Onkyo TX

Soundbars may be the more popular home theater option, but ask any enthusiast and they’ll tell you that an AV receiver the key to great movies (and music) in the home. These big black boxes look the same as ever on the outside, but their innards keep on evolving and picking up capabilities with every generation. The Onkyo TX-NR6100 is a superb example, with a full feature set and great sound today, as well as the capability to meet the changing needs of users in the near future.

After releasing the excellent TX-NR696 in 2019, Onkyo took a year off in 2020. Given how rocky the launch of pandemic-era 8K receivers was — most wouldn’t pass 4K/120Hz video from next-gen gaming consoles, for example — the company benefited from sitting out that terrible year. Yes, the new TX-NR6100 is compatible with 8K video and the output of the Xbox Series X (I tested it), but it’s able to offer so much more than simply switching video sources.


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Onkyo TX-NR6100

$790 at Amazon

$800 at Best Buy

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Like

  • Best music streaming suite on the market
  • Excellent home theater performance
  • Fun to use
  • Compatible with Xbox Series X/4K 120Hz signals

Don’t Like

  • More expensive than the competition
  • Not as dynamic with music

The 6100 takes up where the venerable TX-NR696 left off by adding its enhanced video compatibility to what was already a Pandora’s Box of features. Of course there is the bevy of music streaming options and even an input for a turntable. Though I was disappointed with the other Onkyo model released this year — the TX-NR5100, which cut too many features for the money — the TX-6100 is a giant step back in the right direction. 

The Onkyo’s main “problem” is the price — at $800 it costs significantly more than its major competition. For instance, the $649 Yamaha RX-6VA is able to offer even more HDMI inputs and better performance by a pinch. However, if you want up-to-date streaming, excellent sound quality and “smarter” features, the Onkyo TX-NR6100 is worth the extra expense.

Features by the boatload

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The front panel of the TX-NR6100 features direct source buttons


Sarah Tew/CNET

The TX-NR696 is a 7 x 100-watt-per-channel receiver which includes support for the atmospheric Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio formats and the latest video standards, namely 8K and 4K/120Hz. While some competitors — Denon, Marantz and Yamaha — also offered 8K receivers they were plagued by compatibility problems until very recently. (Denon and Marantz have had updated models on the market since April, and Yamaha since the summer).

The Onkyo includes six HDMI inputs at the back, with three able to pass 8K video while the remaining three ports include HDR10 and Dolby Vision compatibility. There is a Zone 2 HDMI output as well. Other connections include five analog audio inputs, two digital audio inputs (optical and coaxial) and two USB ports. Vinyl is still in the middle of a revival and the NR6100 enables users to take advantage thanks to a dedicated phono input for turntables which lack an onboard phono preamp.

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The rear panel of the TX-NR6100 


Sarah Tew/CNET

The Onkyo’s bevy of streaming protocols includes Chromecast built-in, DTS Play-Fi, Spotify Connect, AirPlay and Bluetooth. Alongside Sony, Onkyo is the only other “major” receiver brand to offer integration with Google’s Chromecast built-in, and it’s one of my favorite streaming features. Being able to ask your Google Nest mini for a song and have it play automatically on your AV system is an excellent time-saver. If you have an Alexa household it will control the Onkyo too.

While the TX-NR696 had the proprietary FlareConnect system for “mirror casting” audio to another compatible component the feature is missing this time — no great loss. Though multiroom audio has pretty much negated the need for powered zones on receivers, the Onkyo still offers this functionality. The Onkyo includes a dedicated powered Zone 2 out (with HDMI) if you’re looking to set up another room with a set of speakers and a TV. 

There’s a bunch of other features in there too — it can be controlled by the Sonos app if you connect the $449 Sonos Port, or you can optimize the receiver for certain Klipsch speakers.

Whether it’s the volume knob or the source selector I find myself often using the controls on an AV receiver instead of casting about for the remote. Receivers that use direct source buttons — such as the TX-NR6100 — instead of dials make it so much easier to get the input you want. 

