Just got this receiver last friday, been playing with it all weekend....great!!!!...no hiss/humm whatsoever...best piece I ever bought....

setup:

Philips 32PW8505 16:9 Television
Philips DVD950
Onkyo TX-DS676
Onkyo DX-7511
Mission 775
Mission 77c1
Mission 77ds

good reputation

???????

this is a quick note about the hum/hiss problem described in other reviews. I just ordered this receiver today ($575 including shipping !) but before I ordered I inquired to onkyo about the hum problem, I was told they were aware of, and have corrected the problem. any units still in stock, or in livingrooms, can be fixed in 10 minutes at any autherized repair center under warranty. According to RAY @ onkyo in NJ, the fix is simply relocation of a ground wire.

I hope that this is of some help to those who have had trouble, and would like to hear if what I was told is untrue.
I will submit a review after I have recieved and used my new unit.

Appearance, hookups, most important - SOUND QUALITY

none so far except for the generic manual.

This is my first Dolby Digital & DTS receiver. I just dropped $3k on a Mitsubishi LCD project, and I was ABOUT to buy the Pioneer 509, but someone convinced me not to cheap out on the sound system.

After LOTS of evaluation, I can honestly say that there is a substantial audiable difference between the low end (Sony, Kenwood, and Pioneer) consumer products and the high end (Denon, Onkyo) products. I REALLY enjoy this receiver, and the sound is UBER crisp.

I got a refurbed unit from Sound City for a VERY good price, and it comes with 1 yr parts + labour warranty.

I had no noticable hissing from my unit, and my speakers are all Energy's.

The manual sucks, it's written in 5 languages, and supports 3 different units.

- Stevan

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 608S, Sony 545

Lots of power

Hiss/Humm

I upgraded my 656 for the 676 mostly because of the new universal remote and DTS decoder. I was expecting basically the same quality but didn't get it. The speakers all put out a hiss and my center channel humms.
If anybody else has these problems, I would like to hear about them.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-DS656

massive power,excellent digital connections,fair pricing

remote control design,poor heatsinks design,no RGB connections,inputs not properly layed out

Good news from the designers in Onkyo,this model and few others are upgradeable from DTS to DTS ES mode soon.This is available in Malaysia but I have not heard anything from other countries yet.
Really not much that can be said about this unit but I find it can be hard to find the right timbre matching for all Onkyo units...from my experience.Power supply is very stable....fluctuates about +/-2db in listening rooms.Like the usual...the remote control is really backdated design....unlike the news designs in Denon AVR5800 or Marantz SR7000,Marantz PM17SA........and the better and more brand new Kenwood which is coming out soon..in Sept 2001.
My review equipments....
Denon DV2500
Onkyo TX676 DTS ES
JMlab cc700 center
Mission 781 front
Paradigm ADP 170 rear
Paradigm ADP170 surround back
Paradigm PS1000v3 sub
Gladiator test disc DTS ES
Seven test disc DTS ES
Titan AE test dics(for sub)
cables by MIT T2,T4bi-wire
digital cables by Taralabs
floating points by Audioquest
speakers supports by Mission

Similar Products Used:

Denon Avr 3801,Marantz SR7000,Nakamichi AV10

Massive power, clarity, features, remote

None that I've found...

My father got an onkyo 535 in 1997 and I was never outrageously impressed with it. For years I've used a marantz from the 70's and the thing is just amazing and I still use it. But the demands of college life are too much for a priceless piece of audio history, so after about a month of debating, (mostly between HK and Onkyo cause those are the only two decent brands CC has) I bought the onkyo based totally on features and value, but when I got it home I was blown away. CC sound rooms are terrible,and the power and sound quality of this reciever has blown me away. Give it a shot, and your music and home theatre will come alive. I had bose speakers, and it made them sound good. Then a got a set of Energies and the system is just outrageous. I also listen to about every type of music under the sun and it has handled all beautifully. Great receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 535, Kenwood, HK AVR310, and AVR510

remote, pre-outs, sound

Center channel hum!

Yes, I have the centre channel hum problem like so many others here, and no I'm not a bitter Denon/Sony/Yamaha customer, I shopped around for months before making a descision. I was going to buy the Onkyo 575x, but the 676 has pre-out connections for all 5.1 channels so you can use an external amp(s), which was important to me because I wanted to drive my front speakers with the 2 channel adcom amp I already have. So I spent a little more on the 676 and took it home with high expectations.

