Onkyo PR-SC5507 9.2 Channel A/V Controller

IRobot

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Hi Dudes,

I recently purchased the PR-SC5507 and thought I'd post a mini-review of it. It's my first Onkyo amp, previously owned Denon and Marantz amps.

DSC00137.jpg



First impression, it's a big ugly black box and even though it doesn't have any power amps, it's still larger than my previous Marantz avr and almost weighs as much. Yep, this one's best kept hidden away in a cupboard. I've put it next to my Arcam P7 and it makes the P7 look small and stylish :eek:. Speaking of Arcam, my original intent was to get the AV888 but that unit has issues and lacks some useful features (Audyssey, DSD) and some features that might be worth playing around with in the future (DSX,PLIIz etc.). However, if the Onkyo didn't satisfy on the sound quality front, I would still consider changing to the Arcam (if they fix the issues). But that won't be necessary as having spent some time with the Onkyo, I'm very happy with its sound quality for music and movies. Also it's worked flawlessly with everything I've thrown at it so far, multiple sources (PS3, Sky HD, Oppo BDP-83, Sonos, PC), simultaneous HDMI outputs to TV and PJ and being able to play an audio source (CD) while having a muted video source on the TV (football). You can tell it's a mature product as it should be being the 3rd or 4th gen pre/pro from Onkyo. One thing I didn't like is that there seems to be a relay inside the amp that clicks when you change sound formats. It also clicks when changing channels on Sky HD if you're using the optical connection. You get used to it though.

Setup:-

Plenty of HDMI inputs, seven at the back, one in front. I took the easy option and plugged my Sky, Oppo and PS3 into the ones labelled cab/sat, DVD/BD and game respectively. It saved time having to mess around assigning inputs. Sky only outputs DD5.1 through the optical so you have to assign the cab/sat audio input to one of the optical inputs i.e. OPT1 making sure to press ENTER so that an asterisk appears next to it i.e. OPT1*. I expect this will catch a few people out.
There are three source configurable trigger sockets, I use one to turn on the power amp and another to turn on the sub. You can set a delay between them to avoid power surges.

DSC00141.jpg


Firmware updates can be done over the web like the PS3 and Oppo. The first update is already available, something to do with the iPod dock and internet radio, neither of much interest to me but I tried it anyway and the update worked fine, took about 15 minutes.
Auto setup starts as soon as you plug the Audyssey mic in. The mic is the usual Audyssey tower mic with a threaded insert for tripod mounting. You have to do a minimum of three positions and up to eight max. You can choose between wide and height channels but not both together. There's two subwoofer pre outs which are treated separately. Auto setup will determine level and distance individually for each sub. I like this line from the manual:-
"No matter how many speakers you use, two powered subwoofers are recommended for a really powerful and solid base".
Looks like Onkyo are base junkies ;).

DSC00148.jpg


Audyssey is engaged by default when auto setup completes and so is Dynamic EQ. Dynamic Volume is off by default and I'm inclined to leave it turned off as I don't like the idea of any compression to the sound. Auto setup did a good job on my system.

DSC00155.jpg


Sound Quality:-

The Onkyo sounds great with stereo music. There's a sense of greater space and clarity to the sound compared to what I've heard with previous amps. If you switch to a matrix mode, "Dolby PLIIx Music" in particular, there's some real magic going on with the sound. Take for example tracks from Fleetwood Macs Mirage album, the main vocals are clear and precise and come from the front soundstage while the background vocals appear to come from around you and particular instruments from different parts of the surround soundstage. It sounds fantastic even though it's just a stereo CD but sounds every bit as good as some of my multi-channel SACD discs. Matrixing has never worked this well before with other amps and I've often just gone back to listening in straight stereo. The surround processing of the Onkyo is top class.

Movies sound superb. Watching Sunshine in DTS Master Audio, the Onkyo seems to sound more complete, you get enveloped with the sound/atmosphere of the movie. With previous systems, the surrounds gave me all the effects OK but not so much the atmosphere. At lower volume levels, the surround channels don't fade out like my previous amps. This is probably down to Dynamic EQ.

I put on a concert blu-ray, Iron Maiden - Flight 666 and ramped up the volume to reference level. Holy crap, it was seriously loud but awesome, half the street must have heard what I was listening to. The drum sounds in particular were excellent, a really visceral impact.

Operation:-

The single remote supplied is OK but will no doubt end up in my remote control shoebox once I get the Harmony programmed with the most useful buttons. One problem with the remote is that you've only got one button to cycle through the surround modes and this amp has a huge number of surround modes so trying to get to the one you want can be a hassle. The Onkyo's got plenty of DSP power, you can apply surround sound modes to things like DSD and HD bitstreams which my previous amp couldn't do.

The OSD is really useful, it will show volume changes so no need to squint at the front panel any more. Surround mode changes also come up on screen. Pressing "Display" will show info about the audio input and output, pressing it again will show info about the video input and output. The setup menu isn't overlaid though.
Video processing is pretty well covered with the ability to set resolutions and picture adjustments per source. Or you can just set a global resolution or you can set the global setting to "through" and it will pass the video through untouched.

DSC00157.jpg


I don't know why Onkyo are calling these new units "network controllers/receivers" because it won't play videos over your network. It will play music over the network but it puts a short gap between songs which is annoying for live music or classical or lots of other stuff like Pink Floyd. Internet radio is the only thing it does properly over the network. I'll be sticking to the Sonos for music playback.

Here's a naked shot for anyone who's in to that kind of thing :).

DSC00145.jpg


So, to sum it up, it's the dog's danglies :smashin:, sounds superb, has a huge amount of flexibility with both audio/video and works flawlessly with every source I tried and nothing much to complain about.

I'll post some feedback when I've had a chance to try out PLIIz or Audyssey DSX.

Thanks

Steve




UPDATE #1 - 7/11/2009

Dynamic EQ:-

I ran some frequency sweeps with REW software to see what effect Dynamic EQ is having on my system. These curves are at different levels but overlayed on each other so you can see the effect.

deq.jpg


With the Onkyo running at reference level or with Dynamic EQ switched off, I get a fairly flat frequency response as shown by the black line. The more you reduce the volume, the more Dynamic EQ will compensate by adjusting the base curve and surround levels.



UPDATE #2 - 1/12/2009

Height Channels:-

I've been using surround back channels for the last three months but have found that they don't offer much benefit over 5.1. Probably because my room is fairly small (12ft by 22ft) and they were positioned close to the side surrounds. So I decided to re-position them as front heights instead to see if Dolby PLIIz or Audyssey DSX processing brings any benefits. The pic below shows how I positioned the height speakers. They are "Monitor Audio R225HD" which can be used horizontally as a centre speaker.

DSC00161.jpg


I mentioned above, the hassle of having to loop through the huge amount of sound modes with one button on the remote. I got round that problem by controlling the Onkyo via the network port. I was able to switch directly to the sound mode I wanted to try. I'll post more about this in a future update.

Black Snake Moan (DD 5.1):-
I watched the scene where Samuel L. Jackson plays his electric guitar in his shack and it starts raining. In native DD 5.1 mode, so no heights, the effect of the rain hitting the roof of his shack was very realistic. It really sounded as if it was coming from above and sounded just like it does when it rains on the plastic roof of my shed. Activating the heights in PLIIz mode didn't actually improve the sound much at all. The rain and thunder effects didn't change much. There was a slight change to his singing voice, I wouldn't say it was for the better though. Again, I didn't hear any noticable improvement to the sound when using DSX heights instead of PLIIz. The sound was great to start with and DSX heights didn't change much.

Blade Runner - (Dolby True HD):-
I thought this one would be good to test as it has a lot of height stuff in the sound. It practically rains all the way through the film and then you've got all the flying cars and hovering advertising things. In native Dolby True HD 5.1 mode it does sound very good and all the aerial effects come from where they should be in the sound stage. Activating the height channels doesn't really make much difference at all in either PLIIz or DSX mode.

