pixelthis
12-08-2009, 02:14 PM
THE jAPANESE it seems have found the cure for unemployment.
Put all of the unemployed to work coming up with "new" codecs, soundfields, proccessing modes, gimmicks of various kinds, and then cram them into the latest receivers.
My "new Integra " is discontinued, but a great many similarities still exist for Onkyo and integra products still out there.
The Onkyo 807, for instance is very similar.
Anyway, Dolby came out with "pro logic II", VERY HANDY, then DTS had to come out with a similar suite , which does about the same thing as pro logic II.
And now THX has their own set of proccessing modes, some of which are new, most however mimic DTS and DOLBY soundfield proccessing.
And then theres Audessey(havent tried it yet) and their EQ and vollume functions.
Really, I would trade it all for a decent power supply.
I really like my Integra, great thing about Integra is their very quiet pre-amps, great
if you want to get into seperates, just add an external amp.
They have moved their line more upscale though, my 7.4 cost 1200$ in late 2003, a
7.9 on 2009 not much different, but a 70.1 2010 model is EIGHTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS.
There are more tasty bits, however.
Integra is geared toward large HT installs, the idea being that you wouldnt want
your fancy new HT to be powered by a plain jane Onkyo(which is very close to Integra).
Baiscally I like my new Integra, video switching is good(hdmi1.3).
And while THX doesnt reccomend "transcoding" I have a DVDA player hooked to component, and it comes out fine on HDMI.
The sound is good for a receiver, but not as good as my old 7.4.
The amps are what they are, seven crammed into a hatbox, basically.
Onkyos new remotes are quite good surprizingly, with audio codecs grouped into four groups(and buttons)
Programmed my Pronto remote with it and put it in a drawer.
The new 32 bit menu is nice too, the radio easy to use, which doesnt sound like much,
but I had a Yamaha 750 for three years and still couldnt use the radio without the instructions.
But the best thing about this receiver are the pre-outs.
Hook them to a decent amp and you have quite a decent system.
With the burden off of my front two channels my remaining three sound even better.
With my fronts hooked up to my new Emotiva amp I have both an audio and a HT system,
although mostly I listen in "Direct" mode in stereo.
Hmmmm, PROBABLY SHOULDA JUST KEPT THE OLD RECEIVER.
But if you're looking for a decent receiver, can handle a 138 (!) page manuel, then you could do a lot worse than a new Integra or Onkyo.
Even an inexpensive Integra makes for a decent pre-amp for a mid line HT.:1:
Put all of the unemployed to work coming up with "new" codecs, soundfields, proccessing modes, gimmicks of various kinds, and then cram them into the latest receivers.
My "new Integra " is discontinued, but a great many similarities still exist for Onkyo and integra products still out there.
The Onkyo 807, for instance is very similar.
Anyway, Dolby came out with "pro logic II", VERY HANDY, then DTS had to come out with a similar suite , which does about the same thing as pro logic II.
And now THX has their own set of proccessing modes, some of which are new, most however mimic DTS and DOLBY soundfield proccessing.
And then theres Audessey(havent tried it yet) and their EQ and vollume functions.
Really, I would trade it all for a decent power supply.
I really like my Integra, great thing about Integra is their very quiet pre-amps, great
if you want to get into seperates, just add an external amp.
They have moved their line more upscale though, my 7.4 cost 1200$ in late 2003, a
7.9 on 2009 not much different, but a 70.1 2010 model is EIGHTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS.
There are more tasty bits, however.
Integra is geared toward large HT installs, the idea being that you wouldnt want
your fancy new HT to be powered by a plain jane Onkyo(which is very close to Integra).
Baiscally I like my new Integra, video switching is good(hdmi1.3).
And while THX doesnt reccomend "transcoding" I have a DVDA player hooked to component, and it comes out fine on HDMI.
The sound is good for a receiver, but not as good as my old 7.4.
The amps are what they are, seven crammed into a hatbox, basically.
Onkyos new remotes are quite good surprizingly, with audio codecs grouped into four groups(and buttons)
Programmed my Pronto remote with it and put it in a drawer.
The new 32 bit menu is nice too, the radio easy to use, which doesnt sound like much,
but I had a Yamaha 750 for three years and still couldnt use the radio without the instructions.
But the best thing about this receiver are the pre-outs.
Hook them to a decent amp and you have quite a decent system.
With the burden off of my front two channels my remaining three sound even better.
With my fronts hooked up to my new Emotiva amp I have both an audio and a HT system,
although mostly I listen in "Direct" mode in stereo.
Hmmmm, PROBABLY SHOULDA JUST KEPT THE OLD RECEIVER.
But if you're looking for a decent receiver, can handle a 138 (!) page manuel, then you could do a lot worse than a new Integra or Onkyo.
Even an inexpensive Integra makes for a decent pre-amp for a mid line HT.:1: