Onkyo TX-8050 owners, an internet radio question.

DIB

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Well, I've bitten the bullet and bought myself one.

Got it home, all set-up and listening away to Radio Paradise at the moment. I've set up my favourites list on my PC, fairly straight forward.

However I've a question. When listening before on the Marantz tuners to stations like RP and Linn etc., amongst the display options available was the track name and artist. A very useful function for when something new comes on that grabs my attention. There are several options on the display with the TX-8050 but not this particular one.

Am I doing something wrong, or is that just the way it is with this unit? Anyone got any insight.

BTW. CD and LP playback is superb

.
 
T

the record spot

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Have you tried pressing the "Display" button, bottom left on the remote? Not sure offhand; I think mine showed the programme on the scrolling display panel. Been a while since I used it mind. That said, it might differ from one station to the next depending on how they've set that up possibly? As in, do they transmit that as part of their data feed, or is this a standard display irrespective of the station?

PS - glad to hear you like it though; good call (...and some relief on my part having talked the thing up for weeks now!).
 

DIB

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the record spot said:
Have you tried pressing the "Display" button, bottom left on the remote? Not sure offhand; I think mine showed the programme on the scrolling display panel. Been a while since I used it mind. That said, it might differ from one station to the next depending on how they've set that up possibly? As in, do they transmit that as part of their data feed, or is this a standard display irrespective of the station?

PS - glad to hear you like it though; good call (...and some relief on my part having talked the thing up for weeks now!).

Well on the Marantz, the artist/track info was always shown if you wanted it on both those stations. I'm still playing around with it at the moment so I may have worked it out myself later.

Anyways, don't worry I didn't buy it totally cold. As I mentioned previously I had a demo a couple of weeks ago that really impressed me, and then with the price coming down by another £50 well that really swung it for me.

I bet there are lots of forumites fed up to the back teeth hearing about this TX-8050
smiley-smile.gif
. Well believe me, it's a bargain.

.
 
T

the record spot

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LOL, yes probably! I was hoping the mag might splash £250 on one (they bought some ADM 9.1s off AVI a year or three back), it'd be interesting to see their views, though, as was said on another thread, it wouldn't change my opinion on this fine littel box one jot. Still can't quite work out how Onkyo did it, but I'm pretty glad they did.
 

Pistol Pete1

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As you say....lots of chat on here about this product.......

How would you describe the sound this amp produces? Fast, agile, warm, laidback, detailed???

How would it compare to the best budget amps at the moment?? (Marantz PM6003/4, Yamaha S500, Nad 326BEE, etc)

Thanks.....
 

chebby

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the record spot said:
LOL, yes probably! I was hoping the mag might splash £250 on one (they bought some ADM 9.1s off AVI a year or three back), it'd be interesting to see their views, though...

I have a feeling the TX-8050 is going to be replaced by a new/updated version soon. I have seen discussions about it going back to April last year and a year is a long time for this sector. (The heavy discounting is a clue too.) If this is the case then Onkyo will not release samples of a box that is due to be replaced.

(I am also suprised the M-CR603 hasn't been replaced yet.)

I was intrigued by the TX-8050 but won't be joining in due to my dependence on AirPlay/iPhone interoperability for 90 percent of what I listen to. (Apart from FM and a very occasional CD.)

Still in love with my Marantz I suppose :)
 
T

the record spot

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Hi Pete, I find the sound with the Tannoys to be expansive, detailed, with good bass and extremely musical. Music is presented with a very convincing coherence and sometimees lifelike. Special effects in films often surprise me, or small details such as car doors closing off-screen come out feeling as if they're further across the room from where the speakers are placed.7

In short, I enjoy pretty much anything I play through it and that covers all of the inputs I use (CD, vinyl, DLNA, web radio, TV/DVD, Spotify and the external HDD).

EDIT: No idea how it compares to any of the amps you mention, but having owned several and tried out a few higher end ones (Leema Pulse, Harman HK990) I don't feel shortchanged by the Onkyo. Far from it in fact.
 