Stereo Music:-
Nothing sounds better in surround than a bit of symphonic prog :). So I put on "Collage - Heroes Cry", corny lyrics, but they are a Polish band so I guess you can forgive them that ;). It sounds fabulous in Stereo with the Audyssey EQ really opening up the front sound stage compared to Direct Stereo. Switching to PLII Music mode is stunning with the symphonic keyboards soaring up all around you. Using the heights in PLIIz didn't make that much difference compared to PLII Music. I noticed that the vocals were very slightly less focused with the heights activated. With Audyssey DSX, you have to matrix the sound up to 5.1 first. You could use DTS Neo:6 Music with DSX Heights but I tried Dolby PLII Music with DSX Heights. DSX didn't sound too good. The soundstage was moved towards the front and it was a bit heavy and leaden compared to the airy hi-fi sound from PLIIz. Out of the two height processing modes, PLIIz was far superior in my room with my speakers but I still preferred the regular 5.1 PLII Music mode.

So, in my room with my fairly decent 5.1 speakers, I didn't experience a greater sense of immersion by using front height speakers so they'll probably be coming back down at some point.



UPDATE #3 - 9/12/2009

Web Control:-

Many of the functions of the Onkyo can be controlled via it's network port. Member FASHICE created some web app code that allowed you to control the Onkyo using a web browser. I adapted that code and added a design that looks good on a small form factor web browser such as an iPod Touch. I use the Sonos app on the iPod anyway to control the music that gets played back on my system. A good thing about the web app is that you can get direct access to functions that require dozens of button presses on the Onkyo remote such as sound modes. As it's a web app, it needs to run on a web server. All my music files for my Sonos are on a NAS (Netgear Readynas). The NAS has a built in web server which I enabled and copied the web app files to. Here's some screenshots of the Onkyo Web Controller running on my iPod Touch:-

web_control.jpg




UPDATE #4 - 7/3/2010

Using Two Subs:-

I recently acquired a second sub so I thought I'd see how the Onkyo would handle the integration of two subwoofers.

Before running the Onkyo's auto setup, I checked to see if the chosen positions for the subs would give a good respose at the listening position. I put one sub behind the front left speaker and the other behind the front right speaker so they were near the front corners of my rectangular room (12ft by 22ft). A quick check with REW showed that this wasn't going to work. One of the large dips was in the same frequency range for each sub. I moved the front left sub near the rear left corner of the room so the subs were at diagonal corners. Check again with REW and things looked much more promising. Where the frequency response was weak with the front sub, it was strong with the rear sub and vice-versa.

chart1x.jpg


Next I level matched the subs, front was set to 50% gain and the closer rear sub to 40% gain. I ran both subs together and saw a cancellation at about 25Hz. Adjusting the phase of the rear sub fixed that problem but since I still had to run the Audyssey auto setup which would take care of any phase issues, I set the phase back to 0 and started the Audyssey setup.

Auto setup came up with the following distance/level settings:-

sub 1 (front) 5.1m -8dB
sub 2 (rear) 2.55m -8dB

One thing I wanted to check was that the two subs would get EQ'd seperatly. This chart shows the seperate EQ curves applied to each sub.

chart2x.jpg


So after the auto setup completed and with the Audyssey EQ turned on, I got this response for each sub.

chart3x.jpg


Running both subs together, gave this response.

chart4x.jpg


Here's the combined response with 1/3 smoothing.

chart5x.jpg
 
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Great review, love all the pics. i have the 886 and am thinking about getting this but it doesn't seem a big enough jump up.
What have you upgraded from if you don't mind me asking?
 
Great review, love all the pics. i have the 886 and am thinking about getting this but it doesn't seem a big enough jump up.
What have you upgraded from if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks. My last amp was a Marantz SR8002 avr. For the last 3 months, I've been using the Marantz as a processor with an Arcam P7 power amp until I got the 5507 a couple of weeks ago.
 
Thanks for the review. I'm interested in your view on 2 ch stereo music. I'm not familiar with your previous marantz amp. Would you be able to compare the 5507 to something else to put it's stereo performance into context?

Thanks
 
Dynamic EQ:-

I ran some frequency sweeps with REW software to see what effect Dynamic EQ is having on my system. These curves are at different levels but overlayed on each other so you can see the effect.
Nice graph! What mic are you using with REW?
Have you done any comparison sweep with a) Equalizer:Off and b) Equalizer:Audyssey (with Dynamic EQ Off)?
 