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Ty Pendlebury/CNET

Of course you can always use the clicker, but the remote included with the 6100 and is not my favorite. It’s chunky but it feels slight in the hand, and the large tone rocker is unnecessary. The tone controls are also mirrored on the receiver itself.

How does it sound?

I tested the Onkyo TX-NR6100 with a speaker frontline consisting of Bowers and Wilkins 685, the new SVS Pro 1000 subwoofer and an Elac UC51 center. I compared it against the Yamaha RX-V6A with a mix of music, general TV watching and movies. I calibrated the models using a decibel meter rather using the receivers’ respective calibration routines.

Both the Yamaha RX-V6A and the Onkyo TX-NR6100 put in excellent performances and at times there was very little to separate them.   

Blu-ray discs may be terribly out of fashion these days, but they are still the best way to experience your favorite movies. Though it’s not much of movie, 1917 on 4K Blu-ray is a tour de force in modern image making. The sequence which begins after the one hour mark — a beautiful tracking shot through a ruined city lit by flares — sounded intense and vivid when powered by the Yamaha. At 1.09.51 a flare began at the front right speaker and headed back over my head. 

When replayed through the Onkyo the scene became a larger bubble of sound with all the clinks and random drips amplified, although the 6100 couldn’t track where the flares were going as easily as the Yamaha.

When confronted with the jungles of Pandora on the Avatar disc, there was very little to separate the two models. Each receiver was able to transport the listener to the nitrogen-rich atmosphere of Pandora. Insects hummed, Titanothere footsteps had the low thrum I expected and the spark of gunfire felt visceral on both run-throughs.

I switched to music and Ben Harper’s sparse and haunting Widow of a Living Man sounded equally impressive on both receivers. I gave the slight edge to Onkyo as it better delineated the difference between the guitar and voice.

Of all of the material I listened to, the biggest difference occurred with Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand. The Yamaha was able to produce an almost holographic image of the singer during this smoke-infused creeper, and the crashes and organ pulses were rendered more dynamic than on the Onkyo. The TX-NR6100 offset this relative lack of dynamics by amping up the atmosphere — the speakers seemed to wrap around me and the page turn at the start of the song seemed to come from outer space.

Should you buy it?

Receivers are just as competitive as they ever were, but Onkyo has come out strong with its TX-NR6100. The Onkyo supplies the power and performance you need at the center of a serious home theater. What the company offers over competitors such as Yamaha is more flexibility, especially if you use the Google Assistant and there’s 8K compatibility out of the box.

The Yamaha RX-V6a may not be as fully featured as the Onkyo but it offers better dynamics and a much better price, making it our choice between the two. Yet, if the price on the Yamaha RX-V6A changes due to supply chain issues that would close the gap. The only other competitor at this level (besides Denon) is Sony, but the STR-DN1080 has often been out of stock recently, and might as well be discontinued. Between the two, the TX-NR6100 adds meaningful updates on that old-timer and should be the one you choose.

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Onkyo TX

After an initial rash of excitement over the next generation of 8K receivers — OMG! 8K! The future is here! — the tumult quickly turned to a sense of confusion. The category is currently in a holding pattern and there’s one major reason why. In late 2020, when the first 8K-compatible models came onto the market, problems occurred when users tried to connect the Xbox Series X at its peak capability — namely 4K at 120Hz with VRR, which is as good as it gets until real 8K sources come along.

Now that 8K TVs are available, the new Onkyo TX-NR5100 receiver offers the cutting-edge connectivity that gamers and early adopters have been clamoring for — and after testing it I can confirm it passes the 4K/120Hz signals that some competitors cannot. But a few design issues hold it back.

Before I get into all that, however, here’s a little background.

What is 4K 120Hz anyway?

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The Yamaha RX-V6A is one of the affected 8K-compatible models.


