[coles7]

Greetings,

I have created this thread for those of you who own or are sitting on the fence about whether to purchase the new Onkyo TXSR803. I purchased this unit a few weeks ago and am simply amazed at the quality of this unit. It is lowest priced Onkyo that includes HDMI switching capability and does allow you to extract the Dolby Digital and DTS audio streams from HDMI so that the receiver can process them. It then passes the video portion on to your hi-def TV. I replaced an old Onkyo 939 THX receiver that finally died on me back in the summer and had to wait a few months for the new 803 to come out. I can tell you all that my wait was well worth it and the sound quality of this new unit greatly surpasses my old Onkyo by a long shot. I will post pictures later of my unit. I decided to go with the silver color (with gold led text).

The receiver includes a set up and calibration mic to calibrate all your speakers once you have everything situated. This too was an improvement over my old 939 and did a much better job at setting levels and distance than my old unit.

There are a few areas you will notice right away that make this unit sound really good. 1st is the THX modes for cinema and gaming. These modes upscale all 5.1 signals to 7.1 and do a very good job. My kids have their Nintendo Gamecube connected to the 803 and most of the games have a pretty aggressive use of all 8 speakers in my system when set to "THX gaming mode". I will provide more info on movie performace in later posts. Please feel free to post any questions and I will do my best to clarify or answer them if you are one of those looking to purchase this unit.


My set up is as follows:


ONKYO TXSR803S

SAMSUNG (LN-R328W) 32" LCD HDTV MONITOR

INFINITY CC3 CENTER CHANNEL

INFINITY REF 2006.1 RIGHT AND LEFT TOWERS

INFINITY 2003.1 BOOKSHELF SURROUNDS (BACK CHANNELS)

INFINITY QUADRAPOLE SURROUNDS (SIDE CHANNELS)

ALL MONSTER CABLE INTERCONNECTS AND SPEAKER WIRES

PIONEER 3 DISK CAROUSEL DVD CHANGER (OLDER UNIT... NEED TO UPGRADE)

COX HI-DEF DVR SERVICE VIA HDMI CONNECTION

NINTENDO GAMECUBE (SOON TO BE REPLACED BY XBOX 360 WHEN ALL THE HYPE DIES DOWN

 

[Llanowar]



Quote:
Originally Posted by coles7 /forum/post/0


Greetings,

I have created this thread for those of you who own or are sitting on the fence about whether to purchase the new Onkyo TXSR803. I purchased this unit a few weeks ago and am simply amazed at the quality of this unit. It is lowest priced Onkyo that includes HDMI switching capability and does allow you to extract the Dolby Digital and DTS audio streams from HDMI so that the receiver can process them. It then passes the video portion on to your hi-def TV. I replaced an old Onkyo 939 THX receiver that finally died on me back in the summer and had to wait a few months for the new 803 to come out. I can tell you all that my wait was well worth it and the sound quality of this new unit greatly surpasses my old Onkyo by a long shot. I will post pictures later of my unit. I decided to go with the silver color (with gold led text).

The receiver includes a set up and calibration mic to calibrate all your speakers once you have everything situated. This too was an improvement over my old 939 and did a much better job at setting levels and distance than my old unit.

There are a few areas you will notice right away that make this unit sound really good. 1st is the THX modes for cinema and gaming. These modes upscale all 5.1 signals to 7.1 and do a very good job. My kids have their Nintendo Gamecube connected to the 803 and most of the games have a pretty aggressive use of all 8 speakers in my system when set to "THX gaming mode". I will provide more info on movie performace in later posts. Please feel free to post any questions and I will do my best to clarify or answer them if you are one of those looking to purchase this unit.


My set up is as follows:


ONKYO TXSR803S

SAMSUNG (LN-R328W) 32" LCD HDTV MONITOR

INFINITY CC3 CENTER CHANNEL

INFINITY REF 2006.1 RIGHT AND LEFT TOWERS

INFINITY 2003.1 BOOKSHELF SURROUNDS (BACK CHANNELS)

INFINITY QUADRAPOLE SURROUNDS (SIDE CHANNELS)

ALL MONSTER CABLE INTERCONNECTS AND SPEAKER WIRES

PIONEER 3 DISK CAROUSEL DVD CHANGER (OLDER UNIT... NEED TO UPGRADE)

COX HI-DEF DVR SERVICE VIA HDMI CONNECTION

NINTENDO GAMECUBE (SOON TO BE REPLACED BY XBOX 360 WHEN ALL THE HYPE DIES DOWN

What do you think about the the power of this unit? I saw it lost around 7 kg compared to the previous model...so i'm interested in what you think about it (and how big your room is off course)

 

[Cactus Jack]

Would love to see the pics of the Silver model, what was the price tag on that baby.

