This was the clearest sounding receiver I had ever heard. I was soon to be disapointed though when I realized that it was emitting a modulating hum (not the fan) then the sub channel failed a shortly ther after the volume control failed. I guess when you look at how complicated the technology is in these recivers you can see why some would fail but after talking to Onkyo and trying to return itthey said I would have to do so at my own cost. Call me cheap and impatient but I could not see the point of sending a 64 pound reciever back to the manufacturer where it would sit for 3 months. So out went the Onkyo and in came the Yamaha DSP-AX1.

Very heavy, somewhat unreliable. somwhere around 1 out of 5 are defective.

If you buy this receiver and it works I am envious, but beware of its failing as it may become a bigger hassle than it is worth especially if you buy it through the mail. I got mine through a special order program and of the ones that the Army Air Force Exchange Service got I was told about half had problems and that they could not get any more and no they did not service them. Oh, well better luck next time. For those of you whose receivers worked I am truely envious. I gave it a 3 on the value as trying to get it for what I paid for it is near impossible.

Similar Products Used:

Techniques, Onkyo 777, Yamaha DSP-A2, JVC rx-6000

See review below, I am updating as I added a 3 channel amp.

See my review below. The receiver was shutting down at very high levels on certain DVDs because of my large room(>7000 cu. ft) and difficult to drive speakers(PSB str. Goldi).
I bought an Anthem MCA-3 amp for the front channels. The overall sound is better(but not night and day indicating to me that the amps in the Onkyo are very good sounding). There is no problem shutting down anymore even with very loud(about as loud as could be withstood) levels. Also, I have not heard the fan come on(I never had a problem with fan noise on my particular unit). I still use the Onkyo amps for the surround speakers. Overall, adding the amplifier has improved an already great product.

Power, firmware is upgradable, THX-EX Ultra, DTS-ES, Dolby Digital-EX, 7 descrete amplifiers for true 7.1 channel audio, Componant Switching, and more inputs that you can shake a stick at (...who the hell came up with that saying anyway?)!

High price. It's damn big, and damn heavy (No, REALLY! The box recommends a "two person lift")! For the price, I would have expected a remote control more in line with the Philips Pronto. Thank god I've got the Pronto, my wife will never be able to use the Home Theater without it. ...wait, is that such a bad thing? ;)

I never knew my DVDs could sound so good. Even plain old Dolby Digital (funny I'm referring to it as "old" eh?). For the heck of it, I put in the first DVD that I've ever owned, "Contact".

The opening scene where the camera is pulling out from earth, and you hear all of history's music, and events as you travel away, going back in time? Well, some things go by on your left, some on your right, and SOME ...straight BEHIND YOU! This effect is very cool!

Also, I've never owned a receiver capable of decoding DTS audio, not to mention a receiver that is THX authorized! My other test was to insert a newly purchased DTS-ES DVD, "The Haunting". When the ghost started pounding on the door? Are you kidding me! I nearly soiled myself!

You want to buy one? Call Jason at "OneCall.com" (the 800 number can be found on thier web site). The guy has gone above and beyond the call of customer service! Can't say enough good about the guy, and how happy I am with the product, the price and the service that I've received from him.

Similar Products Used:

This is my fourth receiver in about twenty years. First an Onkyo, then a Kenwood with Dolby Pro-Logic, followed by a Pioneer with 5.1 channel Dolby Digital, and now I've come back full circle to glorious ONKYO!

Everything, build quality,lots of power etc.

None so far

This has got to be one of the best recievers out there. I used to swear by seperate components but these all in one HIGH END units are getting better and better. After some calibration and buying some Surround Ex DVD's I fired up this bad boy and became a happy camper.

There's nothing like having your purchase justified by hitting the power button. The surround sound is awesome, I cranked it up , way up and did not hear a peep of distortion. In stereo the ONKYO holds it's own and the 5 channel stereo is good feature for entertaining. All the video switching you need is available and it's fairly simple to operate. This piece definetley gives you the most bang for your buck!!

I'll be back to post a follow up after I burn it in ( you all know that equipment takes about a good 30-60 hrs of loud listening before it breaks in and sounds "sweet" don't you)

If you want a good deal speak to my man TODD @ WWW.JANDR.COM
800 221 8180 EXT 1039

He's great and is always willing to give you a good deal
and they also have a 30 day return policy!!!!

Ill be back!

