It is now upgradable please read

none

the 989 is now upgradable just read on the onkyo web
site that the upgrade will come in a kit with a cdrom
a connector and some software for loading the upgrade
and will be available some time this month
please go to onkyousa.com for info.it features DPLII
and dts-es.

ps if it is upgradeable it will put many costlier decoders
to shame and will be the king of all recieers at the moment

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all onkyo

EVERTHING,BUT ESPECIALLY AUDIO FLEXIBILTY,CONNECTIONS,POWER,BUILT QUALITY,ANTIDOTE TO MID LIFE CRISIS.

ABSOLUTELY NONE

AN AMAZING SONIC EXPERIENCE FROM A WORLD CLASS PIECE OF AUDIO HARDWARE.ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT..ONK TS-DS989 DVD PLAYER,INFINITY OVERTURE 3 SPEAKERS,VELODYNE HGS-12 SUBWOOFER,MONSTER HTS 2500 POWER CENTER,STRICKLY AUDIOPHILE CABLES ETC.YOU CAN SPEND MORE MONEY,BUT WON'T DO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS.

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HK PT2.0/PA 2.1 PROCESSOR/AMP.

features, audio performance

maybe the binding post, feels not so heavy like it shoud be (bryston amps, i know I am asking a lot but why not?)

An Excellent product, i been fan of Yamaha for years (3090,A1) but this is another good product, and i got it for much less money than i will have to pay to get the DSP AX1, Denon is another product i like but here is way to expensive.
But before anithing else i got this because the way it sounds, its great, i have it connected to a 5 definitive BP 2006 Tl and a 3300 Center chanel, i have an audio only system with nautilus 803, proceed CDP and a bryston 4b, and i tried the 803 and it sound good, not as good as the bryston but it was more than ok. In movies it simple Rocks, it lets you hear details and when it has to make speaker rocks they rocks (i know that each def has a built in amp for the sw) but anyway, this is a good product, as they are the denon 5800 and the yamaha DSPAX1, to me was a question of price between these 3 all of the are great!, and im very very happy with my choice!....

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DSP A1

Clean, useful DSP modes, plenty of power for a receiver

Sound is somewhat brittle at 3 to 6 kHz, possibly TIM or IM

This is my first home theater receiver. I must say that I'm impressed with Onkyo's sonic quality in a receiver on the one hand, and extremely disappointed in home theater on the far end. There's nothing to "home theater" that I can't get with a dipolar speaker or Bose 901's. Perhaps when I get hands on audio material that makes full use of it, I will change my mind. Meanwhile, on to the Onkyo.

I love vinyl, and the phono circuit on this thing is good, as good as one will find except on super costly high end separates. Phono is one of the first things to get cheaped out, or left out, of most modern receivers and systems. It holds up well on Ozzie Osborne, and chamber music (my tastes in music run the spectrum).

Played at reference levels for some time in a DSP mode (Enhanced 7 as I had no DTS or Dolby material available) the fan never kicked in and the sound was good. The DSP modes are remarkably capable even if some of them are a bit hyped. The Onkyo Orchestral DSP mode is useful for making forward-firing speakers acquire more depth and sense of air and presence.

The biggest complaint I have after using audiophile grade equipment is that there is a harsh sound in the 3 to 6 kilohertz range. It sounds like TIM and cheap capacitors to me (and, yes, I can hear the sonic impact of a capacitor). It was the lack of caps in the circuit which made tube preamps, amps and tuners sound so much better than solid state through the 1960s and 1970s and gave tubes their reputation for warmth and sonic purity. In short, as audiophile equipment, the Onkyo doesn't cut it. It's great mid-fi equipment, but no better than that in the absolute sense. I can beat the sound of the Onkyo with a 22 year old Hafler DH200 amplifier and a leftover DH100 preamp which have been suitably modified. And this is nobody's ideal of Class A audiophile equipment. Good tube or solid state will blow the doors off the Onkyo.

On the other hand, if YOU don't know what a cheap capacitor sounds like, you'll be perfectly happy with the Onkyo. If you like somewhat hard-edges highs, you'll be ecstatic, and what I like in high-end audio will strike you as flat and dull.

Note to Sal - you never listened to this amp, and are a fool for commenting on it. The Onkyo has the usual mid-fi and receiver faults. What's amazing is that the Onkyo is as good as it is. For what I paid, I made out like a bandit.

If one wants a receiver, as opposed to $15k worth of separates, the Onkyo can do no wrong. But if you're looking for audiophile sound, and this is about as close as I've heard in home theater, you'll probably have to design and build your own.

Get good source material to audition this amp. Except for the TIM in addition, you're going to hear exactly what you brought with you.

Mine came, BTW, with all the upgrades for the newest formats already installed - Onkyo now has those units at the dealerships.

So my review is - Value 5, Overall 4 because the sound, as good as it is, is not as good as my 20 year old modified separates. It's really close to true audiophile gear but not all the way there.

I admit that I'm being a bit pissy by giving it an overall of 4 stars, but that's only for the difference between PERFECT sound versus outstanding sound. Most of you will think I'm nuts for this, but that's how I hear it.

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None Yet

THX Ultra,HDTV ready,Componet video switching,Rs232 ports, IEE 1394 upgrade ports.

None

Onkyo wins hands down over the rest,the overrall sound quality sounds very full-bodied leaning more towards the bass weighty texture of dedicated separates.
This unit gets up and boogies, with a peak level of 100dbpeak at a mere 73 level on the dial in short, balanced, detailed, dynamic and at times,frightning!

upgradeability and flexibility

poor amplifier section

I must point out that i currently use this unit stricly as a pre/pro only.the unit competes easily with other units costing 5000 to 6000 dollars.the one weaknees that this unit has is it's amplifier section.and this is only if the speakers used are fairly inefficient,anything below 6 ohms.8ohms speakers will not be a problem.for the money you will not beat the performance of this unit.

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denon avp8000,yamaha A1,proceed AVP

Upgradable,lots of power 130 watts x 7 ,goog looking unit.

None

This unit rocks,I reviewed lots of receivers but not even the B&K307 or the Denon 5800 could compare with this unit.
I just ordered my upgrade for DTSEs,Neo 6, and Dolby Prologic III which I will get in a few days making this unit the most complete receiver in the market today.

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Onkyo 838

Great sound, awesome power, very clean and strong, upgradable, inputs, great remote, good looks. The component switching will pass an HDTV signal where most receivers don't.

No front A/V jacks but that is very minor as my VCR has them.

By far the best receiver I have heard and used. It is worth every $ that you will pay. Onkyo has a very clean, strong sound that will please even the most criticle user. I couldn't be happier and neither will you be. Well built and more reliable than other brands on the market.

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Harmon/Kardon, Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer Elite

A lot of clean power, future proff design

Fan Noise

This is a very powerfull receiver with plenty of options.

PS: I am just here to say that I will sell my Onkyo equipment because I finally listened to High-End

Parasound Processor, Preamp, Amp, CD-Player and Tannoy Speakers.

Equipment for sell.

Onkyo TX-SV919 THX
TX-C340
Onkyo THX Ultra Cert. Front Speakers
Velodyne CT100 SUB

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Onkyo, Parasound, Tannoy, Onkyo THX HTS-SYS speakers

Too many; others have covered most, however as an HDTV owner and a switcher of component video (both HDTV and DVD), I find that the upsample of the component signal is very strong

In the setup, you can tell the system to drive the surr. + surr backs, I thought I would both sets of surrounds working on 5.1 in that mode. Well, they only work in EX and that is fine, however I wish more content was out there (listen up studios-we want all possible audio modes on our DVD's)! Onkyo, since you have upgrade capability on these, make it so I can use my surround backs in 5.1, I will adjust them to get my own almost 7.1.

