Onkyo New AVR's TX-NR818,717,616 official Discussion [No Price Talk]Thread - Page 32

I have the tx-nr616 and have not experienced any problems with it. I do have an annoyance with the OSD. Does anyone know how to cut off the somewhat clear box that says the tx-nr616 and the volume number? I don't mind the blue volume meter and know how to cut it off. But I have not found how to cut off the other. Thanks!

Just joined AVS. Bought my Onkyo TX-NR616 and just installed as a 5.1 with Polk ceiling speakers (5) and a Polk subwoofer for a 14' X 14' family room. Where can I learn more about speaker settings/adjustments for regular TV and movie sound. Also how to watch regular TV (news, talk shows, food channels) without using the Home Theater (overkill plus background sound overwhelms any spoken dialogue - frustrating). I wish the Remote had some lighted feature. Also, FM tuner gets about zero reception with supplied antenna. Have Cox Cable but their FM stations are limited. Thanks.

I purchased the 616 on November 1st from Amazon so I have had it for almost a month. The first thing I did was install the firmware update via USB. Then ran Audyssey calibration which did a good job with my 7.1 speaker arrangement . Setup was easy.

I have left all the standby options off and will not be using HDMI passthrough.

The only issue I have experienced is with Dolby 2.0 from Uverse. This issue seems to come from the Uverse side and not the receiver. I have seen this discussed on the ATT website with other receiver brands as well, so I will over look it and just switch the Uverse off of surround when needing to.

This receiver replaced my 6 year old Onkyo TX-NR674 that started having HDMI issues. It had to warm up for about 10 min before passing the signal. Component connections did not need to warm up.

The 616 has a much better sound and picture than my old Onkyo. I am enjoying the network radio that is streamed wirelessly. The wireless setup was easy.

The iOS App is a plus and allows for simple adjustments as well as allowing streaming music from my iPhone or iPad. The App makes using network radio real simple too.

At this point, even after reading all the negative, I would recommend this receiver.

My hope is that is lasts for more than 6 years and that the last firmware update was the fix for all the issues that have been reported.

Go to Home>Setup>Miscellaneous> OSD Setup, select off. This will turn off all operation details.

I just recieved my 818 on Tuesday. Used my AMEX points in Amazon and basically got the unit for "free".

Anyways, I replaced my Lexicon MC8 with it and all I can say is WOW.

I am REALLY impressed with the unit, and I haven't even ran Audessey yet. I am just running strait 80hz cuts with my Paradigm speakers and Servo-15 sub.

It just sounds so clean and clear compared to the Lexicon.

I am still learning my way around it, but so far I am thrilled!

I just hooked up my 616 tonight. I plugged in my SA8300 PVR and my WD live hub via HDMI and the PVR looks fine but the WD live hub is outputing really dark when watching it on TV. I swapped the inputs and still the same. Any clue why the receiver would be making so much darker than normal? Especially since the PVR is going through fine it has me stumped.

You might see if there are different settings for different inputs.

Ya, I noticed that there are brightness, hue, contrast settings per input but I didn't really want to play around with that since i had the tv calibrated just like I wanted.

figured out how to deal with the darkness but now have another question. When I turn on the receiver and one of the HDMI devices it takes for ever to get the video to appear on the screen. I've tried turning on the reciver first and then the pvr or vice versa but it still takes over a min for the video to appear on the screen. At about the 30sec mark the audio will kick in but still longer for the video.

What did you do?


That seems about normal. I turn on the 818 and it takes about 10 seconds for the 'HDMI startup' message on the display to go to 'no signal'. Then the Directv box, a couple seconds later I get audio. Then the projector and its own start up routine. Total time=minute to a minute and a half. Not a big deal to me.

For the darkness I changed the settings on my tv up a little higher and then went into the receiver settings for hue, brightness and played around with those. Still not sure why one was darker than the other but at least it looks good an each input.

I'm surprised that it seems normal start up. Like you said, I turn on the receiver and attached device and I get the no signal message on my tv for about 30-45secs. then the audio kicks in and 30secs later video. Wonder if everyone see's this as well.

I am getting some issues with the HDMI pass through.. I have it set to my CBL box but when I try to use it it doesn't pass through. if I turn on the receiver, get video and then turn it off then the video/audio passes through but I don't think this is they way its suppose to work. I assume that its suppose to pass through without having to touch the receiver. My previous receiver was Yamaha v995 so it was 12 years old so i'm not as familiar with all this HDMI stuff.

I still haven't figured out the hdmi pass through issue but have a problem with the PS3. I checked online and there was a video from onkyo on the PS3 setup and held the power button on the ps3 like it said and it rebooted but the Onkyo keeps the signal for a couple seconds and then screen goes blue, as if no signal is in. I setup it under the automatic and changed the audio from PCM to bitstream as it said but anytime I click on something, ie PSN or into a game, like when the res is reseting the screen goes blue. I have noticed that if I click on another input and then click back to the PS3 input the screen works for a little bit but then goes blue. Any ideas?

Considering there is a price difference of only $100, should I choose the 717 over 616?

Thanks. I had done that and could make the blue volume go away doing that. It turned out that my TV (Samsung) was getting the information from the AVR and displaying it above the AVR volume display with the name of the receiver and the volume number. I did not see a way to cut it off on the TV's settings so I cut off the HDMI smartcontrol (anynet?) and that did it. Once I figured out that it was the TV it was not hard to take care of.

Personally, I would because I think you get a little more power per. channel (and other features). My speakers can handle it and my room is big.

