Onkyo HD Receivers

[Ruined]

Well, today I put down a $500 deposit on the Integra DTC-9.8 and it is on special order for me. Examining the various receivers and pre/pros announced thus far, the Integra DTC-9.8 by far appears to have the best specs, features, and internals compared to the competition. The guys on AVS Forum are also saying it rivals some of the $5k preamps in sound! Can't wait.

[SilentBob]

Well i might possibly be picking up the Onkyo 605 to replace my Marantz SR-4300 by the end of the month (depending if anything goes wrong on my car. . .which usually happens when i want these things) With that i might try to get a newer HD-DVD player and maybe sell off my HD-A1 to my friend. So keeping my fingers crossed that finances stay in tack

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

Well i might possibly be picking up the Onkyo 605 to replace my Marantz SR-4300 by the end of the month (depending if anything goes wrong on my car. . .which usually happens when i want these things) With that i might try to get a newer HD-DVD player and maybe sell off my HD-A1 to my friend. So keeping my fingers crossed that finances stay in tack

Where are you planning on making the purchase from?

[SilentBob]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

Where are you planning on making the purchase from?

I thought about buying from 2001audiovideo store in my town but its selling for $750. Plus they haven't had the system in at all for demo/look at. So i looked and thought about using the site electronicsforless.ca which is located in the Toronto area. I have e-mail them about the price which in the link above is $699 but had someone on the digitalhome.ca forums give me a phone # for a place in Markham selling for $599. The guy e-mail me back saying to phone him and could work out a deal. I have also thought about importing lately with the high dollar but freight and customs would hit me and not save much if anything at all.


Sorry for the long story but i went back to 2001audiovideo tonight and they finally had the system in. I had a guy who gave a crap about my purchase (last guy looked at me as a young guy with no money/knowledge on anything. Wouldn't even look up when they might have the 605 in stock. That was last week) and told him about the $599 or better deal i could get from electronicsforless. He kind of was stunned about the $150 less then their price i was quoted, but said he could possibly work something out for me this Friday or Saturday. So that month wait could easily just be 3-4 day wait now So i won't be sleeping on Friday

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

electronicsforless. He kind of was stunned about the $150 less then their price i was quoted, but said he could possibly work something out for me this Friday or Saturday. So that month wait could easily just be 3-4 day wait now So i won't be sleeping on Friday

Whats so special about friday or saturday that you guys could work something out then?

Can you import from major retailers in the US? Whats the cost? I got mine for $479.99 USD

[SilentBob]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

Whats so special about friday or saturday that you guys could work something out then?

Can you import from major retailers in the US? Whats the cost? I got mine for $479.99 USD

To answer the first question. I get payed on Friday so i guess it helps in the purchase

Where about did you order your receiver from? I only have a $500 limit on my credit card too and what were your shipping/custom fees/shipping time in the end if you don't mind. Maybe i will import if the people you went through are that good, and borrow the parents higher credit limit to help my purchase if they are cheaper.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

I got mine for $479.99 USD

Does the 605 bitstream TrueHD?
What HDMI audio settings do you have your HD player set?

I got the 604. It's a new model where I'm from.

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

To answer the first question. I get payed on Friday so i guess it helps in the purchase

Where about did you order your receiver from? I only have a $500 limit on my credit card too and what were your shipping/custom fees/shipping time in the end if you don't mind. Maybe i will import if the people you went through are that good, and borrow the parents higher credit limit to help my purchase if they are cheaper.

I actually made my purchase from Circuit City (don't know if they ship to Canada), so i bought mine in store. They had put it on sale for $469 so I jumped all over it, but I believe they are selling it for $499 USD anyway. Why such a low credit limit? Those are typically pretty easy to get boosted if you call.

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by Derb

Does the 605 bitstream TrueHD?

Yes

Originally Posted by Derb

What HDMI audio settings do you have your HD player set?

Unfortunately I am still using the HDAO so I am stuck with Toslink and no TrueHD

[SilentBob]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

I actually made my purchase from Circuit City (don't know if they ship to Canada), so i bought mine in store. They had put it on sale for $469 so I jumped all over it, but I believe they are selling it for $499 USD anyway. Why such a low credit limit? Those are typically pretty easy to get boosted if you call.

Sadly they don't ship to us Also the Credit Card limit is bacause of my bank and my annual income. Although my friend who make more then me has half the credit limit i do at Future Shop. Go figure how everything works out but the low limit is a nice way to keep myself getting too far or anyway into debt.


So i gues si shall stick with 2001audiovideo and make my purchase on Saturday. Stupid work has me on a double tomorrow At least i should have Saturday night to enjoy a nice movie

[Derb]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

At least i should have Saturday night to enjoy a nice movie

Indeed. Instead screw TrueHD & make your first lossless venture LPCM.

[SilentBob]

Originally Posted by Derb

Indeed. Instead screw TrueHD & make your first lossless venture LPCM.