Most of the great features have been covered by the fine write ups by most of the folks in here. Someone mentioned the remote. This is the best ergonomic remote ever-it has space for your fingers underneath, perfect, the only dislike is that when you light it up in the dark, you dont see the feature that is written-an easy fix by making the plastic opaque where the writing is or having the feature in black on the top of the button-they may have decided it was a power drain, oh well. Most of the Onkyo's now use this format. I have listened to the Integra and Integra Research and my ears can't tell the difference-what is an apogee master clock anyway? If Onkyo makes it this good, why do you need Integra? It aint toyota vs. lexus, at best porsche vs. porsche with recarro seats. The damn things are identical-except for blue lights-they say the circuits are better-whatever-Onkyo rocks, save your money, Integra is a label in my opinion. The build of the Integra Research is very nice-in fact, Integra Research looks and operates as though it was built in Y3K (stolen from a cover of SGHT), but back to sound-I just can't hear the difference. However I used the savings for the Onkyo DVS939-the best DVD player I have used, they both have spots for firewire and RS232 ports and they seem to just love each other-a very nice pair and great foundation of your system. (Where are the DVD audio discs!) Rush would sound great in 5.1! I can't tell a difference between optical and coax. I use optical for videos and coax for music. All monster. Remember to use the "about" selection on the OSD and unlock the system when you make changes, then when you are done, lock it. I used to get so angry when I had to reconfigure it every time I used it. That meant reading the manual (by the way, the system is so easy to understand and operate and the OSD menue is idiot proof). Speaking of the manual, it could use some help. The translation is pretty good, however I wish they had a stronger website. I also wish you could download the updates and "flash" your system yourself instead of using their protocol, well I guess most people dont have laptops and extra serial cables-they say the upgrade will cost about $50 to $75. That sucks. They should make it free, thus the download option. Net net, the system rocks, I only wish they changed some minor things, I wish I had more control of the speakers in 5.1 mode and better back lit remote. You can't switch S video to component video, oh well. It boosts the signal though-and you can see the difference in HDTV and Prog scan-so don't go direct to your sets. They give you three comp in's so you can go PS2 via comp video. Then the Mitsu has 3 comp in's as well-plenty for the digital video age. I just hope there are more upgrades to come-I love that feature. Onkyo has me hooked, so don't make me buy the 999X or whatever is next please...

Here is my system:
Onkyo 989 Rcvr
Onkyo 939 DVD player Pscan-best cd audio I have heard, go out and take a CD and rub it on your driveway and then listen to it, you won't hear a single skip!
Mitsu 65857 HD TV-Awesome picture, no piano finish, just the same the cabinet is the same finish for the components.
Mitsu HD500 HD Rcvr
Madrigal IRIQ Remote-screw Phillips, however the Onkyo has been the macro sender of choice and the DTV is whole house with a 900mhz recver-I love that, when I get around to really building a HT, that will be key. Relaying IR sucks compared to through wall wireless.
Old Denon PCM CD changer
Onkyo 919 Rcvr (waiting for in walls for other rooms)
Onkyo ED 301 Dolby Dig decoder (5.1)
Aiwa AD-R507 HX Pro Tape Deck-I have not played a tape in about 4 years
Infinity Kappa's 6.1 Front + Center
Klipch 100W sub-need more there; maybe a second one
Mirage Surrounds
Infinity Quad pole S backs (the white ones, they sound great and are cheap-fit snug against the wall, can take the power-even with the plastic housing, excellent surrounds for the money, you can inset them in the walls, thus they have a built in cab when in wall, just that the grill is convex)
All monster hi end cables
The best cheap home theater out there! 6 years building it, and $13K invested-granted, $8K in the last year.

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upgraded from the Onkyo THX 919 + 301-gving me DTS. Still use it, have the digital out from the 989 to the 301 and have 3 rooms with dolby digital 5.1-perfect!