Ty Pendlebury/CNET

The newest PC video cards and game consoles can output 4K resolution at higher frame rates than before, up to 120 frames per second, which supposedly leads to smoother gameplay. The Xbox Series X also supports a feature called virtual refresh rate, where the refresh rate can change dynamically to reduce tearing and similar artifacts. (The PlayStation 5 will also eventually support VRR, but Sony hasn’t implemented it yet.) 

It turns out that the initial crop of 8K receivers from Denon, Yamaha and Marantz were manufactured using a chipset that’s incompatible with 4K/120Hz and VRR. When a user connects a device using VRR at more than 4K/60Hz, the receiver refuses to pass the signal. The screen is simply blank and high-end gamers who bought the new receivers are understandably annoyed.

Of the three brands it’s Yamaha which is taking the most drastic step of enabling users to send in their “faulty” receivers to have a main board replaced for free. Yamaha’s program is coming in the fall of 2021, but the company has been unable to confirm when fully-compliant models will be available for sale at stores.

Meanwhile Sound United, which is responsible for Denon and Marantz, tells me replacement models slipped onto the market in April. Users who bought an 8K receiver before then can request an HDMI dongle, but the initial shipment has run out and so new requests won’t be filled for another five months, the company says.

Until the fix is in, so to speak, buying an Onkyo or Pioneer will seemingly circumvent the issue entirely as its models never had a video problem. I have tested the TX-NR5100 and found that it will pass 4K/120Hz signals, but there are some good reasons why it won’t end up on my recommended receivers list.

Using the TX-NR5100

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The Onkyo TX-NR5100 is the first receiver to prove its compatibility with 4K/120Hz video.


Ty Pendlebury/CNET

It’s 2021 and the 2019 Onkyo TX-NR696 is still my favorite AVR, as it offers almost everything you need: music streaming, plenty of HDMI inputs, Dolby Atmos and of course, excellent sound quality. I had hoped that, for the same $599, the TX-NR5100 could fill the shoes left by its venerable forebear. In two aspects it has: Yes, the new model is able to pass 4K/120Hz and yes, it sounds just as good as I remember the NR696 being.

In order to get 4K/120Hz out of the NR5100 first I needed to go deep into the receiver’s menus: Settings > 1. Input Output Assign > TV Out/OSD > HDMI 4K/8K Signal Format > 8K Standard (the default 4K Enhanced didn’t work).

With an Xbox Series X connected, I then had an enjoyable time playing the new Call of Duty: Special Ops Cold War — one of the few games that offers 4K/120Hz support. I’m usually a PC gamer and I use V-Sync to prevent the screen tearing that VRR is also designed to tackle, and on this version of Call of Duty I found there were no artifacts to speak of. However, it didn’t matter whether I used 60Hz or 120Hz with the Xbox as I didn’t experience screen tearing and the smoothness of gameplay between the two refresh rates was very similar. I had a similar experience with the game Ori and the Will of the Wisps; I could see the resolution change in the menu, but it looked just as good in either mode. 

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Ty Pendlebury/CNET

Though more games will be released that offer support for 4K/120Hz and may offer starker differences, I’m not sure why most people would actually care. Just like 8K resolution offers diminishing returns — unless you’re projecting onto a building — 4K/120Hz playback doesn’t seem like a huge improvement at this stage.

On the other performance point, the TX-NR5100 sounds big and dynamic with the right material. I connected a pair of Q Acoustics 3050i speakers and a SVS SB1000 Pro subwoofer for gaming sessions as well as music listening and both were as entertaining and as detailed as I could have hoped for. I especially liked the Onkyo’s ability to simultaneously stream music over Chromecast built-in while also indulging my kid’s love for Minecraft on the TV, using its separate video switching capability.

Where does the TX-NR5100 fall short? 

The pandemic has affected the prices of a lot of products and this includes home theater. The thing that really hurts the NR5100, at least for the first few months it’s on sale, is that it is the same price as the excellent TX-NR696. Sure, the NR696 is older and doesn’t have 4K/120Hz capability, but for that issue there is an easy work-around (see below). The NR696 also offers more HDMI ports (six, with one front input) and proper binding terminals for the speaker outputs.

