"The" Onkyo TX-SR875 Thread

[svalley]

I bought my TX-SR875B from ABT Electronics tonight afterwork. They had
5 units, 4 were pre-sold, and I got their first and last one they can sell

Attached are pictures from the unit, 1 front, 1 back, and 1 advanced OSD.
For 1080p, you can only enable it, that all, no other option (24, 60, etc)
I enabled 1080p, and I verified all my sources (XBOX360, Directv, and HDA1)
my upscaled to 1080p. I don't know it leave 1080p24 untouched since
my DLP only tells me it recieved 1080p.

360 and Directv picture seems to be more solid (less blur and flicking) with the REON.
For some reason, the OSD is 480p only. Time to play more


Below is the thread summary collected by foofoobar

Availability:

- Availability seems to be scarce in general and things are expected to improve by mid-August

Advantages of the 875 over the 805:

- Superior 1080p upconversion over HDMI using the Reon HQV chip.

- Upconverts *any* input to 1080p over HDMI. Lower resolutions like 720p and pass through modes are possible too.

- 875 will not do anything to 1080p HDMI signal, it will pass it to TV untouched

- 875 will not pass 1080p component signal to HDMI. (Tested with XBOX360
only, it might be XBOX360 problem)

875 vs. 905:

- The 905 adds an extra HDMI output, USB port, Ethernet port and associated network music playback capabilities

- The 905 has a superior power supply that may run cooler too

AQ reports:

- Audio quality is more or less the same as the 805

PQ reports:

- Based on preliminary reports, the SD-upconversion quality of the 875 is close to if not as good as the Toshiba XA2

- SD programming seems to look better too, but don't expect SD-DVD like miracles.

- Games look pretty good too.

- For best results, try to input the native resolution of the content you are viewing from your STB / DVD player and let the Reon in the 875 do all the heavy lifting. For SD-DVD this translates into 480i, but in case it's not possible, 480p seems to work pretty good as well.

- You may have to turn down the brightness levels on your display device if the colors in the upconverted image look washed out.

Reported problems:

- 4:3 material is stretched to 16:9 when up-converting to 1080p

- Receiver does not offer fine grained control over the Reon's capabilities (like adjusting brightness, noise reduction, aspect ratio control etc.) This may be addressed via a future firmware update.

- Some people have experienced speaker popping, but this may be a PS3 specific issue.

- Heat dissipation might be a problem

Other:

- The "secret menu" does not offer any useful functionality at present; more expected in the future via firmware update.

[NickFoley]

You seem to have forgotten to upload a shot of the OSD.

What are the audio settings out of the box? Does the receiver click (not pop) when detecting a new audio signal, ie; Dolby Digital, Mono, etc. Also do the varying inputs come with a default delay setting and have you noticed any problems because of this?

[bass addict]

I think it should be a rule, if you are going to start a much anticipated thread you give us more information than that. Come on, my daughter could have given us that much detail.

[svalley]

Originally Posted by NickFoley

You seem to have forgotten to upload a shot of the OSD.

What are the audio settings out of the box? Does the receiver click (not pop) when detecting a new audio signal, ie; Dolby Digital, Mono, etc. Also do the varying inputs come with a default delay setting and have you noticed any problems because of this?

Not sure I hear click from the receiver, but when I switch between PS3 (playing
Casino Royale), Directv, and HDA1 (playing AVIA). I hear pop from my speakers
whenever I switch to PS3, no problem swtiching to the other 2.

Coming from Yamaha 1400 I hear big difference between the two.
The 875 reminds me the first time I heard TrueHD from my HDA1 thru
Analog out. I hears sound more clearly but I got so used to the Yamaha
I thought it doesn't sounds right Also, I needed to set the
875 to -5db to get the same sound level as the Yamaha 1400 set at -15db.
The Yamaha is rated 110W, and 875 140W per channel, I thought it should
be the other around.

Too bad I needs to go to work in the morning, will play with it more tomorrow night.

[svalley]

Originally Posted by bass addict

I think it should be a rule, if you are going to start a much anticipated thread you give us more information than that. Come on, my daughter could have given us that much detail.

Well, I tried to cover the 875 exclusive features first, 1080p upscaling and advanced OSD.
I doubt that there are any differences in the audio between the 875 and the 805,
so there are better audio reviews in the 805 thread.