 

[tgenius]

I've had the 803 for 2 months now.. and I absolutely LOVE it.. oodles of inputs, onscreen configuration, upconverting of video to component (don't believe it passes to HDMI, but I could be wrong)

 

[kesone95]

I'm a few days from going out and getting the Onkyo 703. I know the 803 is about $200 dollars more. Main difference being the HDMI, now if I have s-video from dvd player to receiver and component from hd cable box to receiver can it all be upconverted to hdmi output to my tv(which has hdmi input). If it dosent then I dont see the benefit when I could just plug in the hdmi from hd cable box to TV. Save a couple of hundred and an extra click wouldnt be a big deal. So this can be clarified whether HDMI output on receiver upconverts everything, or else am I right in saving some money. Thanks and Merry Christmas

 

[coles7]

To all:

My room is 17' by 22'. The power of this unit should not be a big concern to anyone as I have fairly large speakers as my front towers and when running all 7 speakers (plus subwoofer) the receiver is more than capable of handling all the output needed. You will not be disappointed in this unit. Sound quality is light years ahead of my old 939 unit. Keep in mind this unit is a high current design and the high current feature is more important that overall wattage or power output. You will notice this when you hook it up.


I will post some pics of my unit soon so you can see how it looks in a home environment. Till then take care and happy holidays to all.

 

[coles7]



Quote:
Originally Posted by kesone95 /forum/post/0


I'm a few days from going out and getting the Onkyo 703. I know the 803 is about $200 dollars more. Main difference being the HDMI, now if I have s-video from dvd player to receiver and component from hd cable box to receiver can it all be upconverted to hdmi output to my tv(which has hdmi input). If it dosent then I dont see the benefit when I could just plug in the hdmi from hd cable box to TV. Save a couple of hundred and an extra click wouldnt be a big deal. So this can be clarified whether HDMI output on receiver upconverts everything, or else am I right in saving some money. Thanks and Merry Christmas

S-Video and Component will not upconvert via HDMI on this unit. In fact, I don't know of any receiver that will do that.

 

[coles7]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Cactus Jack /forum/post/0


Would love to see the pics of the Silver model, what was the price tag on that baby.

My cost was significantly lower than retail (employee purchase). However, if you search around the net, I'm sure you can get some good deals.

 

[Pete7011]

The Denon 4306 will upconvert Component and S-Video to HDMI and has 3 HDMI inputs as well.

 

[tgenius]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete7011 /forum/post/0


The Denon 4306 will upconvert Component and S-Video to HDMI and has 3 HDMI inputs as well.

I think the 4306 is a higher end model than the 803 though isn't it? I don't know the Denon line very well...

 

[kepy]

How do some of the comparable models relate to the 803's 2 Zone feature that let you listen/control one source in one room (say listening to CD's in the kitchen) and listening/controling another source in a different room (watching TV in the room with the 803)


Also, the 803 comes bundled with the iPod dock that lets you control and view iPod contents on your screen. (does anyone have 1st hand experience with this setup and the new video iPod?)

Are other model/brands capable of this? are they still in the same price range. The 803 seems to give a fantastic 'bang for your buck'

 

[ron o]

I bought an 803 about 2 weeks ago and after a couple of days experienced a little problem. I narrowed the problem down to this sequence of events.


My projector is on, I power up the receiver(I'm using all HDMI connections), then I power up the dvd player, put in a disk. At this point the movie is playing but the picture has a strong purple hue to it. If I click say video 1 or 2 or 3 etc then go back to DVD the picture is fine.

I called tech support at onkyo and they told me to clear everything, same problem occured.

After 3 or 4 days of this the problem it went away, so far. I'm watching it closely. Onecall has a good return policy so I can get it replaced or fixed for free.


This was the only scenerio where this occured. Other than that, this receiver is fine. If I have to replace it, I will get the same one again....


ron o

 

[kesone95]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ron o /forum/post/0


I bought an 803 about 2 weeks ago and after a couple of days experienced a little problem. I narrowed the problem down to this sequence of events.