Thanks for the review. I'm interested in your view on 2 ch stereo music. I'm not familiar with your previous marantz amp. Would you be able to compare the 5507 to something else to put it's stereo performance into context?

Thanks

The Marantz is the best previous reference I have. The SR8002 was their top avr. Music performance is important to me as well and I found that the Onkyo went beyond my expectations. To try and give an example, I was recently listening to the Fleet Foxes CD. I started in "Direct" mode and the sound had great clarity and detail. I then switched to "Stereo" mode and was quite amazed. The sound stage expanded out beyond the room boundaries and of course the sub took over the base and put a solid foundation under the music. The Marantz gave a very nice sound but never quite excited me as much as the Onkyo has been doing. As I said in my review, I think it's the Onkyo's superb processing that's taking things like room correction, bass management, matrixing etc. to a higher level than what I've experienced before.

Steve
 
Nice graph! What mic are you using with REW?
Have you done any comparison sweep with a) Equalizer:Off and b) Equalizer:Audyssey (with Dynamic EQ Off)?

The mic is just the common Radioshack analogue SPL meter. The black line is Audyssey On and Dynamic EQ Off. I haven't done any sweeps comparing Audyssey On/Off but will try and do some and post them.

Steve
 
The mic is just the common Radioshack analogue SPL meter. The black line is Audyssey On and Dynamic EQ Off. I haven't done any sweeps comparing Audyssey On/Off but will try and do some and post them.

Steve

ok, did you use 1/1 smothing?
 
Hi Steve, a few more questions please

1) You mentioned arcam 888 being on the shopping list. Did you listen to one? How does it compare 5507?

2) Which CD player are you using? Is the music on your sonos lossless or compressed?

3) The 5507 is the next gen of 886 correct? I'm thinking of buying the 5007, should that be better?

Thanks
 
Hi Steve, a few more questions please

1) You mentioned arcam 888 being on the shopping list. Did you listen to one? How does it compare 5507?

2) Which CD player are you using? Is the music on your sonos lossless or compressed?

3) The 5507 is the next gen of 886 correct? I'm thinking of buying the 5007, should that be better?

Thanks

1) I haven't heard the Arcam 888. The plan was to try out the 5507 for a few weeks and if I didn't like it, sell it, and get the Arcam if the issues it had got fixed. But I'm seriously impressed by the Onkyo's sound quality and won't be selling it.

2) My music is lossless Flac files on a NAS. I use the Oppo BDP-83 for SACD.

3) 886 was the previous pre/pro but I never heard it. 5007 is the same as the 5507 but with the internal power amps so I expect them to sound the same, at normal volume levels anyway.
 
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1) I haven't heard the Arcam 888. The plan was to try out the 5507 for a few weeks and if I didn't like it, sell it, and get the Arcam if the issues it had got fixed. But I'm seriously impressed by the Onkyos sound quality and won't be selling it.

2) My music is lossless Flac files on a NAS. I use the Oppo BDP-83 for SACD.

3) 886 was the previous pre/pro but I never heard it. 5007 is the same as the 5507 but with the internal power amps so I expect them to sound the same, at normal volume levels anyway.


Hi Steve, thanks for the feedback. I think I need to try and arrange a demo.

I'm a little confused though. As far as I know the NR5007 has internal amps but the pr -sc5007 doesn't. Its the latter that I am after, ie the pro with no internal amps. I'm just trying to figure out how the 5507 that you have fits in.

Cheers:)
 
I'm a little confused though. As far as I know the NR5007 has internal amps but the pr -sc5007 doesn't. Its the latter that I am after, ie the pro with no internal amps. I'm just trying to figure out how the 5507 that you have fits in.


There's an NR5007 (with amps) and a PR-SC5507 (pre/pro). No such thing as the PR-SC5007.
 
Does the OSD (volume etc.) show when being fed a 24p signal? The last gen Onkyo's wouldn't.
 
There's an NR5007 (with amps) and a PR-SC5507 (pre/pro). No such thing as the PR-SC5007.

Yes, thanks. I was confused by some people on another forum calling the pro a 5007. :thumbsup:

May I ask, did you pay rrp for it or did you get a deal?:)

Also please keep us updated with further feedback on the unit as you must be one of the very first here to have one.

