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- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 13 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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14 out of 25 people found this review helpful
2.0 stars
"Yes, you'll get what you pay for"
Pros: Tons of features for under $500
Cons: Poor engineering + poor build quality = this one is not going to last
Summary: Ever wondered why you can get all the latest features so cheap when you buy a "no-name"? Well, Onkyo is more of a once-reputable "has-been" than "no-name", but this does not change the essence. The thing is that these days when both big name brands and "no-names" alike are manufactured in China, Thailand, Indonesia --- name any country where humans don't cost much --- the two major constituents of the figure on the price tag are the costs of R&D and the components. And this is where the price/features promises of SR605 turn sour.
First off, the device simply cannot dissipate the heat it produces. You can fry eggs on its top. Also, factor in the environment: the receiver ran this hot even when it had no external enclosure at all; it was placed on a small open podium in London Drugs' showroom. Now imagine what's going to happen when it gets crammed in that little space you have in your TV desk. The reason for the heat problem is clear, at least to me --- the price. Building an electronic device with good heat dissipation efficacy requires first making a model to run and study heat flows on. This means quite a bit of R&D time and money. It's much cheaper to put the circuitry in a cabinet already at hand and hope that the unit will not overheat and break down while still on warranty.
Secondly, take a closer look at this receiver's exterior --- it will tell you a lot. Misaligned surfaces, noticeable warping of molded plastics, the volume control knob that would turn unevenly... Though the most striking observation came from the RCA inputs on the receiver's back. A pair of audio jacks located next to each other were so poorly machined that they actually had different diameters. It took me quite an effort to attach a plug to one of them; the other one got in so easily that the connection was dangerously loose. It's a no-brainer to conclude that, if the thing has got so many warning signs of a lemon on the exterior, the interior is not going to be a Swiss watch, either.
The bottom line of this little engineering excursion in Onkyo SR605 is obvious: there's no free cheese. If you want a quality receiver, Onkyo SR605 is definitely not the one. But if you want a disposable thing with the latest HDMI features, SR605 will fit the bill. After all, you'll get what you pay for.
- 1 reply to this review
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Onkyo's are known to run very warm. So if yours went bust because of heat then I can see your gripe, but you never mention that it did. Instead you just go off on what you perceived as poor build quality.
So did it croak, or not?
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