The Latest Purchase - Onkyo TX-NR818

[the record spot]

When I briefly had a TX-8050, one thing that really irked me was when listening to internet radio (eg. Radio Paradise) was that it did not give out track information (artist, title etc.) unlike the Marantz MCR603 for example. I wonder whether the TX-NR818 will?

Not something I'm really worried about personally, but I can see why it would bother some. Too many other strengths in the amp for that and if anything I tend to use the radio function on the Apple TV instead.

 

[the record spot]

It's here...and blimey it's big!

 

[matthewpiano]

It's here...and blimey it's big!

And the sound??

 

[the record spot]

So, here we are a few hours in, but very quickly realised that this amp is a bit of a keeper. Build quality is impressive, much better in real life than the photos give lie to. Sound quality is excellent; Spotify, CD, movies, TV, they all tick the boxes for me. This is my first AV amp proper, but as they go, it's a pretty impressive one to start off on. A very refined amp, that copes with pretty much anything that's been thrown at it so far and - most importantly - as good as any stereo amp I've heard in doing so.

For the money at its original price of £1000 this amp was a winner, now that the latest Onkyo AV range is out, the discount this amp is going for makes it a no-brainer. Lack of Airplay support might be an issue for some, but in real terms for me, this is a minor issue. There's enough going on with this amp in its streaming features to make it easy to overlook the Apple functionality. In any case, my ATV3 offers it as standard. This amp should be staying in situ for a good few years now and I think I can say that I'm finally happy with the setup!

 

[the record spot]

And the sound??

Delighted with it Matthew; just listening to the Dead Can Dance at the moment and it captures the spirit of the music well. This is a great amp.

 

[matthewpiano]

And the sound??

Delighted with it Matthew; just listening to the Dead Can Dance at the moment and it captures the spirit of the music well. This is a great amp.

Glad to hear it.

 

[plastic penguin]

It's here...and blimey it's big!

What's the going rate for crane hire these days?

Pleased you're happy with the new arrival.

 

[the record spot]

£15.99 for a DSD courier driver as it happens!

 

[Blackdawn]

Watch you don't blow the little Tannoys up!

An underpowered amplifier that's clipping is more likely to damage your speakers than a more powerful amplifier that's not clipping.

Was kind of joking but I'm sure you could cause damage to speakers driving them with a massive amplifier at very high volumes

 

[the record spot]

The Tannoy DC4 is rated as taking amps from 20-120w. The 818 is rated at 135w and probably a tad more on top. Unless I really thrashed the 818 and left it at sustained high volume for extensive periods, the greater risk is from low powered amps doing the same. Put it this way I wouldn't be using the 8w Eastern Electric Minimax, nice little amp though it is.

 

[Paul.]

19kg? Light weight! Mines 23kg . Looks ace though, would love one of these. Wonder how long untill my amp blows up...

 

[the record spot]

Haha, yes, I went for the slimmed down version!

 

[rendu]

So, here we are a few hours in, but very quickly realised that this amp is a bit of a keeper. Build quality is impressive, much better in real life than the photos give lie to. Sound quality is excellent; Spotify, CD, movies, TV, they all tick the boxes for me. This is my first AV amp proper, but as they go, it's a pretty impressive one to start off on. A very refined amp, that copes with pretty much anything that's been thrown at it so far and - most importantly - as good as any stereo amp I've heard in doing so.

For the money at its original price of £1000 this amp was a winner, now that the latest Onkyo AV range is out, the discount this amp is going for makes it a no-brainer. Lack of Airplay support might be an issue for some, but in real terms for me, this is a minor issue. There's enough going on with this amp in its streaming features to make it easy to overlook the Apple functionality. In any case, my ATV3 offers it as standard. This amp should be staying in situ for a good few years now and I think I can say that I'm finally happy with the setup!

Just by coincidence last week I run into your original post on the 8050. It sounded so good that I actually started to consider the possibility to get one myself to add to my current AVR setting to try to get real stereo sound. It really sounded like you were very happy with it. Now when I see that you changed to an AV receiver, I must say that I am a bit puzzled, specially when this receiver does not offer any additional functionality and you are not going to use it for home cinema. AVRs are not designed to deliver the best musical experience.