I auditioned the arcam 888/777 combo and the monster denon a1hd/poa the other day. The latter is out of budget, but I was thinking about the Arcam 888 and combining it with my Quad poweramps.

The Arcam did sound nice though, for film and music. I'm going to try and demo the 5007, if it's even 90% as good at less than half the price its a no brainer for me:)
 
I'm sure an Arcam 888 with Quad poweramps will make for a great sounding system if you go that way. Yes, the Arcam is a bit pricey, I got the Onkyo for £1800 from my regular hi-fi shop, it's what they offered, I didn't bother haggling although they've given me better deals on other stuff in the past. But still, the Onkyo and my Arcam P7 (£1500 new) together still cost less than an 888.
 
Hi All,
I can confirm, IROBOT is right in every aspect. I also own a PR-SC5507 controller, and it sounds absolutely great! I use Atoll power amps, 1 stereo AM80 for the fronts and one 5ch AV500 for the rest (center, sourround and surround height). Probably many of you have not heard about these power amps, the brand is not well known (like Arcam, Rotel, Anthem, QUAD, Marantz, NAD, etc.), but they produce truly audiophile quality at a very reasonable price (the 2 amps costed 1300 EUR). The Onkyo sounds in my setup absolutely clear, detailed, noiseless and balanced. Surround effect is perfect in almost all sound fields (except DTS Neo, but for me it always lost against all other surround processing even before I had this Onkyo). I use all sound formats, SACD/DSD and atandard DVDs from Pioneer DV-LX50, Blue-Ray form PS3 and Panasonic BMP-BD60, all formats are much better than previously. Stereo sound and image quality is also great, which is also helped by the dedicated stereo power amp. For music I prefer the pure audio mode. Height channels in movies are really improve the overall sound field to 3D, and make it much more believable, if there is 110 inch projected image in the middle. Height chanels make multichannel music more enjoyable too in most of the cases. The predecessor of the Onkyo was a Pioneer AX4AVI, using its pre-outs (its power amp was switched off), which sounded also great in my system with movies and music as well, but it cannot match Onkyo PR-SC5507.
As negative, I also do not like the clicking noise of the Onkyo when changing sound formats, but it is not there if you listen a source continuously (no clicking if you continuously listen a CD, or similar), or you do not change the surround format in every minute.
Overall PR-SC5507 -excellent for me, at a relatively affordable price
 
Oldpiofan, glad to hear you are enjoying your new set up.

Steve, the Arcam did sound good, just not sure it sounds £4k good.

A number of things suprise me though

1) Though the 888 was CLEARLY better than my 875, for the £500 I paid for it I'm gobsmacked how well it does with some external amps added.

2) For once logic applies to the pricing of the pro and integrated, ie the NR with the internal amps costs £400 more than the PR model. Arcam and Denon like to charge an extra few £k for taking the amps out, which I know they try and justify but makes no sense to me,

3) There are no reviews of the NR or PR 5507 that I can find. These two are very important, they are after all the most expensive bits of kit that Onkyo have made. In a way, they are Onkyos answer to the 888 and avp hd1a for those who can't (or don't want to) spend £4.5k+ on a pro.
 
Great review IRobot!

I also took possession of my 5507 2 weeks ago. Like you I had been considering buying the Arcam 888 or AVR 600, but this was half the price with more features and likely less compatibility issues. I can use the savings on adding speakers and power amps to my 5.1 set up...

Learnt my lesson early on with very expensive preamps. Back in 2000 I bought the Proceed AVP which was $5000 (or £5000 if you tried to buy it in the UK, which I did not). Great sounding pre amp but outdated within a year of purchase- mind you I kept using it until now.

I have set mine up in 5.1 mode using my old Proceed AMP5 amplifier (balanced outputs) and Dynaudio speakers, Linn subwoofer. Will be borrowing some speakers and power amps soon to try out both 7.1 rears and height channel.

