The receiver works well and the remote control is light-years ahead of previous Onkyo receiver remotes. The receiver was simple to set up and I was very happy with the sound. The instructions were OK - except that there are differenced between US and European models - and nothing in the instructions that I found mentioned how to tell the difference. The power is outstanding.

No component video.

The unit had hum on the center speaker - even with the sound turned low. I finally took the unit to a repair center and found that Onkyo issued a tech note about Dec. 20, 1999 about the problem. It needs only one ground wire to fix the problem. I have heard form a few folks - includig one dealer - that this was a manufacturing oversight.
Unfortunately, I got a call from the repair shop that said Onkyo refused to honor their warranty since the unit was purchased through Ubid.com which Onkyo says is not an authorized dealer. After Ubid tried everything in their power to get Onkyo to honor the warranty - even going through the original distributor, they said they would take the receiver back. I will miss it - but I'll never buy another Onkyo product. You can call Onkyo at 201-825-7950 to check this out. Their service manager told me they would NOT honor the warranty - that it was my problem and I should have checked before buying their product on the Internet. Enough of Onkyo!

Probably a technically fine product. They had a problem with a ground wire and refusal to fix the problem has lost them a customer forever.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 656

Excellent range of connections

Amplifier hiss!!!! Crosstalk!!!!!

I am a victim of the amplifier hiss this product has. My unit supposedly has had a manufacturer fix put in but I can hear the hiss from 8 ft away if no source materials are playing. Flipping to phono with nothing connected is actually painful in the amount of noise it puts out. Cranking up the volume while on CD without source materials playing shows a lot of cross talk from the FM or AM portion and it is like a weak transistor radio.

There is a definite problem with the grounding and power isolation of this unit. Back to Onkyo it goes!

If you are fortunate enough to get one without the problems I experienced: the actual sound is quite good. I would characterize it as very smooth/warm, almost like it has a high treble roll off. You might or might not like the lack of crispness. Less fatiguing but less exciting, too.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, etc.

Lots of power, digital sound crystal clear, ton of inputs and outputs, on screen programming.

None!!!!

This reciever is Slammin!!! The Matrix, The Postman, and every piece of dolby digital software that this reciever will process is Slammin!!! CD too!!! I can't wait until DTS software becomes more abundunt. I only paid $565.00 at Onecall.com and the local store wanted at least $799.00. Onkyo did well with this one. There is no humm or any other type of distortion in any of my speakers.

Speakers:

Bose Am5-Front
Bose Vcs-10 Center
Bose Model 100- Rear
Paradigm Pdr-12- Subwoofer

Similar Products Used:

Compared the Denon avr3300, Yamaha 995a, and units by Harmon Kardon

Lite-Learning-Remote, Sound/Build Quality, S-Video-Swting
Features: RE-EQ, Late-Night/Direct-Mode, Front-Effect
Select Video/Monitor-Output by A/V-Source.
DTS/8-DSP w/5-Chl Audio is among the best...

Lacks: Auto-source and Component-Video switching.
Multi-Room/Src A/V-output.

The sound, wheather listening to Movies or Music this
HT-receiver has to be for the dollar, among the three best,
along with Denon-AVR5700 and Marantz-SR18 Home-Theater receivers.

The Remote has a few ergonomic button-position-errors and the receiver is worth the money...... Try it........

Ohh I purchased mine for 650.00 at Midwest Audio 2800 N. Clark St. Chgo.

Similar Products Used:

JVC-RX1028V, Sony-STR-555ES, Yamaha-RX-995v and
Denon AVR3300.

Great Seperation, verry powerful

hum, and remote

The Y splitter should work ok.. but your better off getting a Monster Sub Cable.. it comes with all the needed parts to hook it up.. Im actully useing the TX-DS777 and it suffers from the famous Hummm.. oh well.. Its still a great reciever.. that and the remote are the only drawback.. the joystick oin the remot presses to easy when trying to navigate it around.. gotta be verry veery easy doing it.. or it can be aggravating selecting what your DONT want to!!

