Onkyo TX-NR906
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Product Type: AV Receiver
Price: $4999
Reviewed By: Stephen Dawson
Magazine: Sound + Image Feb/March 2009
Distributor: Olsen System
Who Sells What/Website: Onkyo
Onkyo offers a wide range of stereo amplifiers and AV receivers. The company’s lower AV models tend to focus on a sensible selection of essentials for home theatre performance, leaving off costly extraneous functions. This higher-end TX-NR906 does an even better job on the basics, but also adds in all the extras.
Equipment
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The basic home theatre functions? How about four HDMI inputs, two HDMI outputs (you can switch between them, which is convenient for running both a home theatre projector and a panel display). Seven internal amplifiers are powerfully and properly rated at 145W each into eight ohms across the full audio bandwidth at just 0.05% distortion.
The unit will decode any audio format that can be delivered over HDMI, including the DSD from SACD and, of course, the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks, the latest and entirely lossless multichannel surround formats now frequently available thanks to the greater storage space on offer from Blu-ray discs.
The NR906 also has a good range of DSP modes if you want to try turning stereo into surround sound, while Audyssey MultiEQ XT calibration aims to simplify set-up and achieve optimal performance with your speakers and your room, gathering measurements from up to eight positions in the listening area.
Still not satisfied? Well, it is also THX Ultra2 Plus certified, the highest THX level presently available for home theatre equipment.
The receiver also carries all the regular inputs and outputs that you would expect, including some handy front-panel inputs for temporary connection of visiting gear.
It also provides support for two additional zones. Using two of the seven amplifiers, you can play back a separate stereo source with video in Zone 2 at the same time as playing back a 5.1-channel AV source in the main room. Alternatively, you can use the Zone 2 and Zone 3 pre-outs to connect to amplifiers in two other rooms, keeping all 7.1 channels active in the main room. The remote lets you adjust volume levels and balance in both zones, as well as bass and treble.
You can also switch two amplifier channels to biamp your front speakers along with the rest of a 5.1-channel system. And there’s even a set of phono inputs for lovers of vinyl.
Going beyond mere home theatre, the unit has USB on the front, Ethernet on the back, and the means to use them. It can play music from the USB or a suitable server (such as Windows Media Player 11) on the network, and has the usual range of Artist/Album/Song menus. Onkyo was the first company to product a receiver capable of receiving internet radio stations, so it is no surprise that this unit offered that as well, using the vTuner portal to access thousands of stations around the world, listed and selectable by geographical and subject criteria.
Who Sells What: Onkyo