[ryarber]

Sorry Bud, but you being the first to get this receiver obligates you to stay up all night and answer all our questions.

This may be the most anticipated thread ever on AV science forum.

[bass addict]

Originally Posted by ryarber

Sorry Bud, but you being the first to get this receiver obligates you to stay up all night and answer all our questions.

This may be the most anticipated thread ever on AV science forum.

I know, and I thought the RS1 thread was bad.

[bass addict]

Originally Posted by svalley

Also, I needed to set the
875 to -5db to get the same sound level as the Yamaha 1400 set at -15db.
The Yamaha is rated 110W, and 875 140W per channel, I thought it should
be the other around.

Were both receivers calibrated? Were you listening to similar sources?

[ryarber]

I'd like to hear about the options in the video setup.

[foofoobar]

Can you please test the SD DVD up-conversion when you get a chance. You are likely to have at least a hundred other requests by tomorrow, so maybe it's first come first served ?

TIA...

[JediMaster Matt]

Originally Posted by ryarber

I'd like to hear about the options in the video setup.

Me too! Especially to see if the options for mosquito and block noise reduction are present.

Congratulations on winning the first of the Onkyo Reon receivers lottery.

[millerwill]

Originally Posted by foofoobar

Can you please test the SD DVD up-conversion when you get a chance. You are likely to have at least a hundred other requests by tomorrow, so maybe it's first come first served ?

TIA...

I would be very interested to hear how it upconverts sd tv for a 1080p display (the RS1 projector in my case)! The Sammy 1200 BRD has a Reon chip and can (and does) upconvert sd dvds very well (as also does the Tosh XA2 HD DVD player); but there is NOTHING, so far, that really upconverts sd tv very well. If the 875's Reon can do this, this will be a very unique advancement. (I know that not many of us like to watch sdtv, but sometimes there are things we would like to see, and it would be great if the Reon made them more watchable!)

[Franchot]

The first thing I noticed...no one CLEAR unaccounted for screw on the back panel! Wow!

(Thanks for the early report. Keep the pics and your impressions coming. Thanks again.)

[saxnix]

Originally Posted by millerwill

I would be very interested to hear how it upconverts sd tv for a 1080p display (the RS1 projector in my case)! The Sammy 1200 BRD has a Reon chip and can (and does) upconvert sd dvds very well (as also does the Tosh XA2 HD DVD player); but there is NOTHING, so far, that really upconverts sd tv very well. If the 875's Reon can do this, this will be a very unique advancement. (I know that not many of us like to watch sdtv, but sometimes there are things we would like to see, and it would be great if the Reon made them more watchable!)

Ditto. I am very keen to hear about the quality of the free-to-air SD up-conversion. Can't wait to receive my 875 and have it hooked up to my TW1000.

[dwegner]

Half of Australia is watching this thread mate. Can you be a bit more precise in your posts.

[saxnix]

Originally Posted by dwegner

Half of Australia is watching this thread mate. Can you be a bit more precise in your posts.

Precise about what???

[Me@Home]

The single most important issue for me is whether or not this model receiver has "popping" issues that are seemingly plaguing Onkyo 805 owners. I have a week or so before I want to order a receiver, and would like substantial anecdotal evidence that the 875 isn't going to have that problem. Seeing the forum poll that indicated that 26% of those 805 owners polled had persistent problems with popping (go alliteration!) worries me.

Not that I actually know what the popping is specifically, come to think of it. I'm assuming that it is some sort of annoying and frequent noise during playback...

[mmfs001]

Originally Posted by svalley

no other option (24, 60, etc)

Maybe there is a "hidden menu" like it is in the 605. Have you tried?

Michael

[egcarter]

Originally Posted by svalley

Not sure I hear click from the receiver, but when I switch between PS3 (playing
Casino Royale), Directv, and HDA1 (playing AVIA). I hear pop from my speakers
whenever I switch to PS3, no problem swtiching to the other 2.

Coming from Yamaha 1400 I hear big difference between the two.
The 875 reminds me the first time I heard TrueHD from my HDA1 thru
Analog out. I hears sound more clearly but I got so used to the Yamaha
I thought it doesn't sounds right Also, I needed to set the
875 to -5db to get the same sound level as the Yamaha 1400 set at -15db.
The Yamaha is rated 110W, and 875 140W per channel, I thought it should
be the other around.

