The "Official" Onkyo TX-SR608 Thread (No Price Talk) - Page 55

Onkyo has assignable inputs too, and I am not sure what do you mean by "the same" inputs. They are all separate inputs.

If I look at photos of the back panel, I see 5 HDMI inputs each labeled for a specific source. I also see two component inputs also labeled. However, they overlap, the component inputs are CBL/SAT and BD/DVD. There's an HDMI input for each of these as well. What happens if I have my cable box plugged into the HDMI CBL/SAT input and have my Wii plugged into the component CBL/SAT input?

Well, sorry to speculate, but Onkyo does not state that clearly anywhere. All they say is they are using "3-stage inverted Darlington design" (which ironically is sensitive to temperature variation) and that they use a massive transformer. A switching amp would typically use switching power supply too, which would not require a massive transformer.

A "non-issue" is your opinion. It does get hot - much hotter than Pioneer, according to my non-calibrated hand. The fan is not as loud as some people say and generally is no more audible than the "buzz" coming from the plasma screen. But hot it is, and it would be an issue in limited spaces - the fan requires adequate clearances around for airflow.

I can try, but in general those labels are merely "suggestions". You are free to connect anything to anything, just need to remember where is what.

Sorry, it's not an opinion... having owned Onkyos in the past, my 608 is refrigerator cool compared to the older models.. not to say there is not some warmth, but nothing out of the ordinary. If you own the unit, then you've either got an aberation or your definition of hot is substantially different from mine and other owners on the thread.

Any fan cooled AVR needs adequate clearance for cooling, the movement of air dictates that, as a boxed in unit will simply pull the heated air back in.. fact is, any AVR period should have adequate clearance, it's never a good idea to box a unit in.

I think our definitions of hot are indeed different. All I can say is Pioneer is significantly cooler, which is only logical given lower current drain. Also non-fan units only need clearance on top for natural convection, but for the fan to be effective you need intake to be on the sides/bottom.

Long term the fan will inevitably get noisy. It can also break altogether, which in turn can overheat the receiver before you know about it.

So I prefer high-efficiency design. Yes, it is more difficult to get class D amp THX certified, but Pioneer has those too if you need that, and they still don't require a fan.

I understand that I can connect anything I want into any input I want but what happens when I am connecting something to two matching inputs? i.e. I have one device connected via the CBL HDMI and another device connected to the CBL component input.

Riddle me this....I put in Dark knight and when the movie began the 608 displayed: DIALOG NORM +4. I've never seen this before. Is this an adjustable setting? I think I know what Dialog normalization is, I've always thought this was something done to the mix of the movie/disc?

By the way, the IMAX scenes of the Dark Knight are incredible on the EX500...nevermind, wrong thread.

If I remember correctly, if you have two different sources plugged into the same input (one being hdmi and the other being component) then it will take the higher caliber source and output it.... so, if you have your device turned on that is hdmi, it will output that, but if you turn off the first source and turn on the second source, it will output that source (without changing buttons on the receiver). If you have BOTH sources on, the hdmi wins and gets outputed.

Hi leftnose, both HDMI and Component Inputs are assignable. Meaning each source (cable box, wii, xbox 360, ps3, etc...) has to be assigned to one of the Input Selector name (BD/DVD, VCR/DVR, CBL/SAT, GAME, PC, etc...- see page 39 in OM).

If a source is connected to HDMI CBL/SAT and another source is connected to Component CBL/SAT and not assigned. Then HDMI Input will take priority over Component Input (read more on page 21 in OM).

I bolded the problem with this statement.

The Onkyo is 100 watts per channel and THX certified, while the Pioneer is 80 watts per channel and not THX certified. That is probably accounting for the "heat" coming out of the 608 compared to the Pioneer 1020 (I haven't felt the pioneer I can't comment on its temperature). But by the way my 608 and so far consensus among owners in this thread is that the 608 is not hot.

Both the wattages above are at 8 ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.08% THD, 2 channels driven.


I have also wondered what the DIALOG NORM +/- thing is. Every movie/source seems to be different. I was guessing its lip sync?

I've seen this too. It might be Dynamic Volume at work.

The 608 does not get hot. I've owned the 606 for 2 years, and the 608 puts out the same amount of heat after 2 hours that the 606 put out when it was turned off. None.

Yeah I thought that was it and had that off. On every source the TV shuts off on its own except the Mac Mini running Plex. I'm guessing because the video signal from the mini doesn't go away. I'll just have to live with this one I guess.

I've got Dynamic volume off.

Having compared both, the Onkyo is more powerful. That said, the fan comes on early and often to push hot air away. The Pioneer is the coolest receiver i have owned. The power difference is really irrelevant unless you have very inefficient speakers or play your music very loudly. The Pioneer has a bit clearer sound in my humblest of opinions. The Onkyo definitely would be the choice for thirsty speakers or folks who like it loud!

Could it be the either, the 608 is telling you what the DN is set for the current disc your playing or, is the 608 compensating for the disc's DN?

I tried connecting optical digital cable from my Samsung UN55B8000 TV to my tx-sr608 receiver, i get no sound.

Am I missing some sort of setting?

Please advise...

Thanks,
Snapxx

How's the rest of your set up connected? Cable/satellite, DVD, TV ?

I only have a Blu-Ray player connected via HDMI. Nothing else..

Is your TV connected with HDMI, components, etc.? Check the 608's HDMI set up menu. Look at it's audio options. Make sure that the 608 is on the same input you have the TV's audio hooked up to.

I am not sure I understand the question, if you press a button on the receivers remote it will change to that source, same if you hit a button on the front of the receiver. unless your thinking changing the source on your TV to something else... then no it will not mess with the receiver you will have to change that separately.

Hi Snapxx, did you go into your Tv menu and turned Off Tv Speaker and set it to External Speaker?

Yes I did try that, didn't work.

Hello 608 owners!

I have an inquiry that I hope someone can answer:
I am using the 608 to drive my projector that is 33 feet away. My blu-ray player is also 33 feet away from the 608.

I don't want to spend a lot on long HDMI cables - I want to try those HDMI extenders (over cat5e/6). I have purchased non-powered baluns that don't work with the 608. They work fine from blu-ray to projector, but once I introduce the 608 into the line, I get alternating blue/black screens on my projector.

Is there anyone out there who is using a quality HDMI extender Tx/Rx setup that works well with the 608? (powered or unpowered, it doesn't matter) I hear there are troubles with the Onkyos when using HDMI extenders/baluns...

It would be awsome if someone could show me a link to where I can get ones that work.

Thanks
SAM

I never said that Onkyo & Pioneer have the same output power - just that given the same output, lower current drain is not a bad thing. There is no problem with that statement.

As of THX, traditional design needs a beefier power supply to comply, and will generate more heat - because it spends power even doing nothing. Switching amp needs tighter MOSFET on/off timings to comply, which does not increase idle drain.

So yes, Onkyo has 20% more power and will probably win audio competition in a larger room. The price for that is 100% higher power drain and corresponding increase in heat, which forced Onkyo to put a fan in.

Question is, how often do you run your amp at full power, for that tradeoff to make sense? If you run Onkyo at 80% and Pioneer at 100%, they will have same output but Pioneer will still spend half the energy and be a lot cooler.

About consensus on Onkyo being "not hot". Everyone who says that, is comparing it to older Onkyos. Boiling water is not hot compared to melted metal, there is a consensus about that too.

1. I was watching Avatar on Blu Ray. The disc is THX certified, but the display on the 608 shows DTS, it does not let me change the listening mode to THX.

2. Also how can I watch cable TV with the 608 off (in stand by mode).

3. Is connecting one pre-out jack on the 608 to one line-in jack on the sub-woofer (PSW 505) the right way to go.

The way Onkyo setup works, you have to pick what input will be used when you press one of the input selector buttons. What you see printed are just defaults.

You can pick either one of HDMIs, or one of components. It is not smart enough to detect conflict, so you can have the same selector set to both inputs, in which case HDMI wins. But there is no good reason to do that. Just set one of unused input buttons to pick your component input.

Sam - I'm using Monoprice.com 45FT HDMI from my TV to 608 and has zero problem. They're less than $40 shipped. http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

You won't be disappointed...

Actually, mine simply isn't hot.