New Onkyo TX-SR875

[admin_exported]

I have read a couple of reviews on the New Onkyo TX-SR875 and it sounds awesome the only thing is i have also heard that there is nothing yet that will make use of this receivers sound quality/formats.

Q, Is it that there are no discs currently being made to make use of these new sound formats?

Q, I am also trying to find out some info for a new system i want and i was looking at the above receiver coupled with the following speakers. B&W's HTM4S/805S/ASW825. The room size is approx 4m x 6m. Is this speaker system over kill for the size of the room, or should i look at another speaker set that would suffice for cinema and my music requirements??

What would anyone recommend for a DVD player that would also take care of quality music with the equipment im thinking of getting...should i have a seperate CD player instead as im going to hook up a PS3 to it all just for fun

Thanks

 

[FoxJA]

[quote user="Spenco"]

Q, Is it that there are no discs currently being made to make use of these new sound formats?

[/quote]

No, there are currently Blu Ray movies with both Dolby True HD (such as 300) and DTS HD (such as Next). The problem is that the hardware is not currently sending it to the receiver for decoding. The PS3 for example decodes the sound format within the PS3 and sends it as PCM, therefore no need for the receiver to do anything.

New hardware is coming soon (I beleive before Xmas) that will allow full use of these sound formats through your receiver.

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="Spenco"]
Q, Is it that there are no discs currently being made to make use of these new sound formats?

[/quote]

Yes, there are discs available, but a bit of a shortage of players able to deliver the soundtracks in native form via HDMI to the receiver. But rumours abound of a forthcoming firmware upgrade to the PS3 to allow it to output some of these formats.

[quote user="Spenco"]

Q, I am also trying to find out some info for a new system i want
and i was looking at the above receiver coupled with the following
speakers. B&W's HTM4S/805S/ASW825. The room size is approx 4m x 6m.
Is this speaker system over kill for the size of the room, or should i
look at another speaker set that would suffice for cinema and my music
requirements??

[/quote]

Not at all overkilll - in fact I'd say it was rather more of a bare minimum for this receiver and a room that size. I have a similarly sized room and run the 875 with around £7000-worth of PMC speakers, and it's not outclassed by the speakers.

[quote user="Spenco"]

What would anyone recommend for a DVD player that would also take
care of quality music with the equipment im thinking of
getting...should i have a seperate CD player instead as im going to
hook up a PS3 to it all just for fun

[/quote]

Given the choice, I'd stick with the PS3 as a DVD/Blu-ray player, add a Marantz CD6002 CD player, and wait for the HD format tiff to blow over before investing in any serious DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray hardware. But that's just my opinion, of course...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice! What other option speaker system should i really look at before making the splash although I am getting to the top end of my budget now. Do you really notice the difference between dedicated music set up and home cinema???

As a newbie would it be straight forward to hook up the speakers to the receiver, what is the best cabling option for this as im quiet confused with some of the jargon. Could someone explain what type of cable is best for what ??

Example:

TV to receiver you should use HDMI for picture quality??

optical digital cable for the sound from CD to receiver??

Receiver to speakers should be??

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

I have a question for Andrew if I may:

I too have recently bought an onkyo 875 and was advised by B&W not to go for the 800 series because it wont be good enough.

What I do want to know is, how far up their 800 series can I go. Will it power well the 803s for example? I'm asking because I'm considering the 803s or the 804s.

On a separate note, would you recommend other speakers (I listen mostly to hi-fi), my budget lies in the range of 2,500 to 3,800.

Thanks,

Amir

 

[Andrew Everard]

Well the one I have runs PMC 0B1s, CB6, FB1s no problems, so I see no reason why it shouldn't be fine with the 803s or 804s.

But on that budget I'd be thinking PMC GB1i/DB1iM-C/DB1i/TLE 1.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow! Thanks for the reply. My budget is for the fronts only, not the entire system. Would you go for the OB1i over the 803/4? Well, I suppose you have, but can you shed light into your decision? Also, do you listen mainly for music or film? Thanks again for your help, it is VERY MUCH appreciated!!!

 

[professorhat]

[quote user="Spenco"]Could someone explain what type of cable is best for what ?[/quote]

Here's a quick list of common connection types in order of preference (quality):

Video: HDMI, Component, RBG Scart, Scart, S-Video, Composite
Audio: HDMI, Coax digital, Optical digital, RCA phono

So, for video, if you can use HDMI, this is what you should use. For audio, if you can use HDMI, this is generally what you should use (though there are exceptions to this e.g. Sky HD does not send 5.1 sound over HDMI, therefore you want to use it's optical out connection for this).

For connecting your speakers, you need speaker wire. There's a huge choice out there and what you should choose depends on how much you spent on your system and then your own personal preferences for sound. Generally, you should budget 10% of what you spent on your whole system on cables for it (including whatever HDMI, optical cables etc. you need as well as speaker wire).

Check WHF's Buyer's Guide at the back for a good guide to decent cables for all the above.

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="buddy26477"]
Wow! Thanks for the reply. My budget is for
the fronts only, not the entire system. Would you go for the OB1i over
the 803/4? Well, I suppose you have, but can you shed light into your
decision? Also, do you listen mainly for music or film? Thanks again
for your help, it is VERY MUCH appreciated!!!
[/quote]
Yes I would - simply because I have heard lots of speakers at this level, and the OB1s were the ones I liked most when it came to making both music and movies sound more real. And the OB1is sound even better, based on limited listening at the recent Bristol Show - I use the original OB1s.

I guess I listen to both equally - and a lot of radio. You can see the rundown of the rest of the system here, but rest assured that, as the signature below suggests, I listen to quite a lot of classical music.