It's really good especially the multi source function and exellent on dolby digital! but if you are listening on regular music it's kinda lack on highs. but it's an exellent product for $556. and that's true I'm having problems on remote volume!

This is an excellent receiver!

Well it breaks down like this. I have owned this reciever for about 3 months now. Now this reciever has some great features on it, but has some drawbacks, well maybe not drawbacks but in a perfect world it could use a a few extra things. First of all lets go for the main reason anyone buys a 700.00 reciever, build and sound quality. Onkyo uses fully descrite circuitry and processing. What that means to you is that it uses amps and volts in the current, so based on watts, or power, its only got 85x5, but you compare that to Sony, JVC, Pioneer, or Kenwood power, you would have to get a 150 watts per channel to match it. Anyways, its about normal in the bandwith, 20-20000khz but the thickness of the current gives the bass a much tighter and livlier sound. The build quality is a super plus, these things are built to last. I would have to say it wieghs a solid 40lbs.The Dolby Digital sound quality is very impressive, and the on screen menu interface allows you to menipulate and is easy to use. The inputs on the back are set up, with pre-outs ( for a seperate amp) and 6 channel direct imputs for any upgrade you would like to venture into. Front A/V inputs and S-Video inputs are available on the front and back so composite and Super-video switching is part of this unit, great idea. In a perfect world like I dreamed about earlier, Onkyo would have dubbed this "Integra" and gold plated the inputs, but I guess you take the silver and smile for this price. It also would be nice if they used seperate digital and analog converters for "crystal", thank you H/K, sound. This would also be a jem if DTS was added onto the 656, heck if Pioneer can do it for 379.99, why cant Onkyo do it for 760.00? In closing if your looking for a solid A/V reciever with some killer Dolby Digital and much better than standard stereo sound Onkyo has made a model for you. If your looking for a attractive, easy to use reciever that also gives you the inputs for "future proofing" this is a choice piece, I should know, I own one.

I have to credit my recent purchase of my TXDS656 to doing my homework with respect to what I was really looking for in a reciever. I was looking for ease of operation, (especially for wifes) a great amplifier section with good clean power, (the key word here is clean) and a reasonable price. In my wildest dreams I never thought that I would get an A for my efforts on all my requests, but I did. I can honestly say that this unit for the money is by far one of the best AV control systems out there. I have alot of friends that have high end systems with all the bells an whistles, which cost triple the money that don't sound any better, I power JBL HP88F for the front, JBL PSW1200 for a sub, JBL HLS center and JBL HP6B for rears, what an oustanding compliment the this unit, it's the best $550.00 I ever spent, my hat's off to Onkyo.

Just brought it home last night and stayed up playing everything I could(my neibors really love me now!). I upgraded from a kenwood 107vr (which fit my budget at the time)and can now appreciate a quality reciever. Another fine example of "you get what you pay for". The Guy at Circuit city gave me the wrong cable for my new DVD player so I haven't had the opportunity to experience the 5.1 DD on my Infinity's yet, but so far it sound as good or better than at the demo room. I was looking at the denon 3200 which has the ability to utilize all 5 speakers at full power with no delay in analog mode but cost about 200$ more. But....I love this thing!

I have brought this Surround Amp since Nov. last year, to replace my old DenonAVC-1020G (brought in 1992).
I found this Amp is good for movie, but a little bit "metalic" in music.
(unfortunately, I spend over 50% of the time listening to music !)

Quit disappointed, this Amp has some problem during Feb. this year -
the left channel failed to produce any sound ! (even through I am very careful
in "using" this Amp, volume never setting too high, and always turning the volume down before switching any input source and surround mode !)
Althrough the dealer has finally repaired this Amp, and is functioning normally
up to today, the reliability of Onkyo product has affected the overall rating.
Furthermore, on the operation point of view, the remote control contains "a lot of" "very small" keys ! Actually, only half is useful, except you have a full set of Onkyo AV equipments, and the learning capacity is very limited (only 10 keys !) which is not enough to control other AV equipments.
On the front panel, again, "a lot of" buttons, in particular, related to tuner setup (e.g. input of station name characters). I wonder if such one-time or rare functions can be controlled by the "Smart" controller. On the other hand, I found it difficult to switch on/off of the sub-woofer, changing between analogy/digital input directly through the front panel !? and have to control through the on-screen function by using the remote control (and have to turn on the TV, even if I am only listening to music CD !).
May be too much negative comments !?

