Onkyo TX-NR709

After a lot of research I purchased the TX-NR709 over all the other Onkyo models as well as other brands. There was only one other Onkyo in the consideration & that was the TX-NR809. Choose the 709 over the 809 mostly because for all intents & purpose there did not seem much difference between the 2 besides price.

The 809 was heavier, used more power, had same inputs & out, had a little more output then the 709 & a somewhat higher end video processor. The 809 weighed as much as my old TX-DS787 so that made me wonder as to quality-since the 709 was lighter. Some have commented here about heat generated by the 709 & 809's. BOTH have cooling fans. The 809 has them (2)in the bottom of case facing vertically. The 709 has one- facing the power supply horizontally.

The older TX-DS787 also had one that faced out horizontally out the back of case. On the older receiver I had only seen it come on a couple of times. On the 709 have not noticed it on at all but have not checked that often. The 709 as well as older Onkyo get fairly warm, but not excessively hot in my opinion. The only thing I was concerned about reading other reviews about the Onkyo's in general was w/HDMI's going bad. I can't speak to majority of those & if you read other companies reviews you will find similar info- I call it a wash- any & all can have issues.

Setting this thing up was almost a dream. Granted it was helpful that I had been "trained" with my previous Onkyo as to the myriads of settings possible, this one was quite easy. Can not say ENOUGH good about ARC(Audio Return Channel) ONE cable between Panasonic & Onkyo- THAT'S IT. ONE cable between Panasonic BD210 Blue Ray player & Onkyo -THAT'S IT. There is still cable mania there- but it's mostly all the speaker connections & boy does the 709 have them(plenty HDMI in's as well) I am using a 7.1 setup so there are 8 cables used for speaker connections. It will be great when someone finally fixes the speaker wiring fiasco. Still everything is labeled very well so it's not bad at all.

Menu setup is quite easy. I purchased the Panasonic TV & Panasonic Blue Ray & Onkyo all together & setup & wired all at the same time. It was a bit much but having done my homework & you really need to, it went quite smoothly. Onkyo menu's are beautiful on screen & informative. The manual, while kind of disconnected at times was useful. Things don't exactly flow in the manual. I found myself going back & forth in the manual reading & setting things up.

Audyssey MultiEQ XT speaker setup is the coolest most useful feature I have seen in a long time(beside ARC). It sets up ALL speaker levels & distance information via a provided microphone that you move around to various listening locations in your room. I used a camera tripod for holding the mike in the various locations. Takes around 15-20 minutes & it is pretty accurate. I checked all the distance information via the onscreen summary that you can see at the end of process & it was right on.

Having come from a setup with multiple remotes- there still are 3 remotes in the mix with this setup, I was apprehensive regarding having to learn all the new ones-AGAIN. The beauty of all of it though is that the remotes are fairly interchangeable. Because of the ARC feature built into the Panasonic's & the Onkyo-everything operates pretty much in unison. My wife loves this, as all she has to do is hit one power button on the TV remote & everything turns on & in's & outs are configured as needed.

Shut TV down with remote-one button-everything shuts down. That includes Blue Ray player as well. Turn Blue Ray player on- receiver & TV come on set to correct in's & out's. The only time you really need to use specific remote is for some particular setting of that unit you want to change. Otherwise this is the easiest on/off watch-whatever I have ever seen.

The internet firmware downloads on Onkyo are trouble free as was setup for internet access. I hard wired all ethernet connections to receiver & TV & Blue Ray. Onkyo is not wireless(TV & Blue Ray are wireless but I used a gigabit line that was there by units already so I used it for them as well as Onkyo))but can be if you add a wireless N adapter. Don't use Onkyo's use the TP-Link brand-cheaper & work more reliably as some reviewers have stated.

Internet apps work as expected on the receiver-I mostly use Pandora. Not hooked up to Netflix yet so can't comment other than to say all 3 units have Internet based apps. so it going to become a tossup which one we will use for online video.

Now for the sound-STUNNING, video is flawless & beautiful. Especially the newer 7.1 releases. I used the THX settings available on the receiver as well as on the VT30 version Panasonic. The separation & quality on the newer Blue Ray & 3D 7.1 DTS HD is fantastic.

The Onkyo TX-NR709 is highly recommended. It has been in use for about 2 months without any issue whatsoever. The ARC on the HDTV & receiver & blue ray is trouble free. I would recommend TV & Blue Ray be same brand although I can not speak to that beyond the Panasonic brand as to whether other brands would work well with the Onkyo, Panasonic works PERFECT with Onkyo.

*P.S. if you're will buy this Onkyo TX-NR709, I suggest you have to check for best deal before you decide at: Avreceiverdeals.wordpress.com/onkyo-tx-nr709/

Hope my review helpful.

First the TX-NR709 7.2 Receiver played correctly:
1. TV thru TV/CD switch
2. Blu-ray player thru BD/DVD switch
3. Cable box thru CBL/SAT switch
4. But I had green screen (think Windows "Blue Screen of Death"); and black outs accompanied by sound muting
• After a February 15, 2012 firmware update the receiver malfunctioned playing (which I spent 3 hours on the phone with Onkyo Technicians):
1. TV thru VCR/DVR switch
2. Blu-ray player thru BD/DVD switch
3. Cable box thru CBL/SAT switch
4. And the NR709 "fried" my Mitsubishi 72" HDMI 2 port
• After ABL Electronic Services, Inc. (and I was without my a receiver for almost a month) replaced the HDMI board the receiver now plays:
1. TV thru BD/DVD switch
2. Blu-ray player thru BD/DVD switch
3. Cable box thru CBL/SAT switch
4. However, the receiver fried a cable wire running through my home's wall

After the HDMI board was replaced, the receiver now:
1. Plays the TV thru BD/DVD switch; which should be and was originally the TV thru TV/CD switch, and then was the TV
thru VCR/DVR switch after the firmware update
2. The Blu-ray player also currently plays through the same BD/DVD switch, as does the TV (this should be impossible
unless there is a crossed circuit within the unit)
3. The NR709, evidently through the NR709 HDMI port, burned up a coax cable in my wall; a cable that has been in place
and operating fine for over 11 years; the cable company came out and replaced the cable last Saturday
4. The NR709, through the NR709 HDMI out port, fried my Mitsubishi 72" TV's HDMI 2 port
5. My wife said that she heard sound from two different stations playing at the same time from the NR709 last night

Onkyo wants me to send the unit back to ABL for warranty repair, again!