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Review 1 of 2
Price Paid:
$350.00
from Circuit City Summary:
Let me start by saying that I've wanted an Onkyo receiver for quite a while (Since the 600) To me, the 600 series has offered quite a bit more than the 500 series throughout the model upgrades. Although not as capable as their higher end models, its fine for my use (70 music/30 movies in a medium sized apartment)
FYI: The purchase price reflects the fact that this was an open box/display model
I set up my system manually for 2 reasons. (1) I bought it open box and it didn't come with the microphone for the auto setup. I could have purchased/borrowed one but (2) from several reviews I've read, mainly this one from CNet (http://reviews.cnet.com/Onkyo_TX_SR602/4505-6466_7-30912204.html?tag=pdtl-img) I decided that I would be better off tweaking it myself. It really wasn't that hard especially since it has an on-screen display. I had it up and running in practically no time.
This may not be audiophile quality but for the average listener and even most average enthusiasts this is probably more than enough power/options
I've read that this isn't the best in it's class for music but it seemed fine for me. I have the Athena point 5 MKII speakers and will be purchasing a Dayton 12" sub.
This receiver also has more inputs than most people will need. One of the things that I appreciated about this receiver that other receivers in it's price range don't have are 3 component inputs (most that I found only have 2) I use them for my DVD player, XBox and PS3, and I have my Game Cube connected with S-video. It's nice being able to switch between them with the push of their respective buttons on my receiver remote instead of cycling through video/component modes on my TV.
The thought of switching brings up another cool feature. The receiver can be set up to play the audio from the previously selected input. What does this mean? It means that if there is a CD that I want to listen to while I play my video games all I have to do is select the CD input on my receiver, start playing and then switch to the video mode I want on the receiver and it will continue playing the audio from the CD while displaying the video from the game system. Since the receiver has the ability to send audio to 2 rooms from 2 sources, another option would be to have 2 sets of front speakers, use the one set for zone 1 and the other set for zone 2, then you could play your video games in surround sound, while at the same time play a CD in stereo all in the same room. OK, so maybe not everyone will find this useful but I think it's pretty cool.
So far the only problem I've had is with the remote. I can't get it to learn anything and none of the product codes work for my components.
Who is this receiver for? Someone who isn't going to measure the output with instruments. If you rely on your ears and you have decent speakers you should be thrilled.
I'm giving this receiver a value rating of 5 because as I stated earlier, you can't get 3 component inputs for under $500 anywhere else (as far as I know as of my writing this) and that's a big thing for me, plus it has 3 optical and 1 coax digital audio inputs.
I gave it a 5 for the overall rating because of the reasons I mentioned under the value rating plus I love the ability to listen to the previous input while switching to another input (I hope I explained this properly because I think it's really cool). Also the fact that you can set the crossover so low allows you to connect some pretty beefy speakers to the setup and it will be able to control everything properly Strengths:
* dual room/dual source capability
* 7.1
* upconverts to S-video
* on screen display
* crossover down to 60Hz
* play audio from the previous input selection Weaknesses:
* doesn't upconvert to component
* no phono input
* remote won't work for my Samsung TV and DVD player (it could just be me) Similar Products Used:
none that I've owned but I've listened to several models from HK, Yamaha, Panny & Denon while shopping around
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