Wraps you up in the music until you forget all the equipment and just fall into the sound.

???

Although more expensive than what you would pay in the States, this was actually a pretty decent price down here in Mexico. I listened to quite a few receivers before finally deciding to get rid of my old Sony and I wanted to go a step up with my new equipment. When I heard the 696, I knew right away it was what I had been looking for. At home, I hooked it up to an all Infinity setup (IL 10s all around plus center channel and 100 sub)and was impressed by the great sound. I played around with it for a few weeks to get the sound right, mostly moving the speakers around and finally got it just right. The sound is just beautiful, open and engaging. You can listen for hours and not get tired of this sound. I know there may be many better sounding setups and more expensive options as well but in my small living room, the 696 just knocks your socks off! I love it with movies and music too.

Plenty of power. Great learning remote - have replaced everything (5 remotes) with this one!

CD/stereo sound is average. Front inputs. DSP modes are limited.

PRICE is in NEW ZEALAND DOLLARS. I have to admit that a strong part of the reason why I bought this amp was the terms on which I could buy it... ie, have it now and pay it off, or try and save in order to have a wider choice. But, in the end, I am satisfied with this unit. I don't think I'll be keeping it for a long time, maybe 4-5 years. I also bought B&W DM603.S3 speakers at the same time, and those I will be keeping for a long time! The Onkyo 696 has plenty of power, and at the time, a good set of features. Now, you may want a couple more channels, who knows? It has taken me a while to get my system sounding right, and it was a combination of things, although mostly to do with the speakers to be honest. Their placement and cabling required some changes, and now it looks like the Onkyo was never really as lifeless as it seemed. Actually, on the first day home, I wondered if I hadn't made a big mistake... but once I got my subwoofer (B&W ASW650), then changed the the cabling, it all started coming together. It now sounds awesome. The reason I am not perfectly happy is because I don't feel that the CD/stereo sound isn't as good as it could be. I don't listen to much music in the lounge though, so it isn't a huge problem.

Great build, more than enough in/out puts. clean high power. ease of use. adaptable -pre outs. GREAT sound

None

Price is in Canadian dollars. I looked around for about 3 months before I bought this unit. I looked at HK's Yamaha's Denon's and Sony,all in the same price range (1100 - 1500 $Can). I'm glad I did, I got a premium sounding power house that was miles above the comp. Lots of pure clean sound in both stereo and HT applications. More than enough to drive most speakers and if not, you have your pre outs for bridging as many amps as you need. More than enough in and outputs for all HT set ups. I'm very happy with the unit, not only as a stand alone reciever, but also as a quality pre/pro unit. All in all a great sounding unit. Excellent!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Nikko kenwood pioneer

Power to spare. Ease of use. Remote was easy to use. Classic styling. Enough input jacks in the back to hook the entire house into it including the toaster. Dolby Pro Logic II really makes my VHS tapes sound phenomenal. I watched Street Fighter II (animated movie) on VHS through the receiver. Whoa that was impressive.

Gold plating on the rear input jacks would have been nice. Too often Onkyo gets lumped into consumer electronics with recognizable names...i.e. Sony, JVC, Kenwood, etc. etc. Onkyo is far and away a better product than these name plates and they need to do a better job at marketing theirselves.

I have had this unit for well over a year. Not sure why I bought it as I have little to know time to really enjoy it (working on my master's degree). However my daughter who is 12 gets a kick out of it. I am running it through Infinity RS5 on the front, IL 25 center, and Infinity RS 4001 on the rear channels. Plus the Infinity Interlude 10 inch subwoofer. This is in no way my dream system but I got to tell you this system as it stands kicks but. That child of mine was watching the fast and the furious on DVD in the family room. The volume was loud but not overly loud, and the scene where that old Charger and the Supra are racing literally shook the floors. I thought there were street racers outside my door. Amazing!!!! The system sounds pretty good with music. Although that depends on the music. Love it with Jazz, Blues, some rock, latin and latin jazz. With Rap and hard rock its decent. It lacks prescence with classical music that has a lot of strings. However I believe this to be more of a problem with the speakers (time to upgrade). I really enjoy this receiver and would gladly reccomend Onkyo AV receivers to anyone who is looking for a quality product that has a lot of BANG for the buck.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood AVR 1070. Nice receiver, nice power but digital ready and no Sub pre-out.

It’s ONKYO!

No front-panel A/V convenience inputs for a camcorder or gaming equipment.