I have connected PS3, Oppo DV981HD, PS2, Wii, Rega LP and even my only cassette and VHS players (the latter being connected to the VCR/DVR input that is shared with the Oppo DVD player. Found I had to go into the menus to deactivate the HDMI input because I could not find a way for it to default to the composite video input with the Oppo turned off)

First impressions are very good. As a pure stereo player I would say it will not beat a good hifi set up for CD playback (using the Proceed or my old Meridian pre for example) but it is still quite acceptable. Mind you the sound with SACD is a revelation! I compared a Peter Gabriel album I have on both old CD and SACD and the sound upgrade was AMAZING.
Sound quality for movies is clearly in another league from what I was used to with the Proceed. Excellent steering.

There are some niggles. Like you I find the the " popping" as you change sources quite annoying. I also find the picture drops out sometimes as BD menu changes occurs. Previously my PJ was connected directly to my DVD player and PS3 rather than via the amp and this did not happen. Finally I have my Oppo connected with both HDMI and 5.1 analog inputs (for SACD) and changing the input -which to me should be as simple as pressing the input button twice as in the AVP- involves quite a trawl through the menus. The instruction book is quite a read...

Overall though very happy, and looking forward to testing out some new sound formats!:thumbsup:
 
I am looking at this baby closely. I am just a hair before ordering it.

I would appreciate if I can get some adiitional info:

1) How does it perform on video processing from SD sources? To be more exact, I have a Toshiba HD-XA1 HD-DVD player, which is intended to be also used as my dedicated DVD player. All of us, who have used this player, know very well how excellent is on SD playback. In such a case, what is the Onkyo doing?
2) How about processing HD material? Do we have any comparison between its internal HQV Reon and, for example, a good player's internal processor?
3) I have a Panasonic DMP-BD80 player and a JVC DLA-RS2 projector (the equivalent of the HD100, but coming from the pro series of JVC). What should I choose: A direct connection of the player to the projector (through an HDMI signal splitter, of course), or should I do it through the Onkyo?
4) In cases like this, does the preamp provide a pass-through of the video signal, from its HDMI inputs?

Thanks
 
Thanks Swiss Tony,

I'm a little disappointed by your view on CD stereo playback, I was hoping they had improved the performance and maybe started to close the gap on the arcam(though appreciate that at the price it will never be as good)

I use a Quad CDP, this has its own built in preamp. So really I need the Onkyo to let the signal through unmolested. My 875 isn't bad at this, I'm hoping the 5507 will be better.

I'm going to try and arrange a demo asap!
 
I am looking at this baby closely. I am just a hair before ordering it.

I would appreciate if I can get some adiitional info:

1) How does it perform on video processing from SD sources? To be more exact, I have a Toshiba HD-XA1 HD-DVD player, which is intended to be also used as my dedicated DVD player. All of us, who have used this player, know very well how excellent is on SD playback. In such a case, what is the Onkyo doing?
2) How about processing HD material? Do we have any comparison between its internal HQV Reon and, for example, a good player's internal processor?
3) I have a Panasonic DMP-BD80 player and a JVC DLA-RS2 projector (the equivalent of the HD100, but coming from the pro series of JVC). What should I choose: A direct connection of the player to the projector (through an HDMI signal splitter, of course), or should I do it through the Onkyo?
4) In cases like this, does the preamp provide a pass-through of the video signal, from its HDMI inputs?

Thanks

Hello Panayotis Melas,
I have some answers for your questions, however my testing is not based on test discs, but what I write is clearly visible on the screen.
1. With SD materials the upscaling is excellent. I fed the Onkyo with 576i signal from my Pioneer DV-LX50, and the result is sharp, noiseless 1080p image, also with fast moving scenes. Much better than what my projector (Sanyo PLV-Z3000) does. Noise reduction also works well. I noticed that the picture is a bit brighter, if I use the PR-SC5507, but it can be corrected easily (brightness control -1 or -2 sorts it out). Compared to LX50's internal scaler not noticable difference, but the Pio is known from reviews also to have an excellent scaler.
As for digital cable TV source my STB outputs 576p signal. Onkyo can make it a lot better upscaled to 1080p, and using noise reduction functions. But I have to tell that DVDO EDGE beats it with PREP function. DVDO's sharpness (using detail and edge enhancement functions combined), image clarity is better, almost 3D-like. I wanted to get rid of it when I purchased this Onkyo, but I decided to keep it, only because it makes miracle with cable TV (I use all the other sources through Onkyo). Now it seems I kept a 700 EUR video processor only for TV sources...
2. and 3. HD sources. My Panasonic BMP-BD60 is a bit better through the Onkyo. Images are a bit more vivid, and nothing is taken from the output of the source, so I happily use it through the processor, and what is the most important, you can feed the Onkyo with HD audio, which is a fun, as HD audio is one of Onkyo's best friends
4. Pass-through is there, I am not pretty sure it is a real pass-through if you use the video processor, but there is an option to skip video processor, in this case pass-through is real.
I hope it helped a bit with your decision
 
