Entered CNET Catalog: 07/14/2003
SKU: 0051398005177
Manufacturer: Onkyo USA
Manufacturer description
Breathe new life into your home theater system with Onkyo's latest A/V powerhouse! Built on the foundation of Onkyo quality, the TX-SR601 provides an all-encompassing home entertainment experience to bring out the best in your movies and music. User-friendly features, like powered zone 2 capability, color-coded inputs/outputs and pulse-pounding power to drive the latest decoding formats, make for a receiver that sets a new definition of what "industry standard" means.Product summary
The good: Sophisticated sound quality; six 85-watt channels; Dolby EX, DTS ES, and DTS 96/24 surround processing; SACD/DVD-Audio 5.1 inputs; component-video switching; Zone 2 (second room) operation.
The bad: The amplifiers generate a fair amount of heat.
The bottom line: Onkyo's engineers squeezed a ton of features into this $500 receiver.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 09/09/2003
The SR601's brushed-aluminum faceplate looks clean enough, yet it still houses all of the necessary buttons and controls. It comes in your choice of black or silver. The receiver puts out a fair amount of heat, so don't plan on placing it in an enclosed cabinet or on closely spaced shelving--it needs breathing room. The SR601 is almost 17 inches deep and weighs 26.7 pounds.
Onkyo has been using the same large, partially backlit remote for years. We don't have a problem with that--it's easy to use.
As A/V receivers are complicated devices and can be confusing to hook up and use, Onkyo now provides a toll-free customer-service number--technical-support personnel are standing by, seven days a week to answer your questions. You also get a two-year parts-and-labor warranty.
The SR601 employs Onkyo's Wide Range Amplifier Technology (WRAT) to deliver 85 watts per channel into 8-ohm loads, and 110 watts into 6 ohms. The High-Current Power Supply (HCPS) transformer and high-capacity filter capacitors allow the SR601 to drive low-impedance speakers without strain. You also get the full complement of 6.1-channel Dolby and DTS processing modes.
We liked the speaker setup program's versatile satellite/subwoofer crossover control. You can select between 60Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, or 150Hz crossover options to help fine-tune your subwoofer/satellite system's sound.
The receiver's Zone 2 capability can power stereo speakers in a second room and process separate stereo sources simultaneously for each zone/room, or it can send the same signal to both. A 12-volt trigger output can activate a component (such as a separate power amp) located in the second zone.
Speaking of connectivity, the SR601 can handle five A/V sources and two audio-only sources. The 5.1-channel analog input for DVD-Audio or SACD sources and one of the four digital inputs (three optical, one coaxial) are assignable as well. There's also one optical digital output. On the video side, you get five composite and S-Video inputs, two assignable HDTV-compatible component-video inputs, and one component-video output. That means you'll be able to toggle between two high-def video sources, such as a set-top box and a progressive-scan DVD player, in addition to the five standard video sources. Moreover, the front-panel A/V input with S-Video provides an easy connection route for a camcorder or a portable MP3 player. For speaker connections, heavy-duty banana-plug-compatible jacks are available for all channels.
Those looking for a comparable model at a similar street price should check out the Harman Kardon AVR 325. It has a more comprehensive feature set, but at 50 watts per channel, it's somewhat less powerful than the SR601.
We used the SR601 with a set of Klipsch reference speakers and were bowled over by the sound. Every DVD and CD we demoed was lively and very present-sounding. The sound wasn't warm or laid-back, just wonderfully detailed and alive. And thanks to the SR601's flexible bass-management skills, we achieved the perfect subwoofer/satellite blend when we opted for the 60Hz setting. Few $500 receivers can equal that level of precision.
On the second Sessions at West 54th DVD, Lyle Lovett's "Step Inside This House" sounded wonderfully warm and natural. This is a purely acoustic tune, and the SR601 let us hear the spaces between the guitars, the fiddle, the cello, the bass, and the drums--it sounded real. Lovett's vocal against the instrument balance was perfect. Lou Reed also appears on the DVD, and his harder-edged electric sound erupted from the speakers with remarkable verve.
The SR601's poise under pressure was even more evident when we checked out the surfing extravaganza DVD, Blue Crush. Reproducing pounding Honolulu waves and ocean spray takes a lot of power, but the Onkyo was never fazed. Hot damn, we could almost smell the salt water! The surround effects whipping around our large home theater added to our enjoyment of the film.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15out of 15 user reviews
Beats the yamaha 5660 in sound quality hand down
Pros: Even though the many people have said the yamaha sounds better you must spend many hours setting up your reciever to get the bet sound room size distance and so on. I tryed both at the dealer and both had been set to the room peramiters and the onkyo soun
Cons: no ir out for recourding
out of 15 user reviews
Great for HT, mediocre for music
Pros: Really user-friendly, intuitive interface, well-written owners manual, attractive looks, decent remote, tons of DSP features (though not sure how many I'd ever use in reality).