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Spring clips on a $600 receiver?


Ty Pendlebury/CNET

On the other hand the TX-NR5100 has a limited number of HDMI ports — four HDMI 2.1 ports (plus two outputs) and only includes the spring clip speaker connections for all but the front stereo pair. While four HDMI ports is a drag, especially for gamers with a lot of devices, it’s the latter point which is worse for enthusiasts. If you are looking to upgrade an existing AVR you will need to ensure you have bare wires only to connect to the spring clips, and a small gauge at that. I tried buying a set of 2mm banana-to-spring adapters on Amazon, but even then they didn’t fit. I managed to pop three of the clips out when trying to connect them without an easy way to reinstall them.

In terms of power specifications, though, the TX-NR5100 carries over the power ratings from the NR595 at 80 watts per channel in stereo. Likewise, it also shares that model’s extensive streaming capabilities including Apple AirPlay, DTS Play-Fi, control of Sonos devices and the aforementioned Chromecast.


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The workaround: Just connect HDMI directly to your TV

As VRR and 4K/120Hz are only supported by the newest TVs, the inability to display this mode isn’t an issue for most people anyway. However, if you do want to connect an Xbox Series X to your sound system — any sound system at all — you simply connect the console to the TV first (preferably to an HDMI 2.1 port, if you’re lucky enough to have one) and then use HDMI ARC/eARC to the receiver. 

Regardless of whether you have a 2012 or 2021 receiver this will still work, and while it may not give you the latest Dolby Atmos sound (depending on the age of your receiver), it will supply video to a 120Hz-supporting TV. Check Geoff Morrison’s list here for compatible 4K televisions.

Is it worth buying the 5100 purely for 4K 120HZ?

A worldwide semiconductor shortage and a newer, more expensive HDMI standard make Onkyo’s reasons for the TX-NR5100’s price hike understandable — in January this year it was only expected to cost $500. However, the increase becomes difficult to justify when it’s the same price as the superior TX-NR696.

The TX-NR5100 does have its positives — excellent sound quality is one, alongside its comprehensive streaming suite. If you really must have 4K 120Hz, then go, have at it — the Onkyo TX-NR5100 offers features that few other competitors can match. But be aware it’s a model poorly suited to the enthusiasts it’s trying to cater for.

The $699 Denon AVR-S960 may not offer the bling and sonic zing of its competitors but, according to Sound United, it now offers 4K/120Hz compatibility out of the box. If you can spare the extra $100 it will be worth it for more HDMI ports and a full set of binding terminals. Plus, it still sounds damn good.

Until I get to test the TX-NR6100 or TX-NR7100, it’s worth adopting a wait-and-see attitude with the rest of the next-gen receivers.

Update, 1:10 p.m. PT: Added further information on the current availability of 4K/120Hz Denon and Marantz models.

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Onkyo TX

You’ve got a 3D TV and compatible Blu-ray player and now you’re looking to get a surround sound system to add 3D sound to your 3D vision. Onkyo can help with that quest, because the SR608 is HDMI 1.4 capable, and that means it can pass 3D video to your TV without removing the signalling that tells your TV that the pictures are in 3D.

But 3D is really only the smallest part of the story here, because the Onkyo also supports the audio return channel –ARC for short– which allows it to receive Dolby Digital or other surround sound audio via the same cable that connects it to the TV. That means no more messy optical leads or nasty RCA jacks cluttering up your home entertainment system.

Because we’re hurtling toward a future of only HDMI, this receiver has a total of six inputs for HD devices. All are HDMI 1.4 ready, so you can connect 3D devices to them, and your TV will happily switch itself to 3D mode when needed. There are also a pair both coaxial and optical digital inputs, which will allow you to connect devices like Sky+HD and Virgin V+HD, which can’t send surround sound over their HDMI connections for some ridiculous reason.

