Well controlled sound. Effortless power. Decodes everything I want. Plenty of inputs (including 3 coax and 3 Toslink digital). Wife likes it (unmarried guys - you would not believe how important that is...)

The IC Chip problem. Granted - Onkyo clearly admits that there is a problem, and will repair under warantee (unlike some companies that have appeared on these pages). Would have been nice with 7 x 100 (but, then, I would have bought the 898 instead).

I spent a considerable amount of time researching this purchase. Like most posters, my choice was between the Denon 3802 and the Onkyo. The Onkyo won due to (IMHO) better woffer control and cleaner highs. High volume (far more than I can tolerate) is generated effortlessly by this receiver. I''m running Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v2''s as my mains, and they sound incredible with this receiver. Excellent remote. Solid FM tuner. Upsampling of PCM Digital (CD) - while the difference is subtle, it is notable. The only problem I''ve suffered is the "woodpecker" syndrome (high-pitched clicking when fed any DVD digital source ie: DD, DTS, etc). Mine is primarily the right-main speaker; occasionally both mains. At first I thought is was just bad luck - that and gambling on an open-box unit. Spoke with customer support at Onkyo (very helpful). Tech stated that the clicking is caused by a bad IC that will be replaced under warantee. The bad news is the closest authorized repair center wants the unit for 2-4 weeks to do the work (I don''t think so). I''ll be exchanging it at Circuit City, and will test it before leaving the store.

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Old Philips Surround receiver (10+ years old)

POWER, FEATURES, DTS/THX-ES/DOLBY DIGITAL It will not be out dated is a year.

Hard to get used to adj the speaker gains. Wife gets pissed if the sub is making the stupid crap on the end tables fall over and I can''t turn it down fast enough. Compared to the Harman/Kardons, the LOOK is not very smooth, very buttony. But other than that -- NONE

I came across this product when my Harman Kardon AVR80MKII went up in smoke. FYI: When you pay $$$$ for a receiver, make they throw in the 5 year service plan for free, 4 1/2 years after I bought it I got full refund as a store credit!! Anyway, I decided on this unit because of the processer options- DD, DTS, THX-ES ect,ect. More inputs than I will ever need, can handle anything my DVD player throws at it. The HK AVR rec. I had was purchased before optical inputs, I had to use my Toshiba SD-2200 DVD players Dolby Digital decoder and RCA outs. That unit was out of date 1 year after I pade 1400 $$ for it. Boy was I ticked. This Onkyo will hold its own for years to come. This monster has power to burn. my Infinity/Velodyne speaker system is in it''s true glory.

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Harman/Kardon AVR80MKII , some old cheap SONY PRO-LOGIC rec

Easy of use. Remote. DPLII. S-VHS In/Out Quality signal.

None so far.

Is the very best amp of all (at this price). I use it with Kef Coda 90 and 80, and the cables are Nordost SuperFlatline MKII. The bass is very, very nice and controlled and the treble with all the details...i just love it. The DPLII is a must have with all of tv films. I´m very pleased. (Sorry my English)

Power.. great for movies good in stero

none yet

a very good reciever, awsome power and great tone. I hear more from my speakers than I ever had.

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kenwood vr1080. an old pioneer prologeic and a very old teac surrond reciever

Lot of features (THX, DTS-ES, DTS, DPL2). Good remote control.

None

I use this receiver for 2 weeks and I would say that this is the best receiver I have ever heard among several brands such as: Yamaha RX-V1200 and Denon AVR-3802. I use it both for audio and video at my living room along with my B&W speakers (DM602S3, LCR60) for my main and center speakers, Velodyne (CST-12) as my sub, and Sony as my surround / back surround.

Ease of set up, digital delay option, very readable front display and the way in which whatever speaker set up is chosen automatically pre-determines the Dolby Digital and DTS formats. Very good remote control.

Digital delay could be even greater in value and the crude means of convertring speaker posts in banana plug sockets. Using a screw driver is a recipe for damaging the cabinet of the Onkyo.

Installation of the 797 brought to an end 20 years of devoted service from a string of Yamaha products. The 797 was bought because of the variable delay (up to 74 ms) it offered on digital inputs. The menu system was a great advance on the Yamaha RX-V3000 and set up was achieved very quickly. However, it was not until I viewed the VHS demo tape that came with the unit that I became aware of how banana plugs could be fitted. I am only using the rear amplifiers, while all other amps are sourced externally. It does all I want of it and remains as ''neutral'' in the system as you would expect of a product of this calibre.

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Yamaha RX-V3000.

Seemingly limitless clean, clear amplification THX Faultless component switching

Faulty digital signal process - results in a clicking sound. In for repair

This is a great amplifier for the price. I use it mainly to drive a home theater system. I am more than satisfied with its performance. The DTS/THX processing is AMAZING. We had friends over to see Molin Rouge and they thought it was better sound than the cinema itself. The component switching is great. I have the DVD and HDTV tuner switched through, and both work very well. I should point out two minor issues however: 1. The amp automatically detects the input signal and switches to the most appropriate signal processor. I found that it gets confused if a non-DTS DVD is played straight after one set for DTS output. The second DVD''s sound track occassionally goes silent. This happened on Pearl Harbor, where I set the first DVD for DTS and assumed (wrongly) that the second disk would follow suit. I should have realized that I needed to set the second for DTS output as well. 2. There is a fault with the digital signal processor, which resulted in a clicking noise. My local Onkyo repair shop said this was common. They repair it free under warranty, but the replacement parts are on back order

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Yamaha DSP1000

Great sound and room for growth. Digital inputs assignable to any video input. Composite (RCA Jack) input to S-Video out. Zone 2. Wide Bandwidth Component In/Out. Digital Out

No "B" speaker

Upgraded from a Kenwood VR3080. Deffinately a major improvement in sound quality. I think this reciever gets a lot more out of my Klipsch speakers. First CD I listened to was a Three Dog Night mix I made from Napster. Tears of joy streamed down my face. It sound even better than it did when I demoded it at Circuit City. The Tone Controls seem a lot more effective than my Kenwood. The lows were nice and tight not boomy and the highs added major depth to my speackers. I listened to the Harmon Kardon AVR520 and the Onkyo 696 (I really wanted the 696 but could not find it in stock anywhere). The Onkyo jus had a little more depth to it. The HK was clear but a little flat. The HK had adequate power but the Onkyo had Power to spare. What really keep me away fron the HK was the Component bandwidth. The HK had 30 MHz Bamdwidth compared to the Onkyo''s 50MHz. I did not want to have to upgrade when I get that HDTV. To sum it up I really think this Onkyo has everything I need. I have not experienced any of the previous problems reported like noise in the speaker. I have not even tried the movies reported to drop sound during Dolby Digital 5:1 but I can handle watching an occational movie in DTS. The remote has all the functions a nice remote should have but the center toggle switch is very difficult to operate with out accidently hitting enter. It feels a little cheaply made which is dissapointing. My main speakers are Klipsch Heresy IIs and the AMPs give them all they can handle. I have not gotten enough courage to go higher than 80% volume. I went a couple of hundred dollars higher than the budget allowed but do not regret it one bit. I could go on and on about specs and quality butshall leave you with this. This reciever is worth a look. Read the specs and go listen to it.

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Sony STR-DE 835, JVX RV-8000. Kenwood VR-3080, Harnon Kardon AVR-520 and Onkyo TX-DS696

Future proof functionality, good for home theatres, Decent learning remote

Music reproduction seems cagey, bi-wiring not recommended

I have used the Onkyo for about four months now. I selected this receiver because of the scalability it offers for my Home entertainment setup. My current setup is : TV: Sony 27 inch DVD: Toshiba 3900 CD: Yamaha CDC-565 Satellite: DirecTV RCA Receiver Receiver: Onkyo TXDS 797 Fronts: Paradigm Studio 40 v 2 Center: Paradigm Studio CC Rears: Yamaha NA 636 Sub woofer: Velodyne CT 8 Room: 14 x 12 x 8 This can be expanded to include a rear center channel (DTS ES), remote zone 2 speakers and DVD Audio. All can be handled by the Onkyo. Home theatre application: The reproduction of both Dolby Digital and DTS are excellent. I specially like Dolby pro logic 2 which turns any stereo source into a pseudo 5.1 experience. Given the small size of the room, the 100 watts/channel power is more than adequate. I recommend the following DVD’s to test the system with: Gladiator, X-men & Seven. Music: I am not very pleased with the music reproduction. It seems a bit cagey as if something is being held back. I think the top line Yamaha’s do a better job at handling music. To summarize, If you place equal or more importance to Music than Movies, go for the high end Yamaha’s. If it’s strictly Movies, Onkyo is it.

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OSD Clean Audio Power PreOuts Component Switching

Remote is a little weak, but I use an RCU810 so the Onkyo remote has been shelved:)

History: I own a Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX receiver that has died twice now due to the plagued cold solder joint issue. Its currently in repair and I decided to rid myself of Pioneer. Pioneers customer service was horrible and continues to be horrible, they don''''t acknowledge their issues nor do they want to help/hear from their customers. Because of those reasons I decided to move on from my Pioneer. I strongly suggest readers read the VSX-26TX forum to see the issues people are having if they would really like to see how bad Pioneer is. I went and purchased today the Onkyo 797 after doing much reading. My final choice was between the Denon 3802 and the Onkyo 797. I found the Onkyo 797 offered more featuers for the price. Some of those features I wanted were THX Certification, Front Inputs, and a strong OSD. I purchased it at my local Cambridge Soundworks. Paid 999 for it. I know I could have gotten it cheaper, but all these Audio makers now only will warranty if you buy it from an Authorized Dealer. I *STRONGLY* suggest buying from an Authorized Dealer only. Spend the extra 100$. It''''s great to have a place to return it to as well. I feel the sound is definately equal to that of the pioneer and even surpasses it at somepoints. Especially with the rear speakers. I find them more dinstinct, more audio coming from them and like most others, I do hear things I didn''''t hear before. I''''m sure the new DTS+DD 5.1 features help with that. Unlike others, I had no problem playing pearl harbor in DD 5.1. I watched the whole movie and not one audio issue. I have a Pioneer DV343 for my DVD player. Also, like some others, the left speaker pop issue hasn''''t shown up on mine. Hopefully it won''''t. Onkyo when I called them, I talked to a rep within 2 minutes, Pioneer I waited about 30 minutes. They acknowledged the ''''issues'''' with the 797 (That others had, I again had none, Pioneer still hasn''''t acknowledged anything with the VSX-26TX). I asked about the left speaker issue, the knew about it and said a fix is available just bring it for repair. Mine is working fine, but this is good to know.

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Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX