Power, plenty of i/o , A/V formats, ease of use, easy on screen display menus, flexible configuration...the list goes on and on!

Nitpicks...Cheap looking 5 way binding posts. Remote OSD navigation menu buttons. Onkyo Customer service email is non-responsive.

What else can I state that has not been said about this product from previous users? It rocks! It's powerful, user friendly, lots of configurable options.

I agonized between purchasing the Denon 5800 and this receiver. I ended up with the 989 because of price, s/w upgradeability, and format features.

Neat features: The remote is good and allows for macros to be entered for all of your equipment configuration needs. I've done away with all of my A/V equipment remotes as the 989 can be programmed to handle them all. The receiver has several perference modes that you can enter for stereo use, home theatre use, etc. You can configure each of your channels to suit your tastes.

Issues: Speaker binding posts on the receiver are cheap. They come loose with thick wire gauge so I ended up using banana plugs. The OSD menu navigation arrow/enter keys on the remote are all on the same button thereby making navigation difficult at times. I attempted to contact Onkyo support via email regarding some technical questions on the 989, but they have not returned any of my messages.

Value: The DS-989 is at the top of its class and you will pay $$$ because of this. You technically get more from the 989 primarily because of the s/w upgradeability and sound formats it can support. Sure there are other receivers that possess some of the 989 features for a lot less $. But in the long run, as new A/V formats are developed, I do not expect to invest in a new receiver for a long time.

Ugradability to accomodate future upgrades

Noisy fan, hum noise from center channel

A bargain for what you get, unfortunately I am not using half of what I paid for. After doing the mod on the fan, it is still noisy and anoying from time to time. Concerning the center humming noise, I was told to lift the "earth" connection, that also did not work.
The output rating of 130w is realy pleasing at ref level, in using a 8 Ohm speaker setup, I never got the unit to shut down.
The build quality is of a high standard, except for the unit being bulky and difficult to fit in standard component racks.
I am very pleased with my 989,and is also looking forward for future upgrades.

Similar Products Used:

TX-DS777

Lots of inputs & outputs. Nice clear sound. Great tuner (even with only using the supplied antena). Plenty of power. Not too difficult to figure out. Plenty video inputs.

Remote is a little difficult to navigate, and doesn't allow you to change stations on the radio (only allows you to change through preset stations). Only one optical output. Could use more optical inputs. Would be nice to have another tape input or two. There's no way to cut off the lights around the buttons, even though you can dim or cut off the display screen.

The receiver is really good. I have not had any of the problems that some of the people have had, such as huming or buzing (which may be due to the fact that I use all Monster Cable M Series cables, a Monster Line Conditioner/Surge Protector, keep the phone inputs, and the pre-amp outputs pluged up, and keep the wires segregated (audio seperate from video, and those seperate from power)).

The fan noise seems to be overstated. The fan only stays on for about 2-3secs. at a time. The sound does stand out at low level listening, but at normal or high levels, it's not noticable at all. Even so, it only stays on for a couple seconds.

Setup was pretty simple, but can be really difficult if the unit is mounted in an enclosure. The receiver was too long to fit in my wall unit, so I had to cut the back out of the wall unit and slide the amp through it. Having the back dangling out made the wiring easier (especially using banana plugs), due to the length, and having to pull the receiver out to change a conection (weighing in at almost 50lbs).

The instructions didn't mention that you can't change radio stations without programing preset stations first.

The multi-channel input and the component input/outputs are a good touch for higher end home video systems.

I also like the fact that you can use two subwoofers, but the instructions don't point that out (all of the diagrams show the system set up with one sub).

It would be nice to be able to make adjustments to the audio output when using the multi-channel input. The system doesn't allow you to control anything going into the multi-channel. I also don't know why they didn't make the multi-channel a 7.1 system instead of 5.1 since it's supposed to be "future proof" (unless they plan on selling a 7.1 adapter later on).

Over all, the tuner is very good, and I would recomend it to others, but it's not quite perfect.

Similar Products Used:

Denon (owned by a co-worker).

Perfect

Litle taller than my 787 but will do.

The only reason posting this here is not for the quality of
the product. We all know is close with "Perfect".
For ya'll have a chance to travel to Hong Kong you can buy
this baby for $900 to $1200.If you look around enough you should find it around this price easy. I got $900 on mine cuz it was black and it didn't sell very well. O well :)
You should consider this option. All what you have to do is change the power plug and I believe that is not rocket science.Carefull with the warranty. Make the dealer sign that the warranty will apply in USA. By default ONKYO products sold in China will only be serviced by Onkyo China Service.After you get the paper signed call OnkyoUSA fax the warranty card and the paper signed by the dealer in Hong Kong and you are in business. They transferred the warranty without any comments.
Good luck to ya'all.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-DS787

Sound

Noisy fan

Own the product for less than 2 months. Everything I can dream of. I also have 2 friends got this product (TX-DS989) on the same day. Still short of 2 speakers, but sound is much more powerfully than the DS939 which I gave it to my brother. Sound good even at low volume late at night except you can hear that noisy fan, but I can live with it. Much buy if you are shopping for a new receiver. Worth everything penny that I spent. Bar None.

It is without equal

None

I love my '989. The reason I posted this though is to plea with the company bashers to stop whasting the time of the people who are trying to read legitimate reviews. If your unit doesn't work, TAKE IT BACK. GET ANOTHER ONE. Why would you call tech support? Do you expect to fix it yourself? And dont write nasty reviews of products you DONT EVEN OWN just because you, for some reason I cannot fathom, hate Onkyo with a vengance. I once saw a nasty "this piece of crap didnt work" review for the same person who claimed to own both a TX-DS777 AND a Denon 3800. Im not asking you to love Onkyo. If you dont like the company, buy something else. But please dont whaste the intelligent people's time.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite, Sony ES

sonic performance and upgradeability

hello audiophiles,this will be my second post regarding this
unit.first one dated 8-2-01.i just completed the e upgrade
which includes dts es,pro logic 2,neo 6 etc.onkyo is selling
the upgrade for $49.95 plus ship.it's very easy to install.
just finish watching gladiator which has dts es discrete 6.1
and terminator T2 which has dts es matrix 6.1.INCREDIBLE.
their is no other av receiver or processor on the market under $10k that could touch this unit.i hear lexicon is coming out with a new processor costing more than $9k,which
has dts es pro-logic 2 and neo6.save your money and run to buy the tx-ds989.

Clear sound, powerful, remote control

There are 5 s-vedio and optical input. However, ONLY optical for DVD is working. All others are dummy!!! NO digital coax input. The surround sound is not real good

I have B version (newer). I found the problem after 55 days. I contact Audio Concepts, they just replace a new one for me. They have 60days exchange policy. I would thank you for them. I got the second one since 09/2000. Now, I found out the optical input are dummy when I purchased second DVD. I connect my Pioneer Elite DV-05 to DVD input and I connect my second DVD to others and no sound when I use optical cable. I have to use RAC cable instead but the S-Vedio did support. The optical input (except DVD) just dummy. I really dispointed Onkyo that the highest AV receiver did not support digital input coax cable and optical is NOT working. Who has this unit you may try at home (who has DVD with optical output, digital coax output). I would ask ONKYO to recall all those unit and fix the problem. The jackets are physical installed and did not support optical input. There is no reason for $2,000 above unit, just install dummy jacket.

I have tested Pioneer Elite VX39TX, Elite surround is much better than Onkyo. One thing I want to make clear, the Onkyo 989 did support surround EX mode. You have to have that source. For example, play DVD with THX (Independant Day), you will see Onkyo will automatically change from Dolby sur to SuuroundEx mode.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite VX39TX

not good in sterio mode

it is not like 939 ...it is not the best ...i was planning to buy this one..but after lessining i find it desappionted.....i am sad because the prise was in my budget it is not that much expenssive but it is not like my denon or 939 or the new denon avr5800 or avc a1se...these are good ampilefiers........friend of mine want to sell to me but i refused...after lessining to the unit so many times.. finnally 939 was much much better

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denon avc a1

130WATTS POWER.ABILITY TO ADJUST OUTPUT FROM ALL SPEAKERS WHICH IS NOT FOUND IN MANY RECEIVERS(OUTPUT FROM FRONT SPEAKERS IS FIXD)7.1 CHANNEL AMPLIFICATION(BUT NO 7.1FORMAT AVAILABLE YET!)

SOUND FROM SURROUND CHANNELS IS NOT ADEQUATE AT REFERENCE VOLUMES.
NO FRONT A/V INPUT/OUTPUTS
NO BACKLIT LCD REMOTE FOR SUCH AN EXPENSIVE RECEIVER

I HAVE BOTH YAMAHA-RXV1200(I PAID $540 FOR IT)AND ONKYO TXDS989($1800).EVENTHOUGH I PAID THE LOWEST PRICE POSSIBLE IN U.S I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND YAMAHA RECEIVER FOR THE PRICE AND IT HAS ALL THE MODES ONKYO HAS(Eg:DTS DISCRETE ES,NEO,PROLOGIC2)EXCEPT THX,WHICH IS OBSOLUTELY USELESS MODE. MY SYSTEM:
I HAVE POLK AUDIO CS400,PSW 450 &350,FX500I-2PAIRS AND RT800I-I 1PAIR FRONT.SONY KP 57XBR10W,PANASONIC DVD RP 91N AND DISH NETWORK 6000 HD DECODER
EVEN WITH SUCH BEST POSSIBLE SPEAKER SYSEM AND THX-ULTRA AMPLIFIER,I DON'T THINK THX ES SOUNDS BETTER THAN DOLBY DIGITAL OR DTS ES.FIRST OF ALL,WHENEVER YOU ENGAGE THX-EX YOUR RECEIVER VOLUME DROPS BY 10DB AND YOU HAVE TO INCREASE IT TO HEAR A DECENT SURROUND.I TRIED STARWARS EPISODE 1 MANY TIMES IN BOTH DOLBY DIGITAL AND THX EX MODES WITH SCENES OF POD RACING AND THE FINAL SWORD FIGHT WITH DARTH MOLE WHICH SOUNDS AMAZING IN DOLBY DIGITAL MODE THAN THX EX MODE.MAY BE I DON'T HAVE THX CERTIFIED SPEAKERS BUT AFTER SPENDING FEW THOUSANDS ON SURROUND SOUND ALREADY,I REALIZED THAT THX CERTIFIED MEANS NOTHING TO SURROUND SOUND AND IT IS A WAY OF MAKING MONEY FOR LUCAS CORP.ON THE OTHER HAND I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST ANY FORM OF DTS WHETHER 5.1/6.1 MATRIX OR 6.1 DISCRETE.TERMINATOR2 RERELEASE AS 6.1MATRIX ULTIMATE EDITION IS A MUST FOR EVERY ONE WITH 6.1SURROUND SOUND.THE TITLE DEMO IN THE VERY BEGINNING OFTHE MOVIE FOR THX IN THAT MOVIE IS THE BEST SOUNDING SURROUND FOR THE BACK CHANNELS I EVER HEARD,EVEN BETTER THAN THE THX DEMO FOR EPISODE1.AS FAR AS 6.1 DISCRETE TITLES GO,I TRIED GLADIATOR,CHICKEN RUN,HAUNTING WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO EVERYONE.THE BEST SOUNDING DOLBY DIGITAL SURROUND EX/THX EX TITLES ARE FLIGHT SCENE IN FIGHT CLUB,ART OF WAR.
COMING BACK TO THE ONKYO TXDS989--I BOUGHT IT FOR DTS 6.1DISCRETE ES AND PROLOGIC2 WHICH WAS NOT AVAILABLE IN BELOW $1000 RECEIVERS THAT TIME.NOW AS I RECENTLY BOUGHT YAMAHA RX V1200 80W X 6,IN COMPARISION I WOULD SAY GO FOR YAMAHA FOR THE FIRST TIME BUYERS,BEFORE WASTING MONEY ON HIGH END DENON,ONKYO,PIONEER,RECEIVERS.I HAD YAMAHA RXV 795 TILL RECENTLY WHICH SOUNDED GREAT!IF YOU WANT TO SPEND MORE MONEY I WOULD RECOMMEND THE NEWLY RELEASED YAMAHA RXV2200 WITH 100W X6.DON'T BACK OFF BASED ON THE WATTS OUTPUT AS FOR MOST OUR HOUSES WITH MODERATE SIZED ROOMS EVEN 80WATTS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!I RECOMMEND HAVING 2POWERED SUBWOOFERS IN BOTH ENDS OF THE ROOM THEN NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!!EVENTHOUGH I CANNOT ADJUST THE FRONT SPEAKER OUTPUT FROM YAMAHA RECEIVER THE SURROUND SOUND FROM THE REAR CHANNELS IS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN ONKYO AND SURROUND MODES HAVE MORE ADJUSTABLE PARAMETERS AND THEY SOUND BETTER THAN ONKYO.
UNFORTUNATELY THE DB25 MULTICHANNEL INPUT FOR ONKYO RECEIVER IS NOT WORKING AND I SENT IT FOR REPAIR.BUT 6CHANNEL INPUT IN YAMAHA SOUNDS OWESOME IN YAMAHA.YOU WON'T BELIEVE YOUR EARS UNLESS YOU HEAR IT FOR YOURSELF.TRY BLUE MAN GROUP DVD-A AND IMMERSION DVD-A WHICH HAVE USED EVERY CHANNEL THEY COULD POSSIBLY USE AND CD SOUNDS VERY WEAK ONCE YOU START LISTENING TO DVD-A.UFORTUNATELY VERY FEW TITLES ARE RELEASED IN DVD-A AS OF NOW,BUT IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO BUY A NEW DVD PLAYER,DEFINITELY GO FOR DVD-A COMPATIBLE ONE.
THE BEST SOUNDING SOUND FIELD IN TXDS989 IS THEATER DIMENTIONAL.EVENTHOUGH IT USES ONLY 3FRONT SPEAKERS THE WAY YOU GET VIRTUAL SURROUND IS FAR BETTER THAN PL2 OR DTS NEO,WHICH USE ALL 5 CHANNELS.ALL OTHER SOUND MODES ARE NOT IMPRESSIVE.YOU HAVE LOTS OF DIGITAL INPUTS/OUTPUTS WHICH ARE ASSIGNABLE AND THOUGH YAMAHA HAS FEW, THEY ARE ALSO ASSIGNABLE AND ENOUGH FOR ANY POSSIBLE AUDIO EQUIPMENT.
AFTER SPENDING 4TIMES THE MONEY I SPENT ON YAMAHA I DO AGREE THAT THE DIALOGUE DEPTH IS MORE WITH ONKYO 989 ?FROM 130WATTS.I AM REALLY WAITING FOR YAMAHA TO UPDATE RX-V1 WITH PROLOGIC 2 AND DTS 6.1DISCRETE/NEO WHICH THEY SHOULD HAVE UPGRADED FIRST AS IT IS THEIR FLAG SHIP RECEIVER.I WOULD SAY YAMAHA RX-V1 IS THE BEST SOUNDING SURROUND RECEIVER IN THE WORLD EVEN WITH 6.1 MATRIX.I STILL REPENT NOT BUYING IT FOR THE SAKE OF THESE STUPID NEW FORMATS LIKE THX EX.I ALSO HAD NO TROUBLE CONNECTING PROGRESSIVE SCAN INPUT AND HDTV INPUT VIA HIGH BANDWIDTH COMPONENT INPUTS IN THE BACK OF BOTH RECEIVERS.
THE ONLY THING WORTH SPENDING ON 989 IS FREE UPGRADE OF ANY FUTURE FORMATS FOR A NOMINAL PRICE.I WISH EVERY COMPANY DOES THAT TO THEIR FLAG SHIP MODELS.
FINAL ADVICE TO CONSUMERS--IF YOU WANT TO BUY A RECEIVER BUY ONLY YAMAHA-ANY MODEL.DON'T WASTE MONEY ON THX.GO FOR 6.1 RATHER THAN 5.1 AS THERE IS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE.DONT LOOK INTO THE STUPID SURROUND MODES EVERY RECEIVER HAS WHICH ARE USELESS!I CAN'T NOTICE MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 6.1 DISCRETE VS MATRIX BUT IF YOU ARE BUYING DVD TITLES -CHECK FOR DTS AVAILABILITY FIRST!AS IT SIMPLY SOUNDS BETTER THAN DD(Eg;SAVING PRIVATE RYAN).IF YOU ARE WISHING TO GET SATELLITE TV GO FOR HDTV DECODER EVENTHOUGH INSTALLATION IS SLIGHTLY EXPENSIVE,IT IS WORTH IT AS THERE IS 50%IMPROVEMENT IN AUDIO OUTPUT FROM OPTICAL OUT FROM HDTV DECODER VS REGULAR CABLE BOX USING ANALOG OUT.ALSO MANY MOVEIS ARE COMING IN 5.1 DD FORMAT EVEN WITHOUT HD SIGNAL.
AND AGAIN I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST EXPENSIVE RECEIVERS BUT THE SOUND IS NOT EVEN 10%BETTER THAN YAMAHA RXV1200.AND IF YOU LIVE IN NEW YORK/NJ BUY ANY ELECTRONIC ITEM FROM PC RICHARD AND SON ONLY AS THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO MATCH EVEN INTERNET DEALS.IF YOU LIVE IN ANY OTHER STATE BUY ONLY FROM EITHER JANDR.COM OR ONECALL.COM WHO ARE AUTHORISED DEALERS BUT ALSO LOWER THE PRICES SIGNIFICANTLY COMPARED TO CRUTCHFIELD/AMAZON/800-OTHER AUTHORISED INTERNET DEALERS.
I HOPE MY REVIEW IS USEFUL

Similar Products Used:

YAMAHA RX-V1200
YAMAHA RX-V795