Lots of useful features, Does the 6.1 thing, THX cert, Well built, Good remote (better than Denon and Yamaha)

Sound quality with music is not impressive as I hoped, remote not nearly as good as Marantz SR8000

This is a very good and powerful home theater receiver with plenty of useful features. I was disappointed with its music playback, however, and found the receiver exhibited a metallic/bright sound. The brightness was similar to that of Yamaha but the Yamaha RXV-1000 seemed more full and balanced overall. Marantz and Denon are better if you are looking for a double-duty, HT/Music, receiver. Both have better midrange and a soft-top end, which is especially good for dynamic-metal domed speakers. If 6.1 decoding is not important to you then I would recommend the SR8000 as the best value/best sounding receiver around $1000. Also, the remote of the SR8000 is far superior to the others.

From my evaluation, the Onkyo could really belt out the sound in DD and DTS, so I am assuming it has plenty of power (for a receiver anyway). I just couldn’t get over its lack-luster sound with music playback. Don’t get me wrong, it was good but the others were just a little better, especially the Marantz.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 3801, Yamaha 1000, Marantz 8000

Plenty of Power!

Remote

Thanks to all the (intelligent) people on this site I made the right choice of buying this receiver. This is the best sounding receiver made in its price range. I don't consider myself an audiophile but I do know what sounds good. Note: Wait till the neighbors are away to watch Gladiator!

Onkyo TX-DS787
Onkyo DVM301 (301 disc cd/dvd)
Onkyo Integra M-506RS (subwoofer amp)
Proton D-1200 (7.1 rear amp)
DBX 120X (subharmonic pre-amp)
Klipsch RS-3 (surrounds)
Klipsch RF-3 (Main)
Klipsch RB-5 (Rear)
klipsch RC-3 (Center)
(2)15" JBL 2235h in a custom enclosure (Subs)

Similar Products Used:

Sony

"Joy-nub" in remote, binding posts are a little close

I shopped around a lot before upgrading my home theater receiver and decided on the 787. When I went to purchase the receiver, Circuit City was out of stock. I could wait up to 6 weeks according to them. No one else on Oahu carried the 787, so I looked around the Internet. Keeping this item in stock seemed to be a problem with a lot of retailers. Crutchfield had them so I finally got my hands on one.

I have used the receiver for music, movies (DVDs and VHS), television broadcasts, tuner, etc.
Set-up is relatively easy with the onscreen menu. The Intelli-volume is especially nice. I can set the volume level on each input to compensate for the difference between sources. One of the 1st things I noticed was (compared with other receivers I have used) the 787 has good clean power. No distortion or clipping at high volume levels.
Music and movies sound great.
Gladiator in DTS-ES is amazing! Check out the scene where he escapes from the Praetorian (sp?) guards and hear the sword being thrown from behind you (surround back channel) to the front of the room. Terminator in Surround EX is also an awesome sounding DVD. You really have to hear this receiver to judge how good it sounds.
I don't use any of the DSPs except one, All Channel Stereo.
The remote is good with backlighting and it's ability to learn commands from other remotes. The little joy-nub in the middle seems to have problems when you push down on it, you sometimes get the "enter" when you wanted to get "up" and vice versa. Also, the 787 must not put out a constant subwoofer signal because my sub occasionally powers off when low freqs are absent for awhile. I know it is the receiver because I had a Pioneer recvr before and never had that happen.

Overall I am satisfied and impressed with the 787's power and EX/ES capability for the price. If you are in the $1,000.00 neighborhood or close, this is a good buy. Can you live without EX/ES? After hearing it in my home, my answer is no. Even my wife likes it!

My equipment :

Mitsubishi 50" RPTV VS50501
Infinity SM115 LF/RF
Infinity SM85 LR/RR
Cerwin Vega CC250 Surround back ch
Infinity Entracenter CC
JBL PB12 250 watt sub
Onkyo TX DS787 DD/DTS/THX Surround EX Rcvr
Pioneer DVC302D DVD 3 Disc Changer
Sony CDP CX400 Mega CD Changer
Magnavox HiFi VHS
Monster audio, video cables

Similar Products Used:

Technics, Sony, Pioneer, Sherwood

LOADS OF OPTIONS(DTS 6.1, THX, DD 6.1) 7.1 UPGRADABLE W/EXTERNAL AMP, NICE REMOTE

COULD USE MORE MUSICAL AMP SECTION
BIG RECIVER ENCLOSURE HARD TO PLACE

MY SYSTEM INCLUDES
NHT SUPER ZEROS FRONT
NHT CENTER CHANNEL
CAMBRIDGE ENSEMBLE 2 FOR THE SUB AND REARCHANNEL SPEAKERS
CAUSE OF THE DIAPOLE SWITCHING
THE SYSTEM WORKS VERY WELL FOR HOME THEATER USE

Similar Products Used:

SONY 777ES (THE SAME MANUFACTURE)

THX, lot’s of clean power, a whole heck of a lot of features. And wow! The remote ain’t to bad! Great price for all the features it comes with.

Well I wish it had gold plating on the interconnects (just for that nice high class feel) and if it had auto signal detection so I wouldn’t have to manually switch from component video to S-video- to composite video. This can become a pain in the but eventually.