To be positive, I am trying to find means in improving the music playback quality through this Amp. My current system configuration is as follows :
AV Surround receiver : Onkyo TX-DS656
DVD Player : Pioneer DV-505 (for playback DVD only)
DVD to Onkyo digital cable : Audioquest Video One
CD Player : Arcam Alpha One (for playback CD)
CD to Onkyo audio cable : TaraLabs Prism 33
Main speaker : KEF Q50
Speaker cable : Audioquest Crystal
Center speaker : KEF Model 90
Rear speaker : Goodman Arena AV
Subwoofer : KEF Model 20B
LD Player : Onkyo DX-V370 (for playback LD & VCD)
Power filter : Furutech PRO168

I am looking forward to hear from anyone comment on improving my system CD playback quality through this Amp (my preference is on Jazz music !)
Thank you very much beforehand.

I have had this receiver for about 4 months. Enjoy the sound? Yes. Except from: RADIO. The radio output sounds too mushy and uneven. I highly doubt it's bad reception. The sound the receiver outputs seems to be too high on the MID. Therefore I wish that the receiver had a MID knob included with the BASS and TREB knob so i can adjust that. The CD and DVD(Dolby Dig) sound is highly acceptable. The fan is sometimes heard even at the 10-11 o clock area. The machine feels very hot throughout any movie. Over all, it deserves about a 3.5, rounded up to 4.

I bought several receivers before I settled on the Onkyo. I tried the JVC 884 (piece of crap), a yamaho (from sears) - ran out of dial way too fast (not enough power), two Sony models (sony had a problem keeping products in stock - not to mention poor reviews - so I cancelled those orders), and a Denon 2700 (believe it or not, but I ran out of dial again - at the dealers showroom!) I have to assume the Denon wasn't setup correctly, but I still wasn't going to take any chances.
I bought the Onkyo 656 and never looked back.

Negatives:
NO DTS (is that really important?)
Onscreen display only works with Composite, not S-Video (Why Onkyo, Why???)
Remote sucks (Actually, all reciever remotes suck - buy a Marantz RC2000 and be happy)
The biggest negative - in order to go from ProLogic to Stereo, you have to go through all 6 surround modes. This reciever needs a Stereo Mode Button for an easy switch.

These negatives are all real minor. I've had the unit for 4 months and have never heard the fan. I've never seen the unit get real hot either. I believe the people who say the fan is loud - but I sure haven't seen it in mine. Guess i got my volume loud enough. I've never run out of dial either. I've got these connected to Energy C-6s and haven't pushed the dial past 1 o'clock yet.

I'd like to give this reciever a 5 - but a 5 is perfect and a perfect reciever wouldn't have those minor negatives I mentioned. Guess I'll have to settle for a 4.5 rating. Since 4.5 isn't an option, I'm rounding up.

I have had the 656 for about three months now and I must say it was worth the $ 1400 cdn I had paid for it. I recently watched both Video and DVD throughtthe sytem on Prologic and it was quite an experience. The amplifier is is great for music and for movies and at 85W per channel I have more than enough power!!. I really enjoy this product and it has operated without a problem so far. I can hardly wait for my center and sub to enjoy dolby digital. I definitely give it five stars.
System setup

Onkyo 656
Sony DVPS330
Rotel RCD-951
Pardigm Monitor 7's
Pardigm Mini Monitors(Surrond)
Pioneer Tape deck(Old Model)
A/R Cables
A/R 12G speaker Cable

I've had the Onkyo 656 for about 7 months now, and for the most part, I love it! I wish it had DTS, but that's a minor deficiency (at least util DTS takes off, if it even does). I can always add a silver Millenium DTS decoder for $200 a little later (see www.fivepoint1.com for that deal). The S-Video inputs are great, and the front panel's selector wheel works well once you get used to it. Sound quality through my Paradigm speakers (Titan v2.0 in the front, Atoms in the rear, CC-170 center, and PDR-10 sub) is phenomenal for a setup that's mid-fi all the way.
Dolby Digital separation for movies is extremely good, and playing music in the Pro-logic mode gives it a nice, full sound, although I have to turn the center channel down a hair so it doesn't dominate. I've found the tuner on this unit to be excellent. I'm still using the t-wire antenna just stretched out across the top of the cabinet that the receiver is in, and I'm pulling in just about every station I'd expect to be able to get. What makes that impressive is that my setup is in the basement of my house. I can't wait to see what a good powered Terk antenna will pull in.

On the negative side, the remote is an atrocity. Replace it (as I plan to do) with a Home Producer universal remote, or one of the high-end remotes if you have the cash. Also, the on-screen display can only be passed through the composite video out (not the s-video). As such, I never use the on-screen display. As for the much-discussed fan noise, I've heard the fan running once or twice, but it never was audible over the source material except for a split-second after pausing the CD or DVD, at which point it switched off. Had I not paused the sound, I would never have known it was on.

5 stars based on sound quality and the presence of s-video inputs on a receiver at this price point.