Onkyo also provides its ‘universal port’, which, while being universal only on Onkyo’s products, does offer some pretty cool options. The company has a very swanky iPod dock that connects to this socket, and we hope in the future that it will increase the things that can be connected in this way. It could even be used for adding new features to your receiver at a later date, which could save you from replacing the receiver at a later date. Handy stuff.

The SR-608 costs 450 of your most three dimensional pounds and is available right now. We’ve previously tested Onkyo’s excellent TX-SR607, and the 608 will be getting the same treatment soon too.

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Onkyo TX

If like us, ensconcing yourself in the bassy comfort of your home cinema is your favourite way to waste an evening, you’ll be thrilled to know Onkyo wants to enable your habit with a range of new AV receivers. There are four models: the TX-SR307, TX-SR507, TX-SR577 and the TX-SR607. The first three players will hit the market in April, with the SR607 arriving in May.

So, what does each machine bring? If past performance is anything to go by, they’ll deliver crashing bass, awe-inspiring surround sound and more features than you can shake a pogo-stick at. Let’s break it down, hip-hop style, by looking at each machine in order.

First up, at the entry-level end of the market, is the SR307. This machine offers decoding for Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound. It has HDMI for passthrough, for taking multiple inputs from your AV gear and passing them to your TV via a single cable. The only feature missing here is DTS-HD MA and TrueHD decoding. The 307 is a replacement for last year’s SR304 and will cost around £250 when it launches.

The TX-SR507, which replaces last year’s 506, is aimed at the entry level Blu-ray market. It includes both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA decoding, has four HDMI inputs and a new, 3.5mm stereo jack at the front, for your MP3 player. It’s expected to cost around £350 when it launches next month.

The SR577 picks up where the 576 left off. Four HDMI inputs are included, as is the new 3.5mm MP3 jack on the front. You also get Onkyo’s new ‘Universal Port’, which will provide a way to connect accessories such as DAB radios and iPod docks. The 577 is also the first decoder in the range to add the new Dolby Pro Logic IIz processing mode, which steers sound to speakers mounted high at the front of your home cinema. This mode is supposed to generate a more three-dimensional sound. If multiple speakers are your cup of tea, you’ll be pleased to hear this receiver can cope with 7.1-channel output too. You should be able to pick this machine up for about £400 when it hits shops in April.

The last machine in the range is the SR607, which has five HDMI inputs — including a front-mounted one for games consoles or camcorders. Pro Logic IIz is also present and correct, as is the Universal Port and the front-mounted 3.5mm input. It’s expected to be available in May, and should cost around £500.

The whole range features new gaming modes, designed to help you get more out of your surround-sound experience. The modes, which amazingly include specific settings for RPG, action, sports and even one for musical games, are intended to make gaming a more immersive and involving experience. Onkyo reckons gaming is a huge part of its market, and is expanding all the time. We have to say, listening to Guitar Hero on the system did have a live music feel to it, and was quite a lot better than the usual TV hook-up.

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Onkyo TX

He may enjoy killing the innocent, blowing up planets and generally keeping a stranglehold on those around him, but that doesn’t mean old Darth Vader doesn’t like to kick back, relax and watch a hi-def movie with glorious, uncompressed surround sound. Indeed, we think he’s got an Onkyo TX-NR906 in that little egg where he takes his helmet off.

A 7.1 AV receiver like the TX-NR906 needs to be certified as capable of producing sound as the sound engineer intended it. Luckily, Darth’s good buddy and authorised biographer George Lucas has just the system: it’s called THX Ultra2 Plus and it’s designed to do the best possible job in conveying the emotion and heart-rending life story of those misunderstood on-screen villains.

If THX Ultra2 Plus isn’t enough for you, there’s also the option to have your Onkyo TX-NR906 calibrated by an ISF engineer. The purpose of ISF is to make sure your system is set up perfectly for your viewing environment. So the subdued lighting in Darth’s happy place shouldn’t be a problem, which will please him when he’s got his feet up on that stuffed Ewok.

