Power, ease of use, musical and bassy.

Its a bit heavy.
Newer receivers have better features but surprisingly dont sound as good for music.

A fantastic and capable home theatre receiver. If you buy one used make sure you get the update model with the "Gold" onkyo logo and not with a silver logo.
You wont have any issues such as going into protect mode as they ironed out the problems very quickly on the update version.

Customer Service

Has not needed servicing so can not comment here except to say if you plug in the speakers properly and follow the impedence advice on the rear panel an ONKYO receiver will last indefinitely.

Similar Products Used:

Nad, Arcam, Denon, Bose etc...

Atonishingly clear sound and great bass.
Better for music than ANY home theatre receiver I have heard to this date.

A bit heavy.
Doesnt have the latest features.

Well I still own it to this date which says it all. Reason is its a lot clearer than many home theatre receivers they make today and I am not going to swap something that sounds good for something with a lot of features. Dont get me wrong the TX-SV454 has features:
Dolby Certified 5.1.
RE-EQ which allows you to tweak the EQ settings with the touch of a button.
5 Different Surround modes with parameter control feature for tweaking delay m-sec, eq and so on.
Bass, Treble, balance and motorized volume control.
Speaker A/B switch
Discrete output for all channels! (usually only on very high end gear).
This is justified under the bonnet by nichicon gold series 15,000uf capacitors, the main power supply therefore has 30,000uf available and a massive Transformer.
In built tuner (why not?)

It sounds wonderful with a good set of speakers running at the right impedence.

Customer Service

I couldnt tell you as it has never needed servicing. All you need to do with a receiver is hook it up correctly, follow the impedence advice on the rear panel and it should last indefinitely...

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Arcam, NAD, Bose

good while it lasts

it breaks after a while. Many peoples do.

I loved it while it worked... Had good power, good sound, good options. Then the left channel went out and i unplugged it to look at it. Now when i turn it back on it says "protect". I have read many many peoples posts all over that have the same problem. So I think this is a piece of crap now. I use to be an onkyo man but not any more

Similar Products Used:

yamaha a1000

No technical support. Once it stops working correctly ....?

While it worked, it was very good. Now it doesn't - after about 5 seconds of no sound, it says "Protect" and shuts off. Can't find any technical support on or off line to help solve the problem. Warranty now gone so I might as well use it as a doorstop.

Clear sound

Warms up

We use this product in a college is Hungary. I have to say, that I''m not very satisfied with this amplifier. It always warms up and than use "protect". So you can use max. 50% of the performance of this amplifier.

Similar Products Used:

Technics SU-V500

Plenty of power for normal use. Programable remote.

Remote is ugly.

The receiver is good for the $. Has separate A & B front speaker outputs, good for normal music when not using a surround mode. The B speakers use the surround amp, so cannot use surround modes with pair B.
There is a slight hiss from all speakers, esp my Klipsch 3.1s (L/R) and KCC center. For the price of the receiver, and accounting for the sensitivity of the speakers, it is by no means unacceptable.
The Tuner is adaquate, but sometimes has a hard time pulling in stations. I am using a standard T antenna, so I can not complain too much.

Simplicity, Value

No Complaints

This is a fine example of the low end, of high end audio equipment. I bought this unit as a demo almost two years ago and it has exceeded my expectations. This unit does everything consistantly well.

This unit was purchased just to build an inexpensive second (basement) sound system. I never expected to utilize this receiver as the heart of my HT system, but it does such a fine job....I can't justify replacing it yet. I am sure that in time I will, as everything generally get upgraded in time. This powers a pair of Polk RT7s, both front and rear with a Polk CS400 center with a Velodyne CT120 Sub, hooked up to a 36" Sony WEGA, and does so with authority.

Bottom line...this unit lives up to the Onkyo name and does not disappoint. What a value!

Similar Products Used:

Denon

Solid performance, 5-way binding posts for main speakers, DD Ready.

A little pricey

Used in my finished basement family room to anchor second system. Combined with:

Onkyo TAR440 single well tape deck (very nice)
Philips CR200 dual well CD recorder (good unit)
Onkyo 540 6 disc carousel CD (solid)
Boston CR9 Speakers

Not much to complain about. It does what it's supposed to. If I had waited six months I probably would have gotten comparable quality at 25-35% less. But then I wouldn't have had a running second system in my family room, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Similar Products Used:

Technic A/V, Pioneer, Onkyo 747

good sound for a low end receiver

no volume indicator that can be seen from viewing distance.
not enough inputs
no s-video

well built but has some annoying features or should i say non-features, like volume setting other than knob location which can't be seen from normal viewing distance of the t.v.

Similar Products Used:

sony

Quality reciever at a good price, RE-Eq also a bonus,
DD-Ready

None

I am a college student so price was definitly a factor in buying the unit. Overall, I am happy with this DD-Ready reciever. $189.00 at netmarket.com (bargain). Upgradable, and very clean while playing, I recommend it for anyone interested although they make a newer model that might play a little smoother (TX-DS474).

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-635, Marantz SR66, JVC RX-778VBK,
Harmon Kardon AVR-5