Onkyo TX-DS797 A/V Receivers

Onkyo TX-DS797 A/V Receivers 

DESCRIPTION

THX Select 6.1 Channel Digital Surround Receiver with THX Surround EX

The new TX-DS797 offers you a major breakthrough – the ability to turn your house into a digital multimedia dream – without draining your savings account. Not only is it equipped with enough inputs and outputs for the most elaborate systems, it has plenty of high-current, ultrawide-bandwidth power to fill even large entertainment rooms, and dual-zone operation. 192 kHz/24-bit D/A converters for all 6 main channels deliver powerful, precise sound. Plus, it can handle virtually any multichannel format out there – today and tomorrow – including DVD-Audio and THX Surround EX.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 100  
[Oct 17, 2004]
Leonzki
Casual Listener

Strength:

Nothing.

Weakness:

A lot.

This thing is not that good. Very poor performance but anyway, I just got it from a number game (last 2 digits of Thai lotto). I still prefered my super A/V receiver which is the NAD T770. I think most of the product of Onkyo are toys (for me huh!) no offense meant.

Similar Products Used:

NAD T770 and no Onkyo product can beat this one.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Feb 06, 2004]
hbd
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

right now since i don't have it....that would be NONE!!!

Weakness:

POP,POP,POP and so on and so on

As I sit here this 797 has been in the shop for 8 weeks now...and they are still waiting for "a part".It played well for about a year and then the POPPING started.With as many people posting here with the same problem you would think Onyko would have issued a recall or at the least had a quick fix ready!Well I gave up waiting and purchased the Denon 4803r...so far greatly out performs the 797.When it finally returns I will use it in my wife and children's den...assuming it does return.Will never use another Onkyo product.

Similar Products Used:

denon 4802r,nakamichi re10

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jan 21, 2004]
Worf101
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Power, great remote, ease of setup. Rock solid construction feature loaded. Multiple Component Video inputs and switching. Plenty of options...

Weakness:

None that I've found so far....

I bought this receiver for my bedroom system. I'd been using my old Onkyo 787 for this system but I sold that to an ex-girlfriend for her first system. I've using this receiver off and on for about a year now. My bedroom system is: Onkyo 797 AV receiver Platinum Audio PT 801s as mains BIC plastic crap for rears BIC 53CLR Center channel Yammi DVC920 DVD Player HDTV Cable Samsung 3297 HDTV I've had absolute none of the problems detailed here in earlier posts (knock wood) I hope I got a later model that's not prone to the dread "click". Onkyo works smooth as silk with all the aplomb of it's bigger brothers. Great value, great remote, easy setup. Since I'm running HDTV and a Progressive Scan DVD player, dual component inputs is nice to have.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 787, 898, 484, 500 & 501.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jun 21, 2003]
tannie
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Ample of power and solid control at all channels. Very rich and natural sound... clean and fine! Feature rich and plays virtually all materials well.

Weakness:

System noise. Drop out of THX-EX encoded films in early years.

The receiver is really awesome. The difference is made right after I turn it on. The power is immense, and yet well controlled. Even I turn it at floor shaking volume, it still firmly controls all details of each speakers. I have a system that is far from being 'good'. My main speakers are made by small factories in China. Good frequency balance but poor in fine details. I have a HECO center speaker, loud but also rough. My surround are small Ditton speakers with not so good sensitivity. The sub is the best among all speaker - Velodyne CT80. After a few tuning of volume and distance, all speakers start to sound in harmony! I always turn on the upsampling feature of the amp since the first day! It sounds much finer and naturer for all genre! With this tight budget, the amp truely out performs my expectation! Even playing the same 'song' at different volumes, I can feel its authority, its solidness, its richness, its ease and is tense! Unfortunately I have the experience of the 'click... click... click...' system sounds after using a year, but Onkyo in Hong Kong fixed it for me at no extra charge. They did not say what is wrong, but I can tell that they make the start-up delay time longer! I believe that the DSP has not been properly initialized, and generates that system noise. Now after the service the sound becomes clean from all channels. Of course now you will get SR800 instead, but this amp will surely fill my home with music for another many years!

Similar Products Used:

Serwood, Denon, Maranz

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 19, 2003]
mikeskeetr
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

192/24 DAC's, 8.1 outputs, multichannel DVD-A or SACD inputs (though I prefer DVD-A), many coax and optical inputs, THX select certification, component in/outputs....and more!

Weakness:

Not good for overly large rooms or for speakers that need high wattage (aka Thiel).

I have to say, I bought this receiver having read all sorts of magazine reviews on it, but not reading REAL LIFE reviews such as the one's I read here after purchasing it. Needless to say, it struck fear into me, cause I dont know ANYONE who is comfortable buying something with so many possible flaws (aka clicking and popping). With that said, I am happy that I have NOT come across any of the aforementioned issues. This receiver has treated me well and has delighted me with it's clarity. Any 6.1 material sounds dead on, full, and thoroughly enjoyable, and running 5.1 material matrixed to the rear center channel sounds fuller than I would have imagined. I guess that is due in part to the 192/24 dac's on all channels as opposed to just the fronts on some other receivers - as well as THX certs. I am running Polk RT55i's in the front, Polk CS245i for center, and Polk RT600i's for the rear w/an rc80i in ceiling for the rear center - all sound great with this receiver. I still haven't used all of the options on this receiver yet (including 8.1 outputs) but look forward to it in the near future. The remote is well laid out and has many buttons for ease of use for set up (on screen!) and for normal functions. I really have no complaints about this unit...if you find a late model one for a good price (like I did)and you dont have speakers that drink wattage like it was water, GO FOR IT!!!

