DTS-ES, THX, Awesome Six Speaker Power, Easy Remote

Abolutely None.......So Far

I cannot begin to describe the Sound and Picture Quality that this New Superb Receiver provides. The Rich and Dynamic "Home Theater experience" you get from this baby can only be appreciated by listening to it yourself, especially after watching the new "Stars Wars" on DVD will you appreciate what I mean. Even watching the "Eagles - Hell Freezes Over" on DVD, was an awesome experience!! The music sounded so pure and clean that My wife who didn't see the need for buying another Home Theatre Receiver was absolutely "Floored" after listening and watching the Eagles on DVD. By all means check this Beauty out yourself and see if it meets your expectations. It certainly did for us.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Denon3802, Onkyo787

Feature set
Reasonably powerful

Why do people have to rip one brand to feel good about a purchase? Now I am sure the aforementioned Circuit City customers are enjoying their receivers aided with the sterling Bose or Joke Audio speakers sold there. My god, I have enjoyed this receiver and purchased it as a Pre-Pro using outboard amplification. I will tell you, on it's own, it is no match for my 4800. Nor should it be for half the price. Dear readers, it is all about the power supply. As a pre it offers all decoding sans DTS 96/24 which has just shown up on the Denon 4802 and Pioneer's VSX-47,VSX-49TX through the Analog Devices Melody processor. To reiterate, why rip on the 3802? They are not much different sans THX on the 3802. supose it is bitterness at it not being available at the Paragon of HiFi, Circuit City. Have these people listened to the receivers head to head? Probably not.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 2800,3300,4800. HK AVR-7000, Nakamichi AV-10. Have owned or currently own all.

Power,DPLII, THX 6.1/7.1 DD & DTS, Looks....

No adjustment of Bass, Mid and Treble on every channel.

Very good receiver for the money. Far superior than my old Sony receiver (I will never buy another Sony audio equipment again)

El mejor amplificador por el dinero invertido. Superior en todos los parametros a mi Sony anterior (Nunca mas comprare otro equipo de audio Sony)

Best receiver in his class!

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-3802, Marantz SR-7200

pro logic2, built, sound, very strong, OSD.

non

at last i found a good reciver, for all of my stuff- dvd, video, cabels...

Similar Products Used:

denon, onkyo 787

i'm having a problem with this receiver...i wonder if anyone else may have had the same experience?? in many of the listening modes, if you pause the source and raise volume to about 70 or above, you hear a rapid clicking noise in the subwoofer (sounds like a woodpecker). i have tried changing all of the settings for each component to no avail.
of course, if i can solve the clicking problem and/or exchange the unit, all of the good things that i've heard are so far true.
i am using the unit's pre outs into denon mono block amps and the sound is excruciatingly clean at any level you can stand. picture, features, connection options, remote and manual are all excellent for the price paid.
equip:
panasonic 16:9 hdtv monitor
panasonic dvd h2000 dvd/ dvd audio
7- denon 250 watt mono block amps
mains- dynaudio towers
surr- dynaudio 3-ways
center and surr back- klipsch 2-way
sub- custom 18ps...which is better...component video or s video and optical digital or digital coax?

6 channel, nice remote, discrete-es, THX, POWERFUL, great sound

none that I've experienced

This receiver delivers clean, crisp sound at the highest levels. It bests the Kenwoods and Denons I have heard.

For example, I was all set to get the Denon 3802 because of reviews. However, when I went to a local dealer, I heard the 3801 side by side with the 494 (not in the same price class - the 3801 was ~$500 more), on the same speakers with the same dvd and cd inputs. Let me say, from a music standpoint, the 494 was surprisingly much better! That actually prompted my decision to get the 797. Also, the showroom guy agreed and was also quite surprised that the Onkyo sounded better (and note that he had no incentive to push it over the 3801 - in fact I ended up purchasing the 797 from someone else).

The remote is great - much better than the Denon's. Also, I love that it is backlit.

I don't understand other reviews questioning the power of this unit - it has power to spare! I play movies at 65 (I think it goes up to 110 or 120) and it shakes the room. Music at 75 can shake my house!

This unit is highly recommended and a great deal!

Similar Products Used:

Denon 494, Denon 696, Kenwood VR507, Denon 3801

Powerful, clear, crisp sound, THX, DTSES, and very good channel separation because of the 192khz/24bit DAC's. Handles my 4ohm front speakers VERY well. Good manual and remote. Nice aluminum front panel and volume knob.