Similar Products Used:

Fosgate 3a, Parasound pre amp, Harmon Kardon

future upgradabilty,versatile decoding,ease of use

bit too bulky,otherwise none

This machine performs smooth & intelligent decoding of some of the most complex soundtracks.I primarily use it for Home theatre. This was the last item that I purchased to finish off a buying campaign for a HT system,that I started 6 months ago.I did audition all high end systems prior to getting the 989 including Denon,Marantz,Linn etc.They are all excellent systems but relatively lacked the "future proof" features of the Onkyo plus the 7 built IN amps for all channels.I have always been guided by Audioreview .com and I was a bit nervous about the hum & the fan noise complaints as well as poor service backup.In New Zealand Onkyo is imported by the same agency that imports BMWs for the whole of the country.This was of immediate relief to me as their service is excellent by reputation.Secondly I bought this in champagne colour (without additional costs) and with a serial no. ending with 'B'.I had confirmed that the latest machines off the production lines do not have these problems,and end with a serial no.'B'.I must say that mine is a super quiet reciever (so far!).The TS989 in New Zealand has the 'Integra' logo on the front next to Onkyo and I have often wondered about this.Onkyo have not launched a separate Integra line in NZ and claim that their high end equipment in Australasia are called Integra.Makes me wonder if I have something similar to an Integra 7.1(as they call it in the US).This reciever has excellent compatibilty with my Boston Accoustics System 10K speakers.I have the Marantz DV18 THX Ultra DVD Player and together with QED Silver anniversary/and Bettercables.com's cables,the TS989 often brings life in my living room.The bass is well controlled ,sound distribution well balanced and provides plenty of avenues to let you feel and hear what you want.There is no match to its power and decoding properties at present.I do believe that the THX certification always 'adds' to a system's performance,even if you are not going to avail of the specific THX formats.It simply adds to one's sense of quality assurance when investing in a high end machine.I would definitely recommend this machine to videophiles as my review is based on HT performance only.Thankyou Audioreview for my last 6 months of "HT" campaign.

Fan noise

Unit worked perfect out of the box, setup menus were easy to understand, unit has plenty of power as I have yet to get it to shut down. I am looking forward to adding the EX channels but have not done so yet. I am running Definitive Tech. speakers with a Velodyne F-1500 sub and my movies are alive! I have SACD player which sounds dynamite on the 989. There has not been one 2 channel program to this point that has found me disappointed. My CLD-95 is equally happy with both Laser and CD's. Silky smooth, no reason for me to run out and get that Meridian system now. The remote works well and does have a "joystick" type toggle that works well with DVD menus. The only thing I don't understand is why Onkyo could not design a quieter fan system. It comes on during quiet passages and I am trying to configure something which will hide the sound. A near perfect system with that one shortcoming.

Similar Products Used:

B&K, Anthem, Yamaha

I have just hooked up my new Surround Speakers for 7.1 channel usage although only 6.1 channels can therotically be used. I have taken my old back wall speakers and put them within 3 feet of each other as recommended. The new Boston VR-MX Lynfield VR Series are now on the side walls. I put in a movie in Encoded Dolby Digital EX 6.1. The unit needs to be put in the THX EX mode and boom there it was a new surround format that worked very well. I was almost giddy with the way sound filled in an obvious gap in the surround experience. I am now looking forward to the download version of DTS-ES which should be available in April. Onkyo have delayed the upgrade as they are also working on including the new DPL2 or Dolby Pro Logic version 2 on the same software upgrade.

A heap of inputs and outputs including composite, S-Video, Analog audio, Digital audio, RF

Not quite suitable for 4Ohm speaker set-up, fan noise cannot be eliminated. ( dual fans )

This is a receiver that will most probably please almost every audio enthusiast. Setting up the unit is a pleasure with the on-screen display, operation is also simple. Programming the remote control to operate other components is a breeze. The only concern is the receiver shutting down at ref level with 4 Ohm speakers. There is no way eliminating this, except for to lower the output signal to the speakers to a negative value. Furthermore there is no way to eliminate the fan noise which is very distracting at low levels during late night listening. Even with external amplification and the diode modification done, the fan will still kick in at low listening levels, however this should not be a problem at higher levels.
According to another review I read it is estimated that with all channels fully driven it isn't likely that the receiver will produce more than 65W per channel.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_3/onkyo-tx-ds-989-receiver-8-2000.html
On the amplification side there is a lack of control over the speakers in the upper mid range driven at lower levels. In some cases one tend to loose dialogue, depending on the intensity of the soundtrack. In all for a budget receiver it is a good deal, it has all the bells and whistles.
If you hav a 4 Ohm speaker setup, reconcider carefully, or try to get the receiver on a loan basis for a few days to audition in the privacy of your own home.

