanted. A no frills 5.1 receiver with a good amplifier section rated at a honest 5x55 watts 20-20k at 8 ohms. IMO lack of S-Video or DTS at this level is not a problem. I think you need a better then average system to discern the differences that DTS offers, and you would have to question whether video signals would not be degraded at this price level. The only flaw with this receiver is the slight hum/hiss you can hear when the volume is at higher levels. Otherwise the performance of this receiver exceeded my expectations at this price point. The sound is not thin or bright, but has some body to it, and is reasonbly detailed and punchy sounding. I initially bought the Cambridge Sound Works 308 movie package for $499. This package offers good sound & impact on movies, but is marginal for music. I returned the the 308 system and bought a Boston Acoustics set up for two hundred dollars more that is much better with music, and fuller sounding on movies (CR6 Left/Right, Micro 90c Center, Micro 80x Surrounds, and PV400 Subwoofer).

Similar Products Used:

Dennon AVR 3600

Dolby Digital, Reasonable price, Ease of use

Speaker Hum, Weak Bass

I can't complain for the price ($230 delivered), this is a nice unit. Very easy to set up and use. It sounds very good in all applications (DVD, FM, CD, etc.) One of my main considerations was ease of use (for the family). This unit delivers! As for the speaker hum, what is the problem? It is noticable on the digital channel (I thought digital was supposed to be clean!) The family hasn't complained, so I'm OK so far! Next time, I'll demo more units before actually buying.

Similar Products Used:

Old JVC Pro Logic

Well made trnsformer, heat sinks, and easy to use front panel

Speaker hum at loud levels, Onkyo only remote

I really liked the quality of this receiver and it had both Dolby Digital and DTS. It also has a self explanatory front panel and controls, perhaps the most simple of any receiver I looked at.
However, I couldn't live with a flaw in the design. I got a speaker hum (only 2 speakers connected) when playing at loud volumes and there was a soft spot in the music or if I put the source (DVD) in pause. I triple checked my connections and swapped out cables. Then I did a test adding one component at time. I even bought a second unit hoping it was just a fluke in the first unit, but it showed the same characteristic. I didn't get this hum with a Marantz A66 receiver or a Yamaha RX V495 receiver hooked up to the identical components with the same cables. I think you will find similar concerns as mine in these reviews

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX V495

clear, clean...suited for Celine Dion or Mariah Carey

bass, NOT enought bass!!

why did i get this? cause i thought a receiver for that price was good enough, i was wrong. not enought bass or power. when i say power i mean that it never realy "kicks off". u cant possibly get a kick of this listening to rock unless u got realy big speakers. The dd decoder liked movies like titanic n stuff. but never real action movies. my 5 year old aiwa receiver is better in stereo than this one.
For value id give it 4 out of 5. be sure to get a more expensive receiver(not 575: HISS), cause receivers at this price sinply doesnt cut it!

Front panel is nicely setup. easy to use and operate.

Remote still needs some work.

Excellent unit, my friend needed a good receiver that didn't cost alot so I told him to grab this one up. It was $299 + tax at our local shop that is a steal man. This thing is ready for DTS which most DVD players have built in anyway so it wasn't necessary to have one in the receiver. Performs beautifully in his 18X12 living room of his new place. Flat out kicks butt in his room. excellent value for anyone just starting out or even someone looking to upgrade.

Similar Products Used:

TXDS555

Excellent sound quality, value

hum from other components

The hum problems I got were from hooking up a Mitsubishi TV and VCR to the 474. I used the S-video jack from my Apex DVD to the Mits TV input and replaced the Mits VCR with a newer Panasonic model. Now it plays as clean as anything out there (and I've heard and owned tons of stuff). I recommend hooking it up to one component at a time to see if you're getting any hum problems. The Pioneer receiver I had been using had no similar compatibility problems, but did not have anywhere near the sound quality of this Onkyo unit.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer pro logic

High Current AC-3 for low $$$ Clean sound.

cheapie spring clips, crosstalk on analog channels

If you are putting together a low cost sc-3 system, this is the reciever you need. Its not exactly high power like some other brands, but the high current really is a better solution. remember you need to get 10x the power to get 2x the sound! Plenty of inputs for the average user. A/V switching. (no s-video thoug :( ) Made my current system sound new upgrading from a HK two channel amp. Hower a couple of points I dont like... the volume knob is essentially a digital shuttle, and sort of lags when you adjust the volume. The analog inputs have audioable crosstalk at volumes of 0 and above sounds about like your tv with the volume turned all the way down when listening to a blank channel at +6. unused digital channels are clean and hiss free. without load, though the active digital channel has some hiss at 0 and above when nothing is playing. Not something entirely unacceptable in a $300 reciever. I doubt you'd notice the hiss at that volume with something playing, but the crosstalk might be worth looking at.

Similar Products Used:

Harmon Kardon 3300