There is no such thing as a weakness with the TX-DS797.

WOW, this is a great receiver, and it's worth every penny. I am very impressed with everything about this receiver. I didn't think a $1000 receiver could sound so good in stereo and in surround. I was very skeptical about buying an Onkyo because I heard that Denon's were in most cases better than Onkyo's. And since my front tower speakers are 4ohm ADS tower speakers, I heard that Denon's could handle the 4ohm range better. I was also worried about the reported audio dropouts in Dolby Digital mode in Pearl Harbor and Jurrasic ParkIII.
NOT TO WORRY! This receiver is great! The only reasion I origonally had bought this receiver was because I got it for so cheap, the $800 I paid was from a local dealer, and that is including tax! I made sure I could get my full money back if I didn't like it, but it was a precaution I didn't need to take because there is no way I will be taking this thing back. It has no trouble powering my ADS towers to the limits of loudness. It pushes clean clear sound with no distortion. It's not sound that hurts my ears, it's sound that I feel I can keep turning and turning the volume dial further and further, a feeling of real power. This 797 is far better than a Denon 2802 or Yamaha RX-V1200, but that's because it is more expensive. It is also a little better than a Denon 3802 sound quality wise, although the 3802 has 7 channel decoding...but no THX certification, but I am currently only running a 5.1 setup.
The audio dropouts seem to be a big deal on everyone's list. It is a problem with the actual DVD, not the receivers that are affected by it, but it is ONLY in Dolby Digital mode. The affected discs also have DTS, so there is nothing to worry about.
As you can tell, I was very worried about buying this product for many reasons, but in the end, I know I made the right choice. I am very satisfied with my purchase, and would certainly tell anyone to buy this product over any of the others in this price category and even a little higher.
My gear:
Front: ADS towers(can't remember the model number, it's an acoustic suspension with dual 8" drivers and a dome midrange and dome tweeter)
Center: Definitive Procenter 100
Rears: Definitive Procinema 80's(2)
Sub: Velodyne CT-120

Similar Products Used:

Denon 2802/3802, Onkyo 696, and Yamaha RX-V1200.

Lots of inputs, great remote

Lack of speaker outputs for 2nd room (must use separate amp)

I've only used it for a week, but so far I'm very pleased with the quality of the sound and the versatility of the remote. I was a bit disappointed to see that they dropped the speaker-level outputs for the 2nd room (remote zone) between the 787 and the 797, but after picking up a relatively cheap 2-channel receiver (Sony), I'm once again able to play music in the game room and on the outside patio.

I give it a 5-star value rating because I haven't seen anything that comes close to this receiver in feature list and performance for the money. I've used a couple of other Onkyo products in the past (receiver, cassette player), and always been very satisfied.

I've found two problems with the receiver, however, and am wondering whether anyone else has experienced these problems.

First, I can't seem to get my Onkyo DVD player (DV-S555) to operate via the "RI" infrared cable connected between the receiver and the DVD player. If I program the receiver remote with code "601" (as per the manual), then I can use it to operate the DVD player directly (pointing it at the DVD player). But when I connect the RI cable, and re-program the remote to use code "600" (again, as per the manual), it won't operate the DVD player. One thing that could be causing this: I had to buy a longer mini-jack cable from Radio Shack to make the connection, as the supplied cable is only 3 feet and I needed 6 feet. As far as I can tell, the cable is just a plain old mono mini-jack cable, but perhaps I'm mistaken and that's the source of my problem.

The second problem I found I believe is a problem in the firmware built into the remote. The receiver remote can be programmed in three ways: you can use the "brand programming" method, and input the unique "code" according to the brand of TV, VCR, etc., which then automatically enables several related buttons on the remote to work with that device when you're in the associated "mode". The second programming method is what I call the "per button" method, where you "teach" each button on the receiver's remote, one at a time, the code from a button on the other remote, by pointing them at each other. The third programming method is the "Macro" method, where a few of the receiver's remote buttons can be programmed to perform a series of up to 16 operations.

The problem I encountered is that the "Macro" programming technique apparently can't utilize buttons which have been programmed using the "brand" programming technique. That is, after using "brand" programming to teach the receiver's remote how to operate my Mitsubishi TV and Mitsubishi VCR, I verified that all of the associated buttons worked, and they did. Then I tried to program a "Macro" button to turn on my receiver, the TV, and the VCR, as a macro operation. This wouldn't work. I tried over and over to no avail. I then experimented with a "Macro" button to turn on my receiver and my CD player (a Pioneer), and this worked. The only difference I could think of was that the CD player operations had been earlier programmed into the receiver remote using the "per button" technique, not the "brand" technique. So I then tried manually programming my TV and VCR operations (just the "On/Off" function, not the rest) into the corresponding button on the receiver's remote. After doing this, I re-programmed the "Macro" button one more time, and PRESTO, it works!