Too bad I needs to go to work in the morning, will play with it more tomorrow night.

That "pop" is a PS3 issue...hopefully Sony can fix it in firmware.

-E

[joerod]

He should have probably "played" with the 875 for a couple hours then started his thread. None the less I am sure he will be able to start answering and reporting more today... Congrats!

[adyc]

Does 875 have an option to output Video or PC level?

[svalley]

Originally Posted by JediMaster Matt

Me too! Especially to see if the options for mosquito and block noise reduction are present.

Congratulations on winning the first of the Onkyo Reon receivers lottery.

There is not much in the Video setting, all I can do is select Thru, auto, 480p, 720p, 1080i,
and 1080p, No other option available. When I set 875 to 1080p, I verified
everything is upscaled to 1080p (at least that what my DLP said it received)

I did encounter a problem with HDMI handshaking, sometime the 875 will
not sync with my Directv DVR (HR20-700). The problem is I have no sound
or pictures, the HDMI icon on 875 blinks for awhile then the 875 display no signal.
Next, I turn on my PS3 (without touching anything on 875), then 875 detected
Directv's HDMI and send video to my TV, weird. This problem is reproducable.

I have a 65" 1080p DLP, so SD looks like crap, I tried to watch some SD
program last night with 875 set to output 1080p. The picture does looks
better, but not night and day. I will try to watch some SD DVD tonight.
I assume I need to set my HDA1 to output 480i for a true test.

I believes that the 875 does pass thru 1080p input without modification.
When I first turn on 875 1080p, my directv looked washed out, so I calibrated
my TV with AVIA. Most of the settings (Picture, color, tint) are not impacted, but
I had to turn Brightness from 23 to 13. After that I watch Directv HD and
picture looks good. Then, I played Casino Royale on PS3, and the picture
looks too dark, I cranked the Brightness back to 23, it looks just look how
it used to be when I had the PS3 HDMI straight to the TV.

As I said last night, beside the PS3 pop, I didn't heard anything else pop
when I switch inputs. If you guys give me more details on the 805 poping
issue, I will look for it tonight.

I noticed that my 875 was shipped from Onkyo (from California) to ABT (Chicago)
last Wed (7/11), so other stores should be receiving this units soon.

[svalley]

Originally Posted by mmfs001

Maybe there is a "hidden menu" like it is in the 605. Have you tried?

Michael

Do you know how to enter the "hidden menu"?
I am too busy to look for the code

[HTaddiction]

Originally Posted by egcarter

That "pop" is a PS3 issue...hopefully Sony can fix it in firmware.

-E

Is there anymore info on this? Perhaps I missed something. I'm on my 2nd unit and was considering getting a 3rd but this would be pointless if my PS3 is causing the popping.

Thanks

[svalley]

Originally Posted by bass addict

Were both receivers calibrated? Were you listening to similar sources?

Yes, both are calibrated, the Onkyo using Audessy (spelling?) and Yamaha
using their software, both were verified with AVIA and sound meter.
Same source Casino Royale from PS3.

[alljunks]

Originally Posted by svalley

Yes, both are calibrated, the Onkyo using Audessy (spelling?) and Yamaha
using their software, both were verified with AVIA and sound meter.
Same source Casino Royale from PS3.

svalley, First congrats on your new receiver!!

Does 875 upscale all inputs to 1080p. I more interested in knowing if it will upscale component,s-video or will it only upscale HDMI in to 1080p

I'm planning to buy the following

Sony KDS55A2020, Onk 875

Thanks for your help

[svalley]

Originally Posted by ryarber

Sorry Bud, but you being the first to get this receiver obligates you to stay up all night and answer all our questions.

This may be the most anticipated thread ever on AV science forum.

What do you guys want from me

I would be asking for the same thing if someone else got it first.
I guess I got really lucky.

I spent 3 hours to move everything from Yamaha to Onkyo
and calibration, so not much play time.

[Amel]

oh man

if this receiver upconverts a crappy SD picture, I must wait for a diff one

[Amel]

can you post picture of your regular SD picture and the SD picture thrugh the Onkyo?

thanks

[jprazak]

When you channel surf on Direct TV, is there much of a delay for the 875 to process the signal?