Onkyo TX-NR616 conundrum - repair, or replace?

[hybridauth_Facebook_653487726]

Good evening all.

I'm reaching out to get some advice on what I should do next with my system, as I'm at an impasse and can't decide the best route forward.

I currently own an Onkyo TX-NR616 AVR, which until recently, I've been happy with its performance, and feature set. Unfortunately, as many of you will know, there's an inherent fault with the HDMI board on these units, caused by a network chip, which causes a plethora of bizarre intermittent issues, and Onkyo are supporting until 2018 for people who have this issue.

There's two options here, send off for them to repair, and return your device with a reworked HDMI board; or they will give you a credit towards a new Onkyo receiver of £100 (if I recall correctly).

Now here lies my confusion with the best route forward. The reviews of my 616 were quite favourable at the time, most places gave it a 5* or equivalent rating, but the *3* series doesn't get anywhere as near a good review. Conversely, looking at WHF or similar reviews, the Sony STR-DN1050 gets the gong for 2014 for this price range AVR, but on reading the owners thread on this forum, people are experiencing all manner of issues with this unit.

If I look to maybe step up a gear, then WHF Awards unit above this is the Pioneer SC-LX58 is circa £1200 - a fair old jump from the £500 range I'm currently in.

For full disclosure, I'm running a KDL-55HX853 telly, Dali Zensor Vokal centre, with Zensor 5 fronts; a B&W ASW610XP subwoofer, and Monitor Audio Bronze BXFX rears. I tend to watch a fair amount of telly; US drama box sets from Netflix et al in the main; or BD based films. I also listen to a lot of music with the system, and am enjoying getting into hi-res versions of all classic albums, which the Onkyo does a pretty good job at presenting.

I'm unsure whether to just stick with the 616, which although is decent, I've lost a little faith in with this weird issue; whether to chop that in for another Onkyo (and look at the 838 maybe); or whether to kick Onkyo into touch altogether and look at a Sony, Yamaha, or Pioneer offering and completely change things up.

Any advice is gratefully appreciated,

Will

 

[simonlewis]

Here is my oppinion, i beleive AV recievers are going to change either this year or next with 4K and dolby atmos, i have a onkyo 606 and i won't be replacing mine for another 8-9 months at the earliest even though i have a 4K samsung tv, my advise to you is to get it it repaired and if you decide to upgrade in another twelve months you can sell it on, btw do not buy another onkyo they are not getting good reviews and they don't support audyssey any more.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_653487726]

Thanks for the comment - 4K support and Atmos seem to be in most of the units I'm looking at currently.

I have no appetitie at this time to change my telly, it's only a couple of years old, and the picture and performance are superb in my opinion, so I'm not too fussed about 4K as it stands, it's certainly not a deal-breaker. Atmos would be interesting, but again, due to the scarcity of native content, in a similar vein to 4K, it's not a massive thing to me.

Will