I suspect that the cause of the problem is the firmware inside the remote, which apparently tries to perform the progammed Macro sequence without applying the "brand overlay" button re-progamming.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded explanation of the two problems I encountered, but I would be interested in hearing if anyone else has experienced something similar.

Other than those two problems (both of which have "work arounds"), I have been VERY happy with the receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood 9050

GREAT BUILD QUALITY, PLENTY O POWER

NONE AT THIS PRICE

This Receiver has got to be the best buy under 100.00. The sound is warm and the amplifier is pretty beefy(never distorted even while I abused it). The PRO LOGIC II is great for tape rentals and gaming. THX CERTIFIED UNDER 1000.00 and 7.1 processing, DTS ES, DTS NEO, what more can you ask for? No need for an additional AMP 6x100 watts. Ease of use is dummy proof. I got this from unit from J&R. I tried Todd at 800 221 8180 ext 1039 from a recommendation and he knew his stuff also guided me through cables and so forth. If your looking for solid performanceand THX cert. look no more.

Similar Products Used:

ONKYO TXDS-575, ONKYO TXDS-787, HARMON KARDON SIG 2.0

DTS-ES, THX-EX, 6.1 (7.1 with ext. Amp), Internal Composite to S-Video conversion, overall sound quality

Not enough Audio Inputs. Only Tape and Phono. Remote Control, No AC-3 RF.

The Onkyo 797 is a fairly feature rich reciever that brings a lot of the good qualities I've seen in the past with the 727, 838, 919THX, and combines it with some of the cutting edge features in the top of the line Onkyo 989. If you've been drooling over the 989 for the last year, but just can't rationalize putting down the $2300 this might be the solution for you.

6.1 Sound Native. 7.1 with external Amp, Line level 7.1 inputs, 6 Digital Audio, 2 Component In, 1 Component Out, 100 Watts, THX Surround EX, Dolby ProLogic II, DTS-ES Extended Surround, DTS Neo:6, DTS and Dolby Digital Decoding .

It integrates well into into even the more advanced HD home theater systems. The 12 volt trigger is great feature not found on many products in this price range.

Sound is very good. Even with mid-level speakers you can tell a real difference between this system and those only a couple hundred dollars less. Is it as good at the top of the line Onkyo, or Yamaha? No, but it does give them a run for the money at at least $1200-$2200 less.

The various suround modes are nice. The best example use of the THX-EX sound so far has been Episode I DVD. There is a decided difference between the normal 5.1 mix and the EX.

The GUI is well designed, and covers most the features you'd want to configure. Functionally, it's all there, but from a design stand point it's "typical" Onkyo.

I've very happy to see you can now label the inputs. This was something that has been missing for a long time from Onkyo. Sony caught on about 10 years ago that is a useful feature.

With 6 video inputs and component switching it should handle all your S-Video, Progressive and HD video needs. The digital Audio inputs in the front are a nice touch too.

Now for the Bad:
It does not have an AC-3 RF Input. If you have an LD, this may not be the item for you. Yes you can get a converter. However, there is a good chance you'll be switching cables or changing the input when you go between AC-3 and PCM. The best work around so far is to run AC-3 RF to a converter and use a high quality Line Level RCA connector for PCM and Analog audio. It also only has one line level "audio" input (Tape). You might be able to redirect the phono to another digital input, but I really feel like they should have the more conventional Tape1, Tape2, Phono.

The Remote is average for Onkyo, better than most remotes overall, not as nice as some other brands. The back light is a nice touch and it has much bigger buttoms than other models from the past. It doesn't seem to go the same distance as other remotes however, 20 feet seems to be the max for reliable operation. I don't put a lot of review weight on the remote however. I'm always using a 3rd party remote for my home theater system.

Summary:
This system can be anywhere from good to great depending on what your A/V system consists of. If you have some of the more exotic gear such as LaserDisc, or more than one MD or DAT, this may not be the system for you. If you have a lot of video sources, and a more "mainstream" system, then this is the reciever is a good choice at a great price.

Similar Products Used:

Oknyo 727, 838, Sony ES