Oldpiofan, glad to hear you are enjoying your new set up.

Steve, the Arcam did sound good, just not sure it sounds £4k good.

A number of things suprise me though

1) Though the 888 was CLEARLY better than my 875, for the £500 I paid for it I'm gobsmacked how well it does with some external amps added.

2) For once logic applies to the pricing of the pro and integrated, ie the NR with the internal amps costs £400 more than the PR model. Arcam and Denon like to charge an extra few £k for taking the amps out, which I know they try and justify but makes no sense to me,

3) There are no reviews of the NR or PR 5507 that I can find. These two are very important, they are after all the most expensive bits of kit that Onkyo have made. In a way, they are Onkyos answer to the 888 and avp hd1a for those who can't (or don't want to) spend £4.5k+ on a pro.

Hi Indus
there is a good pre-review about the TX-NR5007 in German (google translates it to English):

PREVIEW: Onkyo 9.2 AV-Receiver TX-NR5007 (23.10.2009)
 
Great review IRobot!

I also took possession of my 5507 2 weeks ago. Like you I had been considering buying the Arcam 888 or AVR 600, but this was half the price with more features and likely less compatibility issues. I can use the savings on adding speakers and power amps to my 5.1 set up...

Learnt my lesson early on with very expensive preamps. Back in 2000 I bought the Proceed AVP which was $5000 (or £5000 if you tried to buy it in the UK, which I did not). Great sounding pre amp but outdated within a year of purchase- mind you I kept using it until now.

I have set mine up in 5.1 mode using my old Proceed AMP5 amplifier (balanced outputs) and Dynaudio speakers, Linn subwoofer. Will be borrowing some speakers and power amps soon to try out both 7.1 rears and height channel.

I have connected PS3, Oppo DV981HD, PS2, Wii, Rega LP and even my only cassette and VHS players (the latter being connected to the VCR/DVR input that is shared with the Oppo DVD player. Found I had to go into the menus to deactivate the HDMI input because I could not find a way for it to default to the composite video input with the Oppo turned off)

First impressions are very good. As a pure stereo player I would say it will not beat a good hifi set up for CD playback (using the Proceed or my old Meridian pre for example) but it is still quite acceptable. Mind you the sound with SACD is a revelation! I compared a Peter Gabriel album I have on both old CD and SACD and the sound upgrade was AMAZING.
Sound quality for movies is clearly in another league from what I was used to with the Proceed. Excellent steering.

There are some niggles. Like you I find the the " popping" as you change sources quite annoying. I also find the picture drops out sometimes as BD menu changes occurs. Previously my PJ was connected directly to my DVD player and PS3 rather than via the amp and this did not happen. Finally I have my Oppo connected with both HDMI and 5.1 analog inputs (for SACD) and changing the input -which to me should be as simple as pressing the input button twice as in the AVP- involves quite a trawl through the menus. The instruction book is quite a read...

Overall though very happy, and looking forward to testing out some new sound formats!:thumbsup:

SwissTony,
I agree that SACD is far ahead of CD sources, and Onkyo produces it very well, let's say best ever for me through HDMI. I had a Pioneer AX4AVI and DV-868AVI before with i-link connection and PQLS, and I thought SACD cannot be better. Now I do not have PQLS, but LX50 with HDMI DSD output and the Onkyo with PLL jitter reduction, it sounds much better (let's remind everyone, 5 years newer technology). Does your Oppo output DSD ocer HDMI? Have you tried it? If yes, I really think the sound will be a lot better than through analogue cables
 

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