I have been struglling since 15 years to try to get good stereo sound from various AVRs (5 in total) and I am at the point that I give up. This is why I was considering the possibility to add the 8050 to my current Yamaha A2010.

Now that I see that you have replaced with an AVR, it really make me hessitant about the 8050, specially if you say that you like the AVR better than the 8050. This means that we definetly are not looking for the same type of stereo sound and have totally different level of expectations when it comes to pure musical performance. I will have to continue seeking for a solution. Hope you enjoy your new toy.

 

[Paul.]

Did any of that need to be said? Not to mention that if you have not heared the 8050 and the 818 your opinion is worthless...

 

[rendu]

Did any of that need to be said? Not to mention that if you have not heared the 8050 and the 818 your opinion is worthless...

Your post instead is very constructive and has a lot of value. Detinetly an example of respect to someone else´s opinion. I take note and I will not give any opinion again until I go to the nearest shop and listen to all the equipment of everybody first.

 

[manicm]

RecordSpot, so to summarise:

You're using your amp in stereo mode. And you'll connect your Blu-ray player through HDMI or optical/coaxial, or analog stereo?

Does the amp downmix to stereo through HDMI? (Sorry this will depend on the player too).

 

[Paul.]

Did any of that need to be said? Not to mention that if you have not heared the 8050 and the 818 your opinion is worthless...

Your post instead is very constructive and has a lot of value. Detinetly an example of respect to someone else´s opinion. I take note and I will not give any opinion again until I go to the nearest shop and listen to all the equipment of everybody first.

Boiling down your post, the points you made were basically as follows:

1) I was considering buying amp number 1 that I had not heared because you like it.

2) You prefer Amp number 2 that I have not heared so now I reject your opinion on Amp number 1.

3)Because you like Amp number 2 that I have not heared, I must have a higher expectation of sound than you.

Is it not possible that the 8050 is a good amp? Is it not possible that the 818 is better or equal in terms of SQ? I don't know, I haven't heard them, but I would not forge an opinion without hearing them.

 

[rendu]

Please show some respect to other people's opinion. You can agree or disagree with me and I will be happy to discuss but do not tell me that my opinion is worthless only because it does not seem to meet your criteria for a valid opinion. After 5 AVRs of all brands, I have heard enough AVRs to have a strong opinion about some of the general features commonly known for AVRs. There are tons of ink written out there about the SQ of AVR receivers in terms of music reproduction compared to dedicated stereo amps.

 

[rendu]

Hey! Maybe you need to tell this guy in the article that he needs to listen ALL the AVRs before giving such opinion, eh?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-20082026-47/how-can-30-year-old-receivers-sound-better-than-new-ones/

 

[matthewpiano]

Well, Record Spot has been around here for a long time and I've come to know that he does actually have high expectations of the sound of his equipment. He also takes a very common sense approach in that he tries to balance sound quality with his real world needs, and bases his opinion on his own experience.

Everybody's opinion is valid, but an opinion about a specific product really should be based on experience of that specific product. One of the biggest problems in the hi-fi world is that there are too many generalisations - seperates are better than all-in-ones, AV receivers aren't very good for music etc. etc. Maybe it is time to look past these generalisations and be open to the occasional surprise.

 

[the record spot]

RecordSpot, so to summarise:

You're using your amp in stereo mode. And you'll connect your Blu-ray player through HDMI or optical/coaxial, or analog stereo?

Does the amp downmix to stereo through HDMI? (Sorry this will depend on the player too).

That's pretty much it - I use the amp in stereo mode, all the source gear is hooked up via HDMI and no analogue connections anywhere except for my Marantz CD player. You can select whichever sound option you like really on the amp - so for TV, I use "Direct", for the PS3, I use 2 Ch Stereo, for the CDP "Pure Audio", which bypasses everything and the same for the NET functionality, so Spotify, Aupeo, Last.fm, etc, etc. It's very flexible but delivers on the sound quality score (and more of that little nugget later...!). Pure Audio is my preference but you sometimes need to see a readout on the display, hence why I don't use it across the board, that said, the difference is noticeable which is why for music it's always on.