Pistol Pete1

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Thanks RS,

Sounds too good to be true....especially at the prices I've found on the net.....

And as the KEF Q series will offer a similar sound to the Tannoys (Dual concentric) in terms of deatil etc, I'm very very tempted!!!

Going to show my ignorance now... :oops: ......can anyone explain how spotify works? Is it free or subscription?

Thanks....
 
T

the record spot

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Both: Spotify free gives you up 20 hours a month, but with advertising in between the music and no mobile / oofline access. The £4.99 service gives you ad free, but no mobile offline and the £9.99 service gives you 320kbps, offline playback and mobile device access. With the 8050, you need to run the firmware upgrade, go to the "Net" input selection and scroll through the options. Spotify is listed. Log in and you're away.
 

crang

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Got mine home today!! RS matched Superfi £250! Not had much time to put through paces yet! Impressed with what little I have heard report back later.no time to change sig yet but amp cd player going
 

Pistol Pete1

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the record spot said:
Both: Spotify free gives you up 20 hours a month, but with advertising in between the music and no mobile / oofline access. The £4.99 service gives you ad free, but no mobile offline and the £9.99 service gives you 320kbps, offline playback and mobile device access. With the 8050, you need to run the firmware upgrade, go to the "Net" input selection and scroll through the options. Spotify is listed. Log in and you're away.

Offline access???

Which one do you use RS?
 

Pistol Pete1

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crang said:
Got mine home today!! RS matched Superfi £250! Not had much time to put through paces yet! Impressed with what little I have heard report back later.no time to change sig yet but amp cd player going

Would be very interested in your thoughts, once up and running.....
 
T

the record spot

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Pistol Pete1 said:
the record spot said:
Both: Spotify free gives you up 20 hours a month, but with advertising in between the music and no mobile / oofline access. The £4.99 service gives you ad free, but no mobile offline and the £9.99 service gives you 320kbps, offline playback and mobile device access. With the 8050, you need to run the firmware upgrade, go to the "Net" input selection and scroll through the options. Spotify is listed. Log in and you're away.

Offline access??? Which one do you use RS?

The Premium service - £9.99/month. Good vaue IMO.
 

chebby

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Anyone else prepared to 'benchmark' the sound quality of the TX-8050 with respect to other amps/all-in-ones?

In other words, if you had to pay £xxx for it (and no discounting existed) how much would you be prepared to pay for it? Would it be the original RRP of £400 or £500 or £750? More?

RS says it's the equal of an HK990 or Leema Pulse (£800 & £1500 amps) so is that a shared view?

If so, that's a big old sector of so-called 'specialist' mid budget hifi demolished by a £250 device! (Even if it were only ever bought as an amp.)
 

The_Lhc

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the record spot said:
Pistol Pete1 said:
the record spot said:
Both: Spotify free gives you up 20 hours a month, but with advertising in between the music and no mobile / oofline access. The £4.99 service gives you ad free, but no mobile offline and the £9.99 service gives you 320kbps, offline playback and mobile device access. With the 8050, you need to run the firmware upgrade, go to the "Net" input selection and scroll through the options. Spotify is listed. Log in and you're away.

Offline access??? Which one do you use RS?

The Premium service - £9.99/month. Good vaue IMO.

Does the Onkyo require Premium or will it work with the Free one?
 

dariushifi

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I was going to pay original £400 pounds initially, but superhifi reduced it to £350 7 months ago, So it was no brainer. £50 was spent on Hi Res tracks. No regrets at all so far.

I think £400 pounds is a fair price, as 609 big brother is £450 although to me it’s stereo sounded very poor. I wanted 609 but only stereo version of it , put it this way. TX 8050 is exact answer .