My projector is on, I power up the receiver(I'm using all HDMI connections), then I power up the dvd player, put in a disk. At this point the movie is playing but the picture has a strong purple hue to it. If I click say video 1 or 2 or 3 etc then go back to DVD the picture is fine.

I called tech support at onkyo and they told me to clear everything, same problem occured.

After 3 or 4 days of this the problem it went away, so far. I'm watching it closely. Onecall has a good return policy so I can get it replaced or fixed for free.


This was the only scenerio where this occured. Other than that, this receiver is fine. If I have to replace it, I will get the same one again....


ron o

I would guess the same dosent happen when the dvd is connected directly to TV?

 

[Brian Bergen]

Just bought this from Amazon through Jand R music for less than 700.

 

[coles7]

Check out this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=627381


According to this thread the 803 can handle the new DD and DTS formats one of two ways (either HDMI or using the multi-channel inputs). The multi-channel inputs will let the new HD DVD or Blu-Ray players do the work of decoding and send the decoded signal via analog through the multi-channel cables... or use the HDMI connection and set it to PCM and do basically the same thing with only one cable. Either way it looks like we owners of the 803 are somewhat future proof for the new formats.

 

[mchuckp]

I'm very interested in seeing how this receiver handles HDMI switching for video quality. I currently direct connect all my HDMI equipment and I am thrilled with the quality. Does this receiver simply pass the signal and I should expect NO deterioration of video quality?


Does anyone have direct experience with this feature. On paper it all looks great but if I am going to have my picture suffer then I'd just assume not mess with it and keep my current set up. HDMI switching is the most important feature to me right now.


does the component simply pass through as well? I'd prefer my TV to do all upconversions and everything else.


Thanks!

 

[mchuckp]

I just started researching receivers with HDMI switching. It seems there is very little talk of this receiver in the forums. From all that I have read, it sounds like an incredible receiver at its price point. I would think it would be a very popular model. Are many people not buying it, is it brand new, are people just not posting much about it?


When doesn Onkyo release new year models? I'm looking to buy in the next few months and didn't know if I should hold out for new models that have better features or potential pick up this one at a close out price. If they are not releasing anything soon, I might as well just get it.

 

[nhguy]

Hi,

I purchased an 803 along w/ a Pioneer 4360 and CP702. I've been geting a hum from the front speakers only (5 speaker setup) and only when playing DVDs, music CDs are fine, the TV played through the reciever is fine. the hum only starts when the DVD starts to play, not when the DVD player is turned on. However the hum will only stop when the DVD player is turned off.

The Tech at Cambridge Soundworks thinks it's a reciever problem and not a ground loop. What do you folks think. I'm w/in the 45 day return window so if I take it back, do I get another onkyo or "move up' to say a Marantz 8500. I don't use HDMI or DVI for DVDs. I'm waiting for the whole HD-DVD issue to settle down.

 

[mchuckp]

I just got this receiver and love the audio!!! Particularly DVD-A and SACD. I'm having issues with HDMI switching with my cable box.


I have an SA8300HD, a Samsung DLP TV, and a brand new Onkyo A/V receiver that does HDMI switching. I have TW cable in Cincinnati, OH using passport software.


If I plug my 8300 directly into my TV via HDMI, it works fine. But if I go through my new receiver, I either get nothing or a message telling me that my TV is not HDCP compliant and I should hook it up via component. Obviously that is not the case since I can do a direct connect. It appears from some things I've read in the forums is that people are having issues getting the proper handshake when using an A/V receiver or their boxes simply don't like it for one reason or another.


Oh, one more thing. I know it can't simply be the A/V receiver. I have a Samsung HD941 scaling DVD player and it works fine sending the video through the receiver.


Does anyone have a clue what I can do to make this work? Anyone having success getting an 8300 to work through an A/V receiver? Anyone having success with other cable boxes?

 

[dkgross]

hi..just found this thread..


I'm torn between this Onkyo and the Yamaha 2600...I downloaded the PDF's for both units, and the Yamaha just seems amazingly complex, comparatively...


but...my system is simply..Just a DVD player, and the Direct TV box, both with HDMI..I might want to hook an XBOX 360 and/or my mini-DV cam up to it at some point as well.


Will the signals from both of those latter units get their signal to the HDMI outputs??


thanks!



dave