I have the Onkyo 616, TV is the Samsung UN55C8000 and my bluray player is the Samsung BD-E6500. I noticed that the receiver isnt processing the video so good. When I have my bluray player hooked straight to my TV the color and sharpness is great, but when I hook it up to the receiver its not as good. I have hooked the player straight to the TV and used an optical cable from the player to the receiver. But this defeats the whole reason I sold my old Onkyo and got this one. I have messed with the settings for hours, anyone know how I can still use my hdmi to connect to my receiver from my bluray and have it pass through the video untuoched and still process the audio???

New Onkyo 717 owner (coming from a Marantz 8400 -- served me well but I was jonesing for HDMI and Audyssey), and one thing that I'm scratching my head over is how it deals with the subwoofer.

I set each of my components (DVR, blu-ray, CD, turntable) to default to a Listening Mode of "Direct", since I prefer to hear the source without imposing other surround formats on it artificially. Thing is, though, for 2-channel audio, the sub gets no signal. I'd assumed that with my speakers set appropriately, crossover etc, the sub should just be treated as an extension of my mains and get any signal below the crossover I'd set (80Hz).

When I set the mode to "Stereo", the sub gets a signal.

What gives?

edited to answer my own damn question:

A little more poking around and I come to understand that the bass management is managed only when digital processing is engaged. So when in "pure" or "direct" mode, it's going straight to analog, hence straight to 2-channel, no sub.

Oh well.

Christopher
Edited by plattetude - 1/9/13 at 1:30pm

It seems like this thread has been, for the most part, abandoned. I see there is now a dedicated Owners Thread for the TX-NR818, but I was wondering if there is one yet for the TX-NR717? I did a Search and nothing came up. Being a new owner of the 717 (I can almost hear voices crying out, "Why in the world did you get the 717 when you could get so much more, especially MultiEQ XT32, with the 818?" But my matching glass stand for my Pioneer PRO-151 didn't have the headroom for the 818...and the 818, currently, is about $500 more at Amazon and most other online sites) I would really like a dedicated Owners Thread to refer to.

I'm not sure what the rules are on that ... I guess you could just create one?

 

I'm with you ... if I was to replace my 607 now, I would likely go for the 717 also ... especially when 818 is $500 more.

Any feedback on NR717 reliability vs. NR616? It seems as though the complaints are far more rampant on the NR616, but perhaps that's just because of popularity. Is the NR717 more reliable? I'm looking to buy one or the other, and though I don't really need any of the extra features of the 717, the $70 difference (Amazon) may be worth it for reliability alone. Are NR616 issues mostly resolved with the latest firmware - seems like there are still a lot of posts with problems.

Thanks for any advice!

I have not had any issues with my 616. I bought it right after the firmware came out and updated it immediately.

Just curious, but how do you guys have your AVR setup? What sound option do you prefer for movies and why, and what video option do you have enabled, disabled or tweaked?

About to pull the trigger on a factory remanufactured TX-NR717.... Thoughts?

I would hope you pay less than half a grand because I did for new. Lovin my 717 EXCEPT the stupid Cisco Uverse box sends a surround signal that works fine for Sho and HBO but stutters on E and other HD offerings.

Question Home theater Teacher Types- I have my fronts mounted at 7' and my center at 6' off the ground. Should I be using the "High Front" jacks?

C'mon 717 owners lets bond up and share!
Edited by Don Glee - 1/22/13 at 12:39pm

 

No, see manual. That is for another set of speakers (usually mounted real high up) that would be in addition to the regular Front Left/Right. They are more like "Front High Surrounds". You must always have normal Fronts.

Apparently it'll be $420 for a factory refurbished 717 with a one year warranty (plus my cc offers another year after that for free). I just hope the shipping doesn't kill any savings since Accessories4less has it at $500 with free shipping.

I was going to get a 616 but saw quite a lot of people have HDMI failures.
Even official have released some firmware update still there are some negative feedback on no been able to fix the existing bug.
This kinda held me back.
I am only targeting for 3.1 setup, not so sure if 616 is an overkill, or should I go for a refurb 709 or something.

Get another 2-4 speakers and a 709 or 717, TV/movies and music will so different.

Do you links? Only 616, or 717 also?

 

609 was pretty solid. Sure hope they didn't botch this series release.

Thanks for the replies. Could anyone tell me if I am in need of a speaker upgrade?
Sorry to sound like such a newb but since I bought my Denon 18XX over 9 years ago I have just kind of let it ride.
Now with a Samsung 55" DLP (almost 5 years on the bulb) and only 2 hdmi I had to get a new AVR. (717) Like how all the above posters say who would buy a 717 when 818 has the Audyssey 32!-well thats 2 -717s my friend

Speakers
Fronts (mounted on cheesy wall mount brackets at the top of my front wall Infinity RS-1 from last century)
Center Infintity like two feet wide over 9 years old pointing down from top dead center of pier bridge
Rears polk bookshelfs over 9 years old I think it was 60 for the pair.
Sub Sony 12" Paper 200 bucks over 9 years old

Really think the Sub and center are fine but what 2 pair of Bookshelves could match up well and take me to a new level?
Infinity Primus 163s?

One more thing my Denon had a 5 channel stereo feature and the center always played the Oinky does not... is this a setting problem or a "feature"?

p.s. When you get your system "dialed in" which Disc do you reach for to test and how/why and what part do you go to?

My old favorite was the cat scene in Gladiator wanted to hear the roar of my system!