Cons: Only 1 digital coax and 1 optical input; no amplifier pre-outs; does not allow bi-amping using 2nd room channel; music quality is not that great, I got the Marantz SR5400 instead for just a little more, my ears are in heaven!
out of 15 user reviews
Cannot pick up any FM or AM stations!!!
Pros:
Cons: The glaring defect of not being able to pick up any radio stations - in an area where there are many - makes this receiver completely unacceptable!!
out of 15 user reviews
Great price! Better performance!
Pros: Great sound. Powerful. Versatile set-up usually found only on much more expensive receivers. Great value. You would have to spend $800.00 or more to surpass. 7 day a week ONKYO set-up support!
Cons: Such versatality, so many options. You must read and understand the manual. Yes, you can plug and play. But to fully take advantage of this receivers features takes a bit of studying.
out of 15 user reviews
Good Receiver, IR Sucks!
Pros: Overall, I was absolutely happy with this receiver. It had everything I needed.
Cons: The IR Range on this receiver is absolute line-of-sight. My TV, Tivos, DVD player and older Sony receiver picked up signals bounced off all walls. Now I have to point directly at receiver... if I don't my pre-defined macros don't always get sent correctly
out of 15 user reviews
Pretty Darn Good!
Pros: Dual zone feature is great once you figure out the second zone is analog only. Yes, it's in bold print in the manual but who reads that? I bought this for my parents new ranch house. My dad loves the fact that my daughter can watch a DVD inside while w
Cons: Lots of adjustments to screw up if you don't use the manual. Yes, you can reset everything if you screw it up like I did.
out of 15 user reviews
Great Value - Good Product
Pros: Used primarily for Home Theatre and can tell a definite improvement in detail, sound stage and sound quality in DVD's and Television programming. Vast improvement over an older Sony receiver. A great upgrade and value for the home theatre novice. Bough
Cons: If you like your music/movies extremely loud I'd upgrade to the 701 with the additional Watts per channel, otherwise you will be very pleased with this receiver.
out of 15 user reviews
Great receiver for the dough!
Pros: I bought this receiver specifically so I could send a different source to my backyard speakers while listening to another source in the living room. This receiver deffinitely came through. It has an On Screen Display that works really well and puts out
Cons: The second source does not support a digital signal. I originally hooked my 400 disk player to the reciever via an optical cable. I was able to play cds in the house but had no signal to my second zone outside. After talking with customer supoort the t
out of 15 user reviews
Very happy with this Onkyo
Pros: Clean face / interface; great sound; plenty of hook-ups for most users.
Cons: Remote is a bit awkward to handle.
out of 15 user reviews
You can't go wrong.
Pros: Excellant value. Lot's of features, great sound... both movies and music.
Cons: Runs a little warm, but no big deal.
out of 15 user reviews
Thumpin!
Pros: Great power, awesome 6.1 capabilities with DTS / Prologic 2 / this unit replaced my 525 series Onkyo, which kicked a$% until the power supply blew. This unit has all the new features in theatre surround with awesome power for less than I paid 7 years ago
Cons: Submenus can be confusing. Remote is very capable but can get you dizzy.
out of 15 user reviews
Look at other options too
Pros: Very reliable, Quite Good. Good brand name. Very good panning effects.
Cons: The only and the biggest negative point is Sound Quality in Music and Movies both. Bass very thuddy and dry-lumpy. Treble sounds very artificial. I used it for a day and returned it for HK AVR 3550 which was way better than 501 in movies and movies and SH
out of 15 user reviews
Outstanding Unit
Pros: Arguably the best AVR you will find for under $500. I have been very pleased with mine. The sound is great. Very clean power. Dramatically improved the sound of my subwoofer. Setup menu is fairly intuitive and easy to navigate after a few minutes. S
Cons: While it does not have THX, that is okay, as THX is not a sound format, rather a measure of quality that must be applied and paid for. Also, does not have pre-amp in or out, limits upgradability. The universal remote can be a bit difficult to master if
out of 15 user reviews
Yamaha HTR-5660 Is Better
Pros: Good power, reputation, reliability, features. Both the Yamaha and Onkyo are very close in performance when it comes to most movies. Both sound really good on the movies we sampled (except for Gladiator where the weakness of the Onkyo became apparent). T
Cons: Gritty sound, especially acoustic instruments. The Yamaha has much better sound when it comes to straight music. Both my wife and I did an A/B between the units on all sorts of music (techno, industrial, acoustic, classical, gothic and ethnic) and the Yam
out of 15 user reviews
The Best Reciever in it's price range period.
Pros: Phenomenal sound , just about every major surround format in the market minus THX(I don't miss it) excellent construction ,heavy ,High current output amp, plenty of connections. purchased it at J&R World on sale for $400 what a steal also bought the S
Cons: well i would have liked a metal volume button not cheap plastic, and a backlit remote but what do u expect for $400. Onkyo has already given me more than my moneys worth.