When you’re supreme ruler of the universe, you have a lot of video hardware, which means you need inputs up the yingyang. Darth was unlucky enough to pick HD DVD in the format war, which is one of the reasons those Blu-ray lovers on Alderaan had to die. Don’t worry, he’s got a PS3 now, because he rather likes the exterior finish, but he’s also got Laserdisc, DVD, Betamax and a VHS player he needs to hook up. The Onkyo is extremely impressive here, offering four HDMI inputs and two outputs. There are also six composite and S-Video inputs, and the associated audio connectors for the older analogue gear. You also get three coaxial and two optical digital inputs, for newer, digital audio devices.

The Death Star’s corporate network can also be accommodated. It’s well known that the Emperor has a good selection of MP3s he’s pirated from the record companies of a dozen worlds. He keeps those on a PC, so Darth is able to dip in and out of them using the Onkyo’s networked streaming features.

If you’re stuck here on planet Earth, the 906 is still a great piece of kit, available now for around £1,400. Of course, you won’t be able to chill out to some DTS-HD audio while you crush weaker planets into space dust, and you’ll have to get up to plug stuff in, rather than simply using the Force. A remote control is supplied though, so at least you can pretend to control things with your mind. –Ian Morris

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Onkyo TX

Here’s a little trivia for you: THX, the cinema sound quality certification, was introduced in 1983 by Lucasfilm so every terrible line of dialogue from Return of the Jedi could be heard exactly as ol’ moneybags intended it. Later, the standard made its way to consumer electronics, designed to guarantee high-quality home cinema sound — even in films that don’t make you weep with frustration and nostalgia.

The Onkyo TX-SR706, like many of its brothers, comes with the THX stamp of quality, which means as long as you take care with the installation and use good speakers, you should be able to experience cinema-quality sound — without the over-priced stale nachos and chavs chatting constantly.

As you might imagine, the SR-706 is ready for the latest lossless audio codecs, DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD, so if you’re a Blu-ray lover, you’ll get some impressive performance. You need HDMI 1.3 to make this work and the 706 has four such inputs, and one output. Handy if you’ve got loads of kit and not many HDMI sockets on your TV.

You also get 1080p upscaling, for DVDs and other standard-definition sources, provided in this case by Faroudja DCDi. Audyssey MultEQ will ensure that your system delivers the best sound in your room, even if it is a slightly odd shape, or if it’s full of cats. You can also have a second zone connected, which is useful if you want to listen to music in the bedroom without buying a whole new stereo system.

All seven channels can output up to 160W of power, which is frankly enough to make your entire street hate you. That said, the inclusion of THX Loudness Plus means that the amplifier is designed to produce great quality sound at much lower power levels than before. So perhaps you can still get that cup of sugar from the nice lady next door.

The Onkyo TX-SR706 will be available for around £600 from September. You can have it finished in either black or silver — black is our suggestion, it looks a fair bit cooler than ostentatious silver. -Ian Morris

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Onkyo TX

It seems like every TV review we write, we end up saying the same thing: “The sound on flat-panel TVs just isn’t good enough.” People don’t usually see the investment in sound as anywhere near as important as that of the picture. And that’s troubling, because sound is 50 per cent of the experience — and what’s more, bad sound makes Nate Lanxon sadder than a walrus who’s lost his bucket.

So how do you keep Nate, and more importantly your ears, happy? The best solution is to get yourself an AV receiver, and the good news is that there are plenty of fringe benefits to getting something like the Onkyo TX-SR576.

The TX-SR875 is first and foremost a surround-sound decoder and amplifier, which takes the surround sound from a DVD or Blu-ray, amplifies it and pumps the resulting audio joy to as many as eight speakers. You get high-quality banana plug compatible speaker outputs for all channels except the subwoofer, which has an RCA jack connector. The Onkyo also has a second zone output, which means you can listen to music in a second room.

What you also get is a convenient switcher for all your video sources — basically, you plug everything you own into this box, and then throw away the TV remote, because you can control everything from the Onkyo. With everything running though it, your ears will be constantly bathed in glorious high-quality sound. Hurrah!

The 576 supports video switching of up to 1080p, via its three HDMI 1.3 inputs. It can decode a variety of exciting surround-sound formats, including DTS-ES, DTS Neo:6, DTS 96/24, Dolby Digital EX and Dolby Pro Logic IIx.

The only really negative thing we could say about this receiver is that it won’t upscale video — it acts purely as a switcher, which is still very useful, especially for reducing the cable clutter going to your TV. The other downside is that it won’t decode the newer HD audio formats, such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD. To make use of the high-quality audio from those, you’ll need to use a Blu-ray player with analogue 7.1 out, or use downscaled sound from the optical digital out.

The SR576 is available now for around £300, although you’ll need some lovely speakers to go alongside it, which will bump the price up. -Ian Morris

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Onkyo TX

The Onkyo TX-SR875 is a fully featured AV receiver, which means you plug a bunch of your AV gear into it, like your DVD player and games consoles, and it makes them sound amazing. You’re unlikely to have enough stuff to plug into it, frankly, because the back of this thing has more holes than the plot of Transformers.

The 875 also supports the very latest in uncompressed surround sound, which can be found on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs in the form of either Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD. What this means is you’re hearing the soundtrack as it was recorded for cinemas. In terms of sound quality, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Obviously, to support uncompressed audio, the SR875 also needs to have HDMI 1.3 support. But even more impressive, it can upscale video to 1080p — handy if you want the best out of DVDs and aren’t keen to replace your existing player.

There are a boat-load of other features too, including multi-room sound, a magical system that calibrates the receiver automatically while you go and make a nice cup of tea.

Of course, such functionality — not to mention all those inputs — won’t fit into a small case. The SR875 is a beast, but it’s not a bad-looking one, finished in either black or silver. It will certainly take up plenty of space, and it kicks out some serious heat, but once you get it up and running you’ll forget it looks like it has some sort of horrific tropical swelling disease — after all, this baby is all about the sound.

The SR875 costs around £1,000, but you’ll need to add a decent set of speakers to get the very best out of it. Don’t worry though, because the average cinema trip for two people with a drink and a snack is around £20, so even factoring in DVD rental and that popcorn you microwave, it’s only going to take 100 films for you to be actually saving money. Bargain.

Update: A full review of the Onkyo TX-SR875 is now available. -Ian Morris

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Onkyo TX

Surround sound is awesome. It makes watching movies a truly exciting experience and teleports gaming into a whole new world. Crave recently had a pop at the new Colin McRae rally game, DiRT, and were blown away by the amazing surround effects, so we are especially excited to hear about these new TX-SR series AV receivers from Onkyo.

The new TX-SR home-cinema receiver range includes four THX-certified systems — named TX-SR705, TX-SR805, TX-SR875 and TX-SR905 — that also support HDMI 1.3a and both Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD, which means seriously amazing uncompressed surround sound.

All the models have Neural THX, which is designed to offer a full 5.1 surround experience from specially encoded stereo soundtracks. It also promises to extend 5.1 sound to 7.1 for gamers too, which will make for a very surround-y experience.

The £600 TX-SR705 offers THX Select 2 certification, which essentially means low signal-to-noise ratio and distortion figures, which means a better quality amp. The £800 TX-SR805 promises THX Ultra 2, which adds a few requirements, including THX Music, which should improve the music performance of the amp.

The receivers all offer HDMI in and out, how many of each depends on the model — the 705 and 805 have three inputs and one output, the £1,000 TX-SR875 has four HDMI inputs and one output, and the £1,400 TX-SR905 has four inputs and two outputs.

The two top-of-the-range amps, 875 and 905, offer an ear-bashing 200W per channel. They will also upscale video to 1080p, which is a nice little bonus for those looking to get the best out of their DVD collection and swanky new TV. They’re all out very soon, except the TX-SR705, which takes a bow next month. -Ian Morris

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