I had to squeeze-in my budget sipping my credit card balance to its last drop just to have my first real stereo system, so I settled for this Onkyo A/V receiver instead of the newer and more expensive ones. Once hooked-up with my BOSE Acoustimass 10 series II home theater speakers / Onkyo DX-C380 cd player / Onkyo DV-S535 dvd/vcd/cd player with almost no sweat at all, I immediately played my favorite DVD’s - it was awesome! Set-up to PLII Movie and switched to maximum volume, I could hardly hear any distortion as my concrete walls keep on pounding and shaking as if they would collapse any moment – luckily they didn’t For audio cd’s, i can describe it in two words - not exceptional. Tried my usual bass-filled disco cd’s on either decks and at 80%+ max volume, my acoustimass passive sub-woofer seems to explode and I feel like my front and center speakers will tear-off. Well, I simply thought that I could get the same crisp DVD audio quality on my audio cd’s. Anyway, I’ll be getting an active subwoofer, possibly an Onkyo SKW-320, and see how everything suits-up. Keep you posted on any possible improvements.

ALL

the people on here that keep knocking it cause they wouldnt know quality if it bit em you know where

well--after a yr with this product-and logging MANY hrs on it- all i have to say about the naysayers on here is they wouldnt know a quality product from a cheap sony--problem is they dont know how to USE it so its dismissed as inferior-either that or they dont know the true sound of quality-they shouldnt buy this type of component in the first place! and you true afficiondos know exactly what im saying--too many amatures on here voicing opinions from between their ears with nothing there lol-the 696 is all anyone could ask for--PERIOD--those that do APPRECIATE what it IS that is

Similar Products Used:

many over the yrs

all

none

a word of warning!!!! last month i replaced the fittings on my spkr cables--used the monster quick connect flex pins--didnt like the wide barrel form above the connectors on the monsters--few weeks later the 696 kept cutting off=protection--i disconnected the connectors and put elect tape btween them--did the trick!!! rem this is you do as i did and have a problem--evidently the barrels were touching and shorting

Similar Products Used:

many

On Screen Display, DTS, Dolby 5.1, ease of setup, Dolby Pro II and a whole lot more...

Give me more time - but as I can see now -none

Let’s see, what can I say about this receiver? Over the past year I’ve been looking at this receiver and the Onkyo Integra 6.2, while saving my pocket change until I had enough to buy it. Yes, my mind was made up I was going to get the Integra 6.2 because I like the shiny silver dials and the 2 12V switches it offered. So, when I walked into a local store and saw the Onkyo TX-DS696 on sale for $1000 I ran home and began counting my change. A deposit and little credit later I took home the 696. I was amped (pun intended) to get this hooked up and running I almost broke the cabinet. After getting it all hooked up I was amazed at the ease of setup. It only took me a few short minutes to figure it out how to use the remote and setup up the correct audio and video settings. After all this I finally get to hear its awesome power. I toss in the 2-disc ‘Gladiator’ DVD and set it to DTS. Skip to scene two where to battle begins – wholly crap – even though my system lacks a subwoofer I was amazed. It sounded better than I remember in theatre. Everything came through with crystal clarity, even to the point where my ears could no longer handle the audio. The onscreen display makes it incredibly easy to setup. The power of this unit is outstanding. Unfortunately, for anyone looking for one they’re going to be hard to get. Have a look at the new Onkyo line, which in my opinion will be much better.

superb sound and construction

dont cost a dollar two twenty nine lol

2nd review--well after spending some 3 mos with it--i have to say after upgrading the cc1 to the infinity il36 center--this is a premium product--not one complaint--except i switch to stereo for cd play--the il36 center is superb for movies but NOT for music--hollow sounding--but i suspect that would apply for ALL centers--you cant have the whole cake lol--on stereo it sounds evey bit as good as my old adcoms- and maybe better--the units were over 10 yrs old--yrs ago seperates beat out receivers--not today from what i hear--buy it--its all the avg true music and movie lover needs- the best out there--for the avg user thatis--the audio nut will NEVER be satisfied--and the CLICK sound is just the amp adjusting to the selection change--gimme a break!!

Similar Products Used:

dont exist

5.1 sound and Dolby Pro Logic II

I haven''t found any

I purchased this unit to upgrade from a Yamaha RX-V690 which only had pro logic. I had owned a Onkyo integrated amp for over 16 years that has been flawless so I had no qualms about purchasing a Onkyo receiver. This unit does all that I could ask for and meets my needs. I was a little taken a back when I found out how high I had to boost the phono and tape sections of this receiver as opposed to the integrated amp. However this baby will play as loud and clean as I like besides I got this primarily for watching movies and in this regard it is outstanding. The build quality is silky smooth and the array of inputs on the rear is everything and more than I need. My two main wants in a reciever like this was to have a phono input and component input/output connections. Everyone has their own taste and needs but this Onkyo 696 more than fullfills mine.

Similar Products Used:

YamahaRX-V690