Similar Products Used:

none

Same as other reviews (generally a good product)

Hiss

I spent two weeks reading reviews on this sight to determine which receiver I should purchase. I finally narrowed it down to the Denon AVR-2800 and this receiver. I have had Denon's earlier model, the AVR-2000, for six years, and it has been great. I tried to get the Denon AVR-2800 originally from Sound City, but they were having so many problems getting supply in that they decided to stop carrying the line, so I went for the Onkyo with full knowledge about the hiss problem. I even asked the sales rep about it before I purchased the unit. He said the problem was prevalent in the 777 but that the 676 had not had many returns.

So, I eventually got the receiver from Sound City, and it had the "hiss" problem. It is not very loud, but IT IS DEFINITELY NOTICEABLE. I can hear it clearly, and it is annoying. It is not my cables or anything else in my system. My Denon does not make the same noise. I also checked many various other brands of receivers from friends, and they did not have the problem either. Besides there is no use debating whether there is a problem. The Onkyo customer service rep told me that they knew of the problem. By the way, because of the grounding problem, which causes the "hiss", you can hear a "click" when the volume is turned to "Min" or when the unit switches between Digital Processing signals. I might expect that from a unit costing $150, not one at $799 retail. So, I sent the unit back (paying $58 in shipping since the thing weighs 45 pounds). I got a replacement from Sound City and opened it today. And un-surprisingly it has the same problem. I will now take it to a service center to get it repaired.

The receiver cost me $569 from Sound City. The price is good, but even so, the "hiss" is unacceptable, especially from Onkyo. I can't believe that they have not tried to recall units to fix them prior to sending them to dealers. I spent extra shipping for a manufacturing oversight Onkyo knew about (I'm thinking about trying to get the shipping reimbursed from Onkyo, since they are at fault). Why should the end consumer have to pay for the manufacturer's admitted mistake.

I will never buy another product from Onkyo because of this problem, even though the unit is pretty good excepting the "hiss" problem.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-2800

Looks, remote, pre-amp outs for all (5.1) channels, 4 digital in's, plenty video/audio inputs (including phono),S-Video switching, switchable OSD (composite/S-video), binding posts for all speakers that accept banana plugs, can equalize levels of all inputs, ample power/channel (85W)

Analog sound, difficulty of set up (due to poor User Manual), "joy" button on remote requires very hard press or wrong command sent (e.g. when navigating through the OSD)

Bought a HK AVR 65 at local CC for $410.00 (open box), brought it home, after 2 days it developed a "hum" in front 3 channels (I don't have surrounds yet so have to run Analog DPL 3 channel mode).

Selected the Onkyo TX-DS676 (to replace the HK AVR 65), ordered (and just received) one at approx $565.00 + shipping from Onecall. Just got a chance to disconnect the AVR65 and set up the 676.

I am totally disappointed in the sound of the Onkyo 676(compared to the HK AVR 65). The Onkyo sound is flat and almost lifeless, while the HK is more dynamic and exciting.

I run 3 fronts (all JBL) and no surrounds (yet). I have JBL powered subs (one each for FL and FR) connected via speaker level inputs. The center channel is JBL HLS. FL and FR are older JBL's, don't know the models.

I am running in Analog DPL 3-channel mode. I did notice in the Onkyo 676 setup, it makes a difference in how the Bass is distributed depending on how Center Channel "Large/Small" is selected. Center "Large" appears to direct more Bass to the Center (away from the Subs) while Center "Small" directs more Bass to FL and FR, thus filling out the sound. But, even with this knowledge (and take note this info is *not* in the Onkyo User Manual), and setting Center = "Small", the sound is still not as punchy, dynamic, and exciting as the HK AVR 65, at least in Analog DPL 3-channel mode. This mode is fairly important to me because that's the DSP mode we use to watch VHS movies, and how we have been listening to stereo music CDs. Analog DPL is not a "throwaway" mode for us (yet).

I really wanted to like this receiver (and so much about it I do like, see "strengths" section above). I suspect when we get surround speakers, and run some DVD movies using Digital 5.1 mode, then the 676 might compare more evenly with the AVR 65. I just don't think the Analog section of the 676 is implemented as well as in the AVR 65.

If anyone can offer help/guidance/info/confirmation please e-mail me at egkor@hotmail.com, as I wish there is a magic setting that I'm overlooking that will fix the flat sound.

Value rating of 5 stars because you get a lot of power, capability, functionality, and flexibility with the 676 at a great price (approx $565.00 at Onecall).