Similar Products Used:

All Onkyo TX-DS Models

Fantastic sound. Extremely versitle. Upgradeable for future surround formats.

Fan noise although annoying its only at low volume levels and long use.

This unit is far superior to anything I have ever owned. The sound is rich, dynamic and pure. I just purchased it yesterday and it does take some time to get all the features down so take your time. The way all the surround formats can be tweaked is marvelous. I also love the feature that allows you to alter the time lag or delay of voices in movies where it doesnt quite sync up with the lip movement. The remote is nice and fits the hand well. I had been using the remote that came with my Pioneer Elite27 and thought the pioneer remote was a little more versitle but the Onkyo remote does the job. Watching movies is a whole new experience. It brought new life to all ready great speakers. I love the fact the unit is upgradeable for the future. I cant wait till the DTS-ES software can be installed. Now I need more surround speakers. I really dont know how anyone can go wrong with this unit. The great reviews from many audio magazines helped me make this purchase and they were right. Its scary to invest that much money in a piece like this but its the heart of the beast of my system. What a great transplant its been given.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite 27TX

The TXDS989 has plenty of power, and is VERY adjustable. You can literally connect about everything in your house and your neighbors. Ability to customize inputs / outputs is really a great feature, and leaves plenty of room for upgrades later.

This thing is Heavy! Make sure there is plenty of depth in your audio cabinet for airflow and all the connections this thing can handle, and make sure the shelf is strong! Takes a while to get it set up (I used several macros to expedite this...) correctly for various listening modes (home theater, different music types....). You really need to have good equipment connected, if you are too poor to do it right look elsewhere, you are wasting the audiophile capabilities of this amp and your money.

I would have to say this amp just sounds better and better. It has taken a while to get various listening modes correctly setup, but I'm getting closer. I have had no trouble with "fan"noise as some reviewers have said, and have went through all the input /outputs to make sure everything is working well. I also have ran the amp for extended periods of time now, and I will say you can suppplement the heat in your house quite well. I would not suggest putting this amp in a small confined space. The menus allow for quick and easy "starting" setups for the system. There are several modes that just sound damn good on this system, I had my friend bring over his higher end Sony system, and there was just no comparison. If you are not proficient at using and setting up macros you will never fully utilize or adjust this amp properly everytime you use it. At a minimum you will need different settings for DVD/ HIFIVCR and Audio Listening, which could have about 15 things different, you don't want to change them everytime you use the amp manually.
Just to see the difference I did substitute non-monster cable for a while to see if I could tell the difference, and monster cable just plain sounds better! I use monster cable for all connections, THX certified cables for the front and center channels, 4-14ga conductor UL monster cable for the basement runs to the rear speaker in wall connectors(Niles 5 way binding post connects), monster bass cable for the sub, and navaho white cable for the left/right surrounds, and back surrounds. Remember you will probably drop an easy $400-600 just on good speaker cable and interconnects. I also purchased a HTS1000 monster power "clean power" surge protector device. This is really worth the money, it does a tremendous job of filtering out signals that interfere with TVs, and it is cheap insurance against lightning for an expensive system.
As far as the THX Certfication,it is probably more fluff than anything else at this time, but it is nice to have. There are few DVDs actually out in the THX format, but the 2 I have tried sound phenomenal on this system. I expect that there will be more DVD titles available with this encoding in the future.

Just for reference my system consists of the following:

Onkyo TXDS989 reciever
Onkyo CD Player DXC320
Onkyo Tape Player TAR301
Onkyo DV-601 DVD Player
Toshiba VCR HIFI
All Monster interconnects
Monster Clean Power HTS1000Ci
TERK AM/FM antenna
TV - RCA Analog 32", waiting for 65" HDTV fall in price!

Front speakers - Advent Heritage (still some of the best I've heard, i've actually brought them into several stores to compare with speakers I was interested in, never purchased)

Center - Acoustic Research AR4C (i've read some reviews saying there is not enough bass, I say adjust your sub, the center is meant for "Voicing")

Sourounds - 4 Acoustic Research Edge speakers (sound good, are relatively cheap, small enough to blend in a little, hard to find small speakers capable of handling the 130RMS watts this reciever puts out!!)

Sub - Acoustic Research S112PS (I agree with many of the reviewers of this sub, you must take the time to set it up properly or it will sound like crap. Do it right and it is great, I have the crossover adjusted down quite a bit, and leave the Advents in the front set to "large" [low signal still goes to speaker] to blend the bass more thoroughly.)

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo ARV401, Pioneer