Similar Products Used:

Denon avr-1700, Denon AVR-1803, Denon 3800, Rotel, Marantz, Toshiba SD-5700 DVD-A player, Toshiba 42hx81 CRT tv, Polk Rt551, rt600i, rc80i, c2451

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 30, 2003]
matthew zagar
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great features: (PLII, Digital upsampling),for the price.

Weakness:

Manufacturing defects(clicking)

I have had the TX-DS797 for 11+months. I use it almost exclusively for music. It serves as a preamp/processor as a separate power amp powers the front speakers while the Onkyo powers the rears when the PLII kicks in. It has worked great in this capacity until the last month or so when the clicking started in the LF channel. After figuring out that this only happened in the processing mode I came back to this very site to find out if this was a common problem and as you can see it is. I then took the receiver to the nearest Onkyo service shop and lab guy said to call Onkyo and gave me a number to call. Onkyo gave me a one time repair authorization and the repair is presumably in progress. I used the Onkyo as a stand alone receiver for several weeks before I bought a Bryston power amp to drive the front speakers(Paradigm Ref 60's). The Onkyo receiver was fairly easy to set up and did a great job sound-wise. It seemed a great bargain when I started using it as a pre-amp. For my purposes(playing recordings made over a span of 50 years) I think it was a good choice compared to other receivers because of the cost and features it has. If the clicking problem is not easily corrected I suppose those considerations are all out the window.

Similar Products Used:

Sony GA7ES-Not exactly similar but my previous receiver.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
3
[Dec 18, 2002]
Jim
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

The processer is great. It looks cool. The set-up menus are on-screen.

Weakness:

As far as power goes, this unit is far from weak. The binding posts are somewhat cheap. Onkyo need to prove itself to be a customer friendly organization if I am ever going to buy from their catalogue again.

I have owned my TXDS 797B for a year. Of that time, it has sat in a shop for over two months. Initially, I loved my new receiver. It had the power to do my Polk RT 2000i's justice. However, like everyone else, the 797 started with the popping in only the left rear channel. Although the Onkyo authorized service center screwed up the repair job, I was able to trade in my receiver for a new one from Onkyo directly. The following series of events are what I feel it is my duty to warn others about. Onkyo sent me another FLAWED unit. I expected to get a NEW 797, but only got a refurbished piece of junk. Oddly enough, the pops came out of the front L/R channels on the refurbished. The only Onkyo service center in my home state is the same one who initially messed up my first receiver, and they proceeded to mess up the second one trying to fix the popping. Only after I felt like a jerk from bothering many customer service folks at Onkyo was I able to see any progress in the completion of repairs. After another three weeks of disappointments and waiting for a solution, I finally was able to get it back from the shop. Hey, I love what it does for my HT system. The darn thing knocks my socks off, and scares the living daylight out of my wife and cats. There is many great features offered, and the limitless set-up options keep me tweaking it for that perfect sound. It just wasn't worth all the headaches I endured. I should have shopped other reputable companies before jumping at the first good bargain. Do the research, and don't just decide on the brand name alone before you make such an important investment.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
3
[Dec 03, 2002]
John-Paul Delseny
AudioPhile

Strength:

Fairly simple to use. Good power. Learning Remote. THX. 6.1 Built in Second Room amp.

Weakness:

CLICKING. CLICKING. CLICKING. Macro function on remote is too quick for some other items (TV and Sat). Limited EQ. . . . CLICKING.

Really great entrance into THX receivers. The sound that is produced is very clean and close to perfect, however, if you are looking for warmth (tube amps), this is not it. It is fairly simple to set up and use. The learning remote is a great addition, with the exception of the macro function. I had great sound for about 8 Months and then the clicking sound started to appear only from the front left channel and when any sound processing was used (not for simple stereo). This is a large downfall, because I do not want to part with the receiver, however, it is incredably anoying. Onkyo will warrenty it, but only if under a year and some other small print things, otherwise it will cost about $100 to have fixed. The only other thing that could be used in this receiver is a parametric EQ or something more than BASS and TREBLE.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Nov 20, 2002]
Mad Cow
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Remote Power Versatile

Weakness:

re-eq circuit does not work correctly(but don't use it anyway)

great amp. I use it with all polk audio speakers and a velodyne sub...had problem with clicking but found that is was just the cinema re-eq setting that was causing the problem...Lord of the rings was very bad for this, but take the re-eq off and what do you know...no click and to my surprise it sounded much better anyway. Oddly enough the newer receivers with the "cinema filter" do not click at all. Onkyo TXDS797 Onkyo DVC600 Panasonic PT52DL10 Polk audio RT100I CS400I FX500I Velodyne CHT15 Monster HTS 2500 all monster cable interconnects and speaker wire

Similar Products Used:

older onkyo, hk, and denon

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 14, 2002]
Tijmen
Audio Enthusiast

I bought the 797 together with a set of kef q series in the back en a pair of polk audio in the front and for a center a bought the KEF 200c in december 2001. It was my first experience with audio. this set and that includes the 797 made me decide to invest some money in my new hobby and after some reading and listening I decided to buy the mark levinson n0 33 H the proceed pmdt and the hpa2 the revel salon. For a back speaker I still don't know wat to buy. I am using my old polk audio at the moment and I must say GREAT. What I am trying to tell is that the 797 gave me the feeling of more.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 1-10 of 100  

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