I am very surprised with the prise of £250 it is a steel.
 

matthewpiano

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I can only compare it to other stuff I've owned or heard extensively. Purely as an amp, I'm far more satisfied with it than I was with the Arcam A18, which I paid £500 for. It drives speakers more easily, has a much more balanced sound, a more tuneful bass, more openess at the top end etc. I also don't feel I've made any compromise on sound quality by choosing it over the Rega Brio-R I was going to buy. In terms of cheaper amps like the Marantz PM6003 and its competitors, IMO it is better than any of them. It drives the Quad 11Ls better than anything I've ever had before including the A65+, A70+, A18 (all Arcam), a Naim Nait 3R and a Cyrus 7.

Would I put it up against the likes of the Naim Nait 5i? I'm not sure. I'd have to have a good listen to the Naim again to say so with any confidence. I suspect that in pure hi-fi terms, the Naim would out-perform the Onkyo.

Am I bothered? Not really, and I'm not here to be an evangelist and persuade everybody else to get one. There is no amplifier out there that will suit everyone. I don't even wonder how it might sound with other partnering kit. I think the CD6003 is as good as CD replay gets for reasonable money to be honest, and I don't think it would be easy to improve on the Quads with a sensible budget either.

I think the best thing about owning the Onkyo is that it satisfies me so much that I don't give a monkeys whether something else might sound better. I'm enjoying the music and I've stopped caring about how my system might compete with other kit out there. Everything I play through it, whether it be from vinyl, CD, or computer/internet sources, is thoroughly enjoyable and involving. I'm content to concentrate on exploring new music and on enjoying familiar music and I think that says more than anything else.
 
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the record spot

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The_Lhc said:
the record spot said:
Pistol Pete1 said:
the record spot said:
Both: Spotify free gives you up 20 hours a month, but with advertising in between the music and no mobile / oofline access. The £4.99 service gives you ad free, but no mobile offline and the £9.99 service gives you 320kbps, offline playback and mobile device access. With the 8050, you need to run the firmware upgrade, go to the "Net" input selection and scroll through the options. Spotify is listed. Log in and you're away.

Offline access??? Which one do you use RS?

The Premium service - £9.99/month. Good vaue IMO.

Does the Onkyo require Premium or will it work with the Free one?

I assume it'll work with whichever falvour of Spotify you have mate; the functionality's enabled in this receiver, much as per the rest of their product range that's come equipped with it from the off (e.g. the TX-NR609). I've had the Premium service for ages now but doubt you'll have a problem.
 

Pistol Pete1

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Well if it's similar, in terms of sound quality, to the latest budget stereo amps........then I'm sold!

Would be a great replacement to my Pioneer A605R amp, with added 'modern' features......

I assume I would be able to use this to run my front speakers through the denon pre outs....? I'm guessing it would be set up the same way, but as it's a digital display for volume level, setting the levels will be easier....
 

lesmallett

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Pete, I looked into this amp and although it doesn't have an AV input to bypass the pre-amp you can set the input volume for different inputs so it would all work off one remote once set up with your AV amp.

It has got me really tempted.

Does anyone use it with a Squeezebox touch? Or do they use it instead as it sounds better?
 
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the record spot

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chebby said:
Anyone else prepared to 'benchmark' the sound quality of the TX-8050 with respect to other amps/all-in-ones?

In other words, if you had to pay £xxx for it (and no discounting existed) how much would you be prepared to pay for it? Would it be the original RRP of £400 or £500 or £750? More?

RS says it's the equal of an HK990 or Leema Pulse (£800 & £1500 amps) so is that a shared view?

If so, that's a big old sector of so-called 'specialist' mid budget hifi demolished by a £250 device! (Even if it were only ever bought as an amp.)

It's certainly my view that I don't feel I'm losing out compared to the HK990 (different tonal quality completely, albeit a tad more powerful) and the Pulse or the Sansui AU-717 were certainly fabulous amps too, but I think you need to have the right partnership and hence the right speakers. Whether or not anyone else wants to "benchmark" it, well, that's their thing. All I know is I'm one of the many owners who've raved about this £400 (yes, that the TSP, the £250 people are alluding to is a sale price, or outgoing line if the replacement is on its way) unit and for good reason. Whether it's product of the year here, there or anywhere, I'm past caring now!