My impressions of the Onkyo 787, Well all I can say is that I would like to emphasize on all the wonderful reviews here of this A/V Reciever. I started getting headaches after I decided that I would build myself a new Home Theater system (I think they were caused by the spending of so much money :) But after getting everything setup I can honestly say that the Onkyo is the favorite part of the whole set-up. It has been the only piece in it’s price range that I have not had a second thought about buying. So it has helped me clear up the migranes when the credit card bill comes :)

So I guess what I’m saying is that if you buy this reciever I’m sure you’ll be very happy with it. Did I mention what a beautiful thing THX is with THX material?! Well excluding the Alien DVD, that wasn’t so hot.

My setup:
Sony KV36XBR400
Harman Kardon DVD50
Onkyo 787
Polk RM6600 with PSW 350 sub

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Nick to answer your question, yes it does put out true 100 watts RMS per channel thru all 6 channels at 10 Ohms 130 watts dynamic at 8ohms!!

Go here to check it out:
http://www.onkyousa.com/show_model_specs3.cfm?class=receivers&m=TX-DS787

Similar Products Used:

Denon 3801, Sony Str-V44es, Sony Str-V555es, Kenwood VR4900

Too many to list

none apparent at this time

I have been a fan of Onkyo systems for quite some time. I love the sound they put out, their design and reliability. When I opted to upgrade from my straight DD Onkyo I looked at the Denon 3801 and a few other receivers, but I opted to go with the Onkyo due to the fact that I have used Onkyo for a very long time and alot of the reviews on this site. Once I took it out of the box, I had a big grin on my face because of the way that Onkyo redesigned the inputs and speaker posts. The 747 back panel had inputs, speaker posts, and other features all combined together. The 787 has a better layout which I found easy to work with. As far as the front panel, the differences there were well planned out. I hooked it up and was very pleased with the sound and the DSP modes. The 747 did not have the 5 channel stereo. I now love this feature. My Klipsch speakers are well-suited for this receiver and this feature. After working with that, I popped in the Gladiator DVD and selected the DTS sound option. I sat there in a daze listening to the sound. For a long-time I thought that DTS was something that I could live without listening to. I now see how wrong I was. The sound literally seemed to surround me (sorry but that is the most appropriate description). I remember one reviewer here talking about the scene where Maximus throws a sword and you could hear it go from the back center to the front. Needless to say, I ran this scene several times. I was astonished at how much this receiver changed this movie. I am still tweaking it so I cannot give a more comprehensive review at this point, but I want to recommend this receiver to any existing lower-end model Onkyo owners that want to upgrade to something more powerful. Happy listening.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-DS747, Yamaha, Sony, Denon (listened to, not owned)

DTS & THX ES in addition to DD, power to spare, 2 zone operation

When in 2 zone operation, zone 1 goes to stereo only

I have only had the unit about 5 days, but in terms of the people who said it overheats, I usually run it most of the day, and I have not had this problem. Of course, I had to cut the back out of my entertainment center AV pier to fit the thing in, because it is so huge. (I don't know how much it really weighs, but the stock guy who brought it to me swore it was somewhere between 200 and 300 lbs. :))

Basically, I did a lot of comparison shopping (and a lot of reading of consumer reviews) before buying this thing, and so far I am very, very happy with it. However, there is one thing that no one else has mentioned, and it surprised me a bit. When you use Zone 2 to do some separate programming (such as listening to the radio in Zone 2 while watching cable or a DVD in zone 1), zone 1 goes to stereo. Obviously, the unit only has five or six amps (I'm not sure if there is a separate one for the 6th channel in THX EX), so if you go to zone 2, there aren't enough to go around. The 2 zone capability is one of the reasons I bought this unit, and so I thought other people should know this ahead of time. (Of course, the stereo sounds fine; this is just something that surprised me.)

Generally, I echo the thoughts of those who highly recommend this unit, especially in terms of "bang for the buck". JLP

Similar Products Used:

Sony

THS certified, great sound, flexibility...

Doesnt memorise speaker setup by listening mode...

TV: Loewe Vitros
DVD: Arcan DV-88
Front and surround: Sonus Faber Concerto Home
Center: Sonus Faber Solo Home
Sub: Rel Strata III

Alex, it does have crossover for the bass management, maybe you set your speakers small + subwoofer, thats why you dont get bass.

The Onkyo sounds way better than the Denons I auditioned with the same speakers, my CDs improved so much, I couldnt believe, and I really had a couple of Triunphs racing in my living-room with MI 2, no distortion whatsoever...

The opinions I read here helped me make this excelent buy, thanks...

Similar Products Used:

Denon

pretty much all the good things people mentioned

must buy the m-282 amplifier to take full advantage of the 2 channel back surround sound speakers

After reading the reviews of people who owned this product already, I'm convinced that this unit has a lot to offer. I waited 2 months because it's been back ordered.

Because all functions are menu driven, it will take some time to learn all the features.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, pioneer

This is a great product, good construction, stability in high volume, awesome definition in divide multichannel and feature. this is the best receiver that I haved. Onkyo is premium quality. If you don't have much money for a big expensive receiver this is the best technology in a good price

Similar Products Used:

Technics Ex-500