Overall rating of 4 stars because of Analog mode "flat/lifeless" sound, crutial setup information missing (settings and end-effect of each setting) in the User Manual, "joy" button on remote gets command inputs wrong about 1/2 the time and sends user to wrong screens in OSD.

Similar Products Used:

Harman Kardon AVR 65, Pioneer VSX D902S

Clean Power, Input Versatility, Quality Build, Tremendous Sound Quality!

None.(except unit depth, too deep for many entertainment centers!)

Having owned several Onkyo products in the past, I decided to go for the 676, which is my first DTS compatable receiver. I am certainly not disapointed! All functions are Perfect. This complaint I keep reading about, the "hiss" problem, sounds to me to be from a digital component (DVD, MD, CD player, etc.) within close proximity to the receiver. Try using highly shielded interconnects and not the crap that comes in the box with the components. I'm happy with this purchase and would rocommend this Onkyo to anyone who wants QUALITY.

see previous review (3/6/00)

Are there any 676 receivers that do not have the "hiss"? I'm beginning to think not. Maybe some people who say they don't have it aren't looking for the right thing. I have now gone through two receivers, both of which had the "hiss" problem (and clicking noise when volume turned to "min"). I decided to keep the second receiver and get it repaired because I didn't want to spend another $60 to send it back to Sound City. I got the receiver back from the service center today. AND after a total of 4 weeks (1 week to get the first receiver, 1 week to get the second receiver, and 2 weeks to get the receiver back from the service center), I am still stuck with the same old damn problem. The tech at the repair center used instructions from Onkyo to "fix" the problem. Well if anything, it only sounds slightly less loud than before. If that is what Onkyo calls a "fix," then they are sadly mistaken. A GOOD AMPLIFIER IS NOT SUPPOSED TO CONTRIBUTE SUBSTANTIAL NOISE TO THE SOURCE OUTPUT. Onkyo should change the THD rating from .10% to 15.00%. I feel like I own a $50 piece of crap, not a $600 receiver from a supposedly "hi-fi" company. No receiver I have ever owned has made this "hiss" sound. If you are listening to anything with reasonable volume, then the "hiss" is pretty much covered up. But if you listen to quiet music (like classical) then you can hear it the entire time. All of my DDD classical CDs now sound like they have "hiss" from a source tape as if they were recorded in analog. All of the advancements in recording technology are negated by the noise this receiver adds.

I am going to call Onkyo customer service on Monday to have them replace this defective unit with a supposedly "quiet" unit. Of course, I am going to ask them does a "quiet" unit even exist, or did Onkyo just foul up this time and try to pass off this inferior unit as comparable to its competitors.

TRUST ME, YOU ARE BETTER OFF BUYING SOMETHING ELSE. I was going to buy the Denon AVR-2800, but it was out of stock at the time. I am sure I would have been much happier with that unit.

I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ONKYO PRODUCT AGAIN. GET THAT, ONKYO, YOU ARE REALLY SCREWING THINGS UP WITH THIS DISASTER. I USED TO THINK ONKYO WAS A REPUTABLE AND HI-QUALITY COMPANY. IF YOU DON'T FIX THESE KINDS OF MISTAKES, YOU WILL QUICKLY LOOSE YOUR CUSTOMER BASE. THE ONLY WAY ONKYO CAN SAVE FACE WITH ME NOW IS HOW THEY HANDLE MY COMPLAINT ON MONDAY.

Read Review

Can not get the RI to work with my Onkyo CD-Player.
Can anyone help?

Well I purcashed this product from www.soundcityoutlet.com refurbished. Let me tell you.. BUY FROM THEM! Great company-Fast Service, great customer support. The works.
Now on to the reciever. I was scared to buy this guy because of the ground loop problem and the center channel hummm. But I figured it was a refub so they fixed the problem. I took a gamble and it payed off. BIG TIME! It is great. The sound is So clear even when played at high volumes. I had it set up in No time. Everything went like a carm. EXTREAMLY easy to use. I have my DVD player and Cd player hooked up via optical. Learning remote is great. As stated above I can not get the RI to work with the onkyo CD player. I can not see anything I am doing wrong. It might be a hardware problem but if it is I do not care I love the thing to much to send it back. I will use two remotes or program it.

So to recap... Clear, LOUD, great, easy, Worth every cent.. Any more questions?