EDIT: I should add that I haven't done a side-by-side. Perhaps in a straight race, there'd be glaring differences between the £1300 Pulse or £1000 HK, but the reality is, I get great fidelity from this current set-up.

Like Matthewpiano, I'm not on some envangelistic crusade (no, really), but for the average buyer, looking for a quality piece of kit that delivers the goods, does it well and without fuss and is as damn near seamless in terms of integration as anything I've owned IT-wise never mind for music alone, this is as good as it gets for sensible money.
 

The_Lhc

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the record spot said:
The_Lhc said:
Does the Onkyo require Premium or will it work with the Free one?

I assume it'll work with whichever falvour of Spotify you have mate; the functionality's enabled in this receiver, much as per the rest of their product range that's come equipped with it from the off (e.g. the TX-NR609). I've had the Premium service for ages now but doubt you'll have a problem.

No worries, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't, Sonos only works with Premium and I still haven't got round to upgrading for that, I just don't get the chance to listen often enough to justify it (at home at any rate, all my listening's in the car, or sometimes at work).
 

chebby

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matthewpiano said:
I can only compare it to other stuff I've owned or heard extensively. Purely as an amp, I'm far more satisfied with it than I was with the Arcam A18, which I paid £500 for. It drives speakers more easily, has a much more balanced sound, a more tuneful bass, more openess at the top end etc. I also don't feel I've made any compromise on sound quality by choosing it over the Rega Brio-R I was going to buy. In terms of cheaper amps like the Marantz PM6003 and its competitors, IMO it is better than any of them. It drives the Quad 11Ls better than anything I've ever had before including the A65+, A70+, A18 (all Arcam), a Naim Nait 3R and a Cyrus 7.

Would I put it up against the likes of the Naim Nait 5i? I'm not sure. I'd have to have a good listen to the Naim again to say so with any confidence. I suspect that in pure hi-fi terms, the Naim would out-perform the Onkyo.

Am I bothered? Not really, and I'm not here to be an evangelist and persuade everybody else to get one. There is no amplifier out there that will suit everyone. I don't even wonder how it might sound with other partnering kit. I think the CD6003 is as good as CD replay gets for reasonable money to be honest, and I don't think it would be easy to improve on the Quads with a sensible budget either.

I think the best thing about owning the Onkyo is that it satisfies me so much that I don't give a monkeys whether something else might sound better. I'm enjoying the music and I've stopped caring about how my system might compete with other kit out there. Everything I play through it, whether it be from vinyl, CD, or computer/internet sources, is thoroughly enjoyable and involving. I'm content to concentrate on exploring new music and on enjoying familiar music and I think that says more than anything else.

Well i've heard the A18 (and an A65) for quite extensive periods and I have owned a Nait 5i so your response was useful. (Never heard Leemas or HK amps.)

You see I still want to have a serious try at Harbeth P3ESRs (a long standing 'itch') and forum wisdom has it that circa 100 wpc amps would be best with 83db/8ohm sealed cabinet speakers even at moderate volumes. Alan Shaw (designer and Harbeth MD) has stated many times that any 'competent' amplifier, of any kind (working within it's limitations), will drive P3ESRs.

Now if the Onkyo is more 'competent' than amps like the A18/A65+ (and I can well believe that) and on a par with amps like HK990/Leema Pulse/Naim Nait etc... well you can see where I'm going.

A hideously expensive amp/all-in-one upgrade may not be necessary if the TX-8050 can be the 'competent 100 wpc' amp that will have enough grunt AND match (or better) the quality of some well regarded £500 - £1500 amplifiers.

It is frustrating not to see any TX-8050 reviews like the one my M-CR603 got in Gramophone for instance. (Where the reviewer 'pushed the envelope' by trying £1000 and £1500 PMC speakers with success or the ####+ review of the CA 650A/650C pairing with £1000 speakers.)

I would love to see a review of the TX-8050 with far better/more expensive speakers than it is typically going to be sold with.
 

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