Question about Onkyo TX - SR606 ( 7.1 AV Receiver)?

Question

I am wanting to purchase an Onkyo SR606 7.1ch av receiver. It seems to be an excellent value since it has on-board decoding for just about every HD audio format and also has 4HDMI ports with 1080i HDMI upconversion all for only $399 at Circuit City($600MSRP). The 1080i upconversion is fine with me because my tv only goes up to 1080i. But I have heard that the upconversion is not very good and that it can cause the picture to be jaggy and experience a loss in resolution. I just wanted to know if this was a serious problem or just a minor nit-picky thing that videophiles complain about. I don't really care if the picture is jaw-droppingly gorgeous or whatever, but I want the picture to look just as good if not better than if the component was plugged directly into the tv. The receiver has "Faroudija DCDi Edge Technology" which is supposed to help get optimal picture quality from upconversion... so I really don't know.

I guess what I am asking is, is this receiver worth the money?

Answer 1

This reciever is a great value and has the built in Faroudija scaler (which a few years ago cost thousands as a seperate box.)  You have the option of turning the scaler on or off depending on if the connected TV has a better scaler than the reciever. (Doubtful though).

This is the same scaler in both my Onkyo 805 and my Denon 3808 (yes I'm a videophile)and although I don't use the scaler in my onkyo (older Pioneer RPTV w/ no HDMI) my Denon is hooked up to my Plasma and I have it turned on and it really made the image sharp and clear (even HD content seemed sharper)

Onkyo makes great products and this months issue of HT Magazine gave the 606 glowing reviews, although with five speakers going it reached 81.2 watts per speaker at 0.1% distortion (which is very good for a budget reciever) and reached 73.2 watts at 0.1 distortion with seven speakers hooked up.  (anything below 1% distortion cannot be heard)

Your picture quality should be just fine with this reciever using the scaler, and as mentioned if not, you can always turn it off.  You'll like what Faroudja DCDi can do.

Another thing to get great picture quality is make sure you plug the TV and reciever and any other HT gear into a surge surpressor to clean up "dirty electricity" because trust me it can affect picture quality and sound.  Don't get the higher priced Monster brand, a 60.00 Tripplite Isobar from Officemax or Staples will work just as well as the Monster brand costing 500.00 and will clean up the picture.

Answer 2

If your settings and connections are correct , you will get what you want.