The GOOD:
5.1 pre-outs, Dolby Prologic, AC3, DTS it all works great, just like it is supposed to. Musically it is a very nice sounding HT receiver with lots of power. 5 channel stereo is great for listening to CD music. Heavy-duty binding posts for the speaker cables. I especially like the learning remote.

The BAD:
The echoing DSP modes are a complete joke in my opinion, except for the 5 channel stereo mode which I like for music. I have never used a digital effect / DSP mode before, so I can't say if it's better or worse than those on other systems. In any case I do like the 5 ch. stereo effect. The rca conectors at the back aren't gold plated and feel a little cheap. Then there's the humming and buzzing...

* With the receiver on and everything else unplugged from it except the 5 speakers, there IS centre channel hum.

* Turn the TV on and the hum gets louder.

* Change the 2 front speakers to run thru the Adcom and the hum gets louder again.

* Plug the VCR a/v cables into the receiver and the hum gets really loud. This turns out to be a problem with the CATV coax connection. When I unplug the cable from the VCR the hum isn't quite so bad - a ground loop problem which I've solved temporarily by leaving the coax cable disconnected for now.

I spent a lot of time reading about and chasing 'ground loops' in my audio system. After experimenting a lot and reading the posts here I believe the real problem is with the design of this unit with regards to grounding & RF shielding. I have good quality interconnects and good, heavy guage speaker cable with banana connectors. The whole system is plugged into a properly grounded tripp-lite power conditioner. I have never had a humming/grounding problem with any other audio equipmnet before. With the Onkyo 676 sitting alone the center channel hums, no question. I can't say the hum is *very* loud but it is loud enough to be annpoying during the quiet parts of a dvd movie. In any case it annoys the hell out of me and I hear it all the time now. HHMmMMmMmMM, BZzzzzzzz WTF?!! I would not mind it in a $100 receiver but I paid a lot more than that for the Onkyo.

I think I'll take it back to the dealer and trade up to a model 787. I'm not down on Onkyo but I think there is a lot of evidence to show the 676 has some grounding problems in its design.

Happy shopping!
Jim

Similar Products Used:

Technics SH-500AC

Great sound, plenty of power, easy to use, good remote, 5 channel stereo

DSP modes not very good, plain looking box

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said, but this is a great unit. I bought it refurb'ed from BPAV and when I opened it up it looked brand new - not a mark on it. It works great and I haven't noticed any of this humming some are complaining of. Stop putting your ears next to the speakers and you won't hear it! :)

I am usually a sucker for good packaging and that's what had drawn me to Sony, (I strongly considered a DB-940) as they looked very cool and matched up pretty well feature to feature. But after listening to both, my decision was easy. Still, I wish Onkyo would work a little more on making their receivers more interesting to look at.

The sound on movies has been spectacular, and yes DTS is noticeably better that DD. 5-Channel stereo is wonderful and has breathed new life into my CD collection.

I really enjoyed the ease of setting this unit up. The OSD isn't as flashy as some of the other brands but its very simple to use and everything makes perfect sense. The remote is great too, though it doesn't have any brands preprogrammed into it, you have to teach it everything. My only real complaint is that the DSP modes (except 5 channel steror) are pretty weak, but its not of much consequence to me since I don't use DSP much.

Just a reminder to make sure you buy from an authorized Onkyo retailer or your warranty is void. Check www.onkyousa.com before you order.

Similar Products Used:

Old Kenwood pro-logic receiver, I shopped the others (HK, Sony, Pioneer, Denon)

"TRUE" High current POWER DD, DTS 96/24 WRATechnology

Component video switching(before the hiss but now its bye-bye

I'm happy now, cause the Hum and HISS are "HISSTORY". Thanx to the Onkyo staffers here in the Philippines for the "Job well done! Now I can here my favorite tunes and movies at its best! Great audio products seems to be "ONKYO".

Watch out fellas cause something big is going to happen in audio innovation well Onkyo seems to be the first one in this category of recievers. It doesent appear on the list of review yet well maybe in the future, watch out!

Similar Products Used:

VSX-606S

I listened to the Onkyo 676 today and I was pretty impressed. The room I auditioned the receiver in was spacious, and the speakers were B&W 601's, not very large. However, they had more then enough power to drive any room, and with larger speakers, I can just imagine how good this receiver can be. The problem is I'm in the same boat as the rest of you. I've narrowed it down to the Onkyo 777 and the denon 3300 as well as the 676. Anyway, if anyone has any insight about the two Onkyo's please get back to me.