Onkyo 805 an Upgrade from 605?

For what purpose do you plan to upgrade? Better amps? Preouts? Video processing? I think just about everyone here will tell you that the 805 is a more capable receiver than the 605, but it might help to let everyone know why you want to upgrade.

I don't think the SR805 offers much over the SR605 in terms of video processing. That said, the amp section should be a pretty big step up, though may not be necessary. How big is your room? Do you have problems driving your speakers to reference level without distortion? The SR805 is a great value but it looks like an upgraded subwoofer would make more of an impact in your system. Something like the SVS PB10, PB12, or PCi 25-31 tuned to 21hz would offer alot more impact than the SR805 would.

Agreed. I believe the Onkyo 875 is the first model that really improves video processing. As for more WPC, I can see that with your RTi 10's, more powerful amps might be nice if you enjoy listening at high SPL's. Another nice thing about the 805 is that it has a much better implementation of Audyssey. All in all, I think an 805 would provide a nice, noticeable improvement over your 605. Just don't expect it to be a night and day difference.

The main reason to upgrade would be the amp section.

Too high/low would be more dependent on either source material or setup. That's my guess anyhow. You could* go to ALL of your devices and put all audio compression to maximum, but that sort of defeats the purpose of good audio. All mine are set to minimum.

The newer receivers will have Audyssey Dynamic Volume, but who knows how effective that might be.

Not exactly sure what you mean by "more volume at lower levels"... if you could clarify that would help some. The "too low or too high" comment makes me think it's a setup issue. Are you using Audyssey, are you using its default speaker settings? If so, it has likely set all your speakers to large. You should consider setting them all to small with 80hz crossover (THX recommendation). This should smooth out the transition from your speakers to your subwoofer and fill in what may be a gap between the two. I don't think the 605 lets you set different crossover frequencies for different speakers, but if it does you could also lower the crossover of the mains to around 50hz.

Also, a subwoofer upgrade will make a far greater impact than either the amp or DAC upgrade offered by the SR805. If you're happy with your sub, you may want to consider upgrading something else (surround speakers to match the rest, source, display) or just not upgrading anything. The SR805 is great, I own one and love it... but for your setup I think the money would be better used elsewhere or not at all.

IIRC, the 863 is a relative non-improvement to the power section of the 663. The reason you would get it is for the improved feature set, of which I am unfamiliar.

I have the 805 and RTi10's and I love the extra power. I upgraded the 805 from a 504 for the same reasons you are thinking of upgrading.

I would consider the 504 to 805 as a much bigger upgrade than the 605 to 805. I really don't think you'll hear the difference between the 605 and 805 in a room your size. I have a very strong feeling you would hear the difference in a subwoofer with 20hz extension. Your speakers, including subwoofer, will make a far greater difference in sound quality than electronics. If there is a weak point in your system right now it's the subwoofer.

Another way of looking at things... if your receiver were feeding only 45 watts to your two main speakers 15' away from your listening position you're still looking at around 100db sustained listening level (accounting for room gain with near-wall non-corner placement). That's already in the realm of uncomfortably loud. Do you really need more power? Unlikely.

Lower extension, likely into the infrasonic range, is pretty easily obtainable with the budget you're looking at. There is where you'll see an increase in the quality and impact of home-theater oriented material.

If you already have your mind made up on the SR805 then it's likely all you'll cure is your upgraditis... and likely not even that.

Beautiful room. I love the color too.

If it was ME, with the relative budget of a mid line receiver...

I would abandon that puny center speaker and AV stand (Bush?). I would buy a Studio Tech modular audio rack for $200, and a matching tower speaker. Put that directly in the middle.

Your couch represents a wide viewing/listening area. Bypass lobing issues with a vertical center speaker, ideal soundstage with all front tweeters on same horizontal plane, tremendously reduce reflections from current center placement, obtain greater off-axis response + power handling + matching, etc etc etc.

That is what I would do. The only competing upgrade for me would be the sub. Ok, so if it was me, Id do both.

You have got to hear what a $600-800 sub can do.

I am wondering about those exact same questions. How do you correct the lip sync issue and does the 805 have burr-browns but 605 does not?

thanks

I bought an 805 refurb a month ago and have NO lip sync issues at all. Many others who have bought an 805 recently have also stated the same. I believe this was fixed through firmware updates. The heat issue that everyone talks about is also a non issue for me.

The 805 is years ahead of the 605 in all aspects of sound. Video is the same but that is not why I bought the 805. I upgraded from a 600 and it is night and day. The 600 had lip sync issues galore along with a bunch of other problems from out dated tech.

If you can get an 805 get it. The 806 is looking much weaker than the 805 in many ways.

I may go the refurb route as well. Can you tell us what firmware version your refurb came with? I think the units that were returned due to lip sync issues just got a firmware udpate and now they are good for sale.

It came fully up to date firmware wise (1.08). It also came in mint condition with everything but batteries.

go to shoponkyo.com right now. Sign up and they have a Silver 805 refurb for $529 (price is lower for members). You get $10 for signing up and $5 for each onkyo product you register. You would be down to $514.

You can continue to wait for a black one, hopefully they will have more soon. There were no Silver 805s yesterday. Good Luck!