In terms of sound option, there's the various Dolby hi-res (True HD, Master, etc), THX certification, Pro-Logic, and a pile of others. I'm guessing there's about 15 and probably more to choose from. They didn't include a manual as such (it's on CD ROM) but the Onkyo site has it and I downloaded the 100 page PDF yesterday. A bit of light reading then...

 

[the record spot]

Well, Record Spot has been around here for a long time and I've come to know that he does actually have high expectations of the sound of his equipment. He also takes a very common sense approach in that he tries to balance sound quality with his real world needs, and bases his opinion on his own experience.

Everybody's opinion is valid, but an opinion about a specific product really should be based on experience of that specific product. One of the biggest problems in the hi-fi world is that there are too many generalisations - seperates are better than all-in-ones, AV receivers aren't very good for music etc. etc. Maybe it is time to look past these generalisations and be open to the occasional surprise.

Thanks Matthew, that pretty much sums it up for me.

I tired of standard integrated amps as a serious new option ages ago. Good though many are, they don't deliver whatever functionality I need anymore. I loved the Sansui AU-717, and the hobby amps I picked up recently off Ebay (Sony TA-F630 ESD and the Harman HK6850) are big beasts, the former came with a DAC too, so it was getting there, but there just picked up for fun and not serious long term answers.

The Onkyo 8050 does a huge amount but the reality is that it's a hybrid AV amp that just focuses on the music and networking. Performance is, however, as good as I always said it was but the 818 does indeed - as our friend appears to have completely missed - offer me significantly more. And it still deliverfs on sound quality. Better than the 8050 too I might add. (Shock, horror, etc!)

 

[the record spot]

Just by coincidence last week I run into your original post on the 8050. It sounded so good that I actually started to consider the possibility to get one myself to add to my current AVR setting to try to get real stereo sound. It really sounded like you were very happy with it. Now when I see that you changed to an AV receiver, I must say that I am a bit puzzled, specially when this receiver does not offer any additional functionality and you are not going to use it for home cinema. AVRs are not designed to deliver the best musical experience.

Au contraire, but the 818 offers significantly more than the 8050 offers: I can bi-amp my speakers now, there's a function to play around with crossover settings, it streams DSD direct, it offers me Dolby hi-res audio functionality, plus, as previously highlighted a pile of others including THX. It gives me additional digital inputs (three optical, three coaxial, two USB, and eight HDMI sockets) which I will use. It gives me a good display on my TV so I can access the networking functions more easily, it gives me additional power and has been designed to focus on music or audio as well as video.

Your last sentence about AVRs not being designed to deliver the best musical experience I couldn't say. I have owned one, this one and it deliver a very fine, refined and deeply impressive and immersive one. I wouldn't expect anyone to rush out and buy it on that say-so alone though.

I have been struglling since 15 years to try to get good stereo sound from various AVRs (5 in total) and I am at the point that I give up. This is why I was considering the possibility to add the 8050 to my current Yamaha A2010.

Now that I see that you have replaced with an AVR, it really make me hessitant about the 8050, specially if you say that you like the AVR better than the 8050. This means that we definetly are not looking for the same type of stereo sound and have totally different level of expectations when it comes to pure musical performance. I will have to continue seeking for a solution. Hope you enjoy your new toy.

My new "toy" is fine, thanks. My expectations are high, which is why I haven't bothered with many an AV amp till now. I'm delighted with my choice - it delivers. Was listening to the Beatles mono-masters off my external hard drive last night and I didn't even think about the stereo, just enjoyed album after album after album. All boxes ticked I think.

You carry on seeking; I didn't buy any of this stuff to provide a solution for anyone else.

 

[rendu]

Fist of all, let me remind you that we are no friends, so please avoid comments such as "our friend has missed the point".

I know very well what are the features of modern AVRs. Tons of features which are completely redundant for serious hi-fi listening if the amp did well what it had to do. I personaly would prefer that the amp had enough quality in stereo than have the need to bi-amp anything or to play with crossover settings or equalizer settings like mine has. 8 HDMI input to listen in stereo? 2 channel THX?¿? Well, I am not going to question that if you need it, you need it.....

I honestly do not care why you have purchased it or what you are going to do with it but, I do care where I spend my mone and I believe that we have to be very careful before we recommned a product with a lot of passion. My only intention here was to find out whether the 8050 could be a real improvement for music over a 1000 pound AVR and it seems that it is not the case. Simple as that.

About other comments regarding opinions, I do not think that I ever gave any opinion in particular about the 8050 or about the 818. In any case, nobody here is qualified to tell others when they can give or not give opions or about what. I encourage anybody to feel free and do not let anybody dictate what they can say or not say, or when they can say (except moderators of course). Sharing our experiences/opnions is one of the purpose of this forum and the only limit is RESPECT.

Again, hope you enjoy your toy just like i enjoy mine. Mine even has more lights, buttons, holes in the back and playgroud features than yours but, sound, good sound, real good stereo sound...... thant´s another story.

 

[the record spot]

Fist of all, let me remind you that we are no friends, so please avoid comments such as "our friend has missed the point".

This I know, but it was really a courtesy. However, all things considered now, it reads a hell of a lot better than "that eejit above". Maybe I should be less courteous in future. You be the judge...

I know very well what are the features of modern AVRs.

I don't recall asking you if you did. I was stating my rationale for buying the 818. Which bit of me buying this thing is difficult for you to get to grips with Rendu?

Tons of features which are completely redundant for serious hi-fi listening if the amp did well what it had to do. I personaly would prefer that the amp had enough quality in stereo than have the need to bi-amp anything or to play with crossover settings or equalizer settings like mine has. 8 HDMI input to listen in stereo? 2 channel THX?¿? Well, I am not going to question that if you need it, you need it.....

I personally believe, having used both the 8050 and the 818 as well as other, aherm, "serious" hifi amps (what do statements like this mean, really?), that both do "hifi" well. Personally, I rather prefer to think that they do music well. Things like "serious hifi listening" just make me think of sitting there listening to the equipment and/or for fault. Gave that game up years ago. As for the other features inherent in the amp, well, I've only just received it, so I've a lot to learn about using the other functionality available. I'll make my own choices about what I use with which feature. Your dismissive remarks just show up your ignorance. Thankfully, that's your problem too. One I'm happy to leave you with.

I honestly do not care why you have purchased it or what you are going to do with it but, I do care where I spend my mone and I believe that we have to be very careful before we recommned a product with a lot of passion. My only intention here was to find out whether the 8050 could be a real improvement for music over a 1000 pound AVR and it seems that it is not the case. Simple as that.

Where you spend your money's not my issue. Why bother buying 5 AV amps and not a good stereo one if the AV disappoint you so much would be my only question...but that's your problem too really. Seems like a simple solution to me and not one that needed 5 AV amps to work it out on.

Please don't lecture me about "recommending a product with passion". Mine is based on experience with the 818 and the 8050, what's yours on? Not these two that's for sure, so don't sit there and discount them based on some half-baked dealer-speak about AV amps not being good enough for music. What bo***ks. A bunch of other AV amps you've had and some God-awful purist thinking? Sorry, but that's a non-starter.

I'd recommend this amp at the drop of a hat, especially if you have multiple sources, and want form as well as function. If you hang around long enough, you'll see it happening over and over, so get used to it.

Onkyo does this kind of amp very well. To answer your question, you need to spend time listening to them than letting your misguided objections and apparent passion for running my own experiences down along the way. You'll get more time from me for the former and less grief for the latter, and with it, respect. Simple as that.

About other comments regarding opinions, I do not think that I ever gave any opinion in particular about the 8050 or about the 818. In any case, nobody here is qualified to tell others when they can give or not give opions or about what. I encourage anybody to feel free and do not let anybody dictate what they can say or not say, or when they can say (except moderators of course). Sharing our experiences/opnions is one of the purpose of this forum and the only limit is RESPECT.

Me too, I think you can comment to your heart's content, just don't try and make out you know better, or give me some purist's nonsense that the 8050 oro the 818 can't be up there with traditional stereo amps. That bus left a long time ago. Oh and show respect and you'll get it back.

Again, hope you enjoy your toy just like i enjoy mine. Mine even has more lights, buttons, holes in the back and playgroud features than yours but, sound, good sound, real good stereo sound...... thant´s another story.

Well, that's your problem, mine doesn't have flashing lights, in fact, the exterior is very minimalistic, but it does do great sound quality. And that suits me fine.