Trying to figure out which to watch first. Maybe i will just flick between scenes of movies and enjoy what they have to offer. I remember Monster House having just awesome sound on plain ol' Dolby. LPCM should be amazing, Prestige and PotC: DMC are the other top choices

[Derb]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

Trying to figure out which to watch first. Maybe i will just flick between scenes of movies and enjoy what they have to offer. I remember Monster House having just awesome sound on plain ol' Dolby. LPCM should be amazing, Prestige and PotC: DMC are the other top choices

Pirates & Prestige are practically night & day differences from their Dolby counterparts. Monster House is good too. Enjoy.

[SilentBob]

Originally Posted by Derb

Pirates & Prestige are practically night & day differences from their Dolby counterparts. Monster House is good too. Enjoy.

I heard the difference with the simple 2.0 PCM on The Prestige so 5.1 should be awesome. Oh and it has been bought I shall try and update my thoughts on the receiver tonight

[SilentBob]

Ok maybe i bit late but i have gone through with some of my movies on the new receiver. First i will admit i like the sound seperation on this baby better then my Marantz. It seems to have a more natural sound to it, and i didn't think i would be able to hear it. I have gone through a few Blu-ray PCM and HD-DVD TrueHD tracks and here are my thoughts.


HD-DVD and TrueHD tracks really to need the volume turned up on the receiver compare to the PCM tracks on Blu-ray. TrueHD i run around 60-70 on the receiver and PCM around 40-50. Although when you get the volume set their really isn't any sound difference between the 2 lossy tracks. (tried that out with my copy of Ghost Rider) The LFE has indeed improved from the Analog setup i was running on my HD-A1 when i switched to HDMI. It took a bit of adjusting my sub to notice the difference but when it was set it was noticeable. It still doesn't give me that theater outing memories of the sub action but its a lot closer, but i blame some of the limitations to my CHT-8 sub itself (next on my upgrade list i think) I also ran the microphone setup to caliberate my system and overall i think it did a great job but i did make a slight adjustment to my center channel which i thought was maybe 2db lower then it should of been. Still probably a better job i could ever do by ear as all the pans seem more natural to me.

Anyways here are the discs i have tried out so far

Blu-ray all PCM/TrueHD

Casino Royale (airport scene)
Ghost Rider (riding up the building)
Ultimate Avengers 2 (final big battle)
PotC: DMC (Kraken encounter)
The Prestige (Tesla machine)

HD-DVD all TrueHD

Happy Feet (Whale and Sea Lion Encounter)
Superman Returns (Airplane and Big City rescue)
Batman Begins (Tumbler and ScareCrow encounters)
Matrix Revolutions (Neo's Deal/Smith Battle)

[Derb]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

I also ran the microphone setup to caliberate my system and overall i think it did a great job but i did make a slight adjustment to my center channel which i thought was maybe 2db lower then it should of been. Still probably a better job i could ever do by ear as all the pans seem more natural to me.

Same here. I got fed-up with trying to calbirate the frikin hz output. I also felt the center db level was low but I left it as is. Don't know about your sub being an issue. When you watch either HD DVD or BD you should be able to select direct or multichannel on the receiver only. (IE no other DSP modes) Select "multi" & that should help out your LFE issue. If I select "direct" on HD DVDs I get 0 LFE output on my Klipsch.

Enjoy lossless!

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

HD-DVD and TrueHD tracks really to need the volume turned up on the receiver compare to the PCM tracks on Blu-ray. TrueHD i run around 60-70 on the receiver and PCM around 40-50.

Wow, I am surprised it is that high. I do most of my viewing at somewhere betwen 40 and 60, albeit, not TrueHD.

Originally Posted by SilentBob

I also ran the microphone setup to caliberate my system and overall i think it did a great job but i did make a slight adjustment to my center channel which i thought was maybe 2db lower then it should of been. Still probably a better job i could ever do by ear as all the pans seem more natural to me.

I was very pleased with the setup using the microphone. I only had to adjust one rear and it was good to go. Doesn't the sound it makes your speaker make creep you out a little?

[Derb]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

Doesn't the sound it makes your speaker make creep you out a little?

Yep. I ran the set-up 2 or 3 times & I swore my next door neighbour was thinking WTF!?!!?

[SilentBob]

Originally Posted by Derb

When you watch either HD DVD or BD you should be able to select direct or multichannel on the receiver only. (IE no other DSP modes) Select "multi" & that should help out your LFE issue. If I select "direct" on HD DVDs I get 0 LFE output on my Klipsch.

Enjoy lossless!

Well for my PS3 i can only select the direct or multichannel only. For some reason i don't get that with my HD-A1 connection. I don't know if its because i had to download the 5.1 TrueHD firmware patch for the HD-A1 and the new players come with it already built in. Maybe i need to buy a new player

Originally Posted by sub780lime

Wow, I am surprised it is that high. I do most of my viewing at somewhere betwen 40 and 60, albeit, not TrueHD.

Regular Dolby Digital Plus will indeed only need the 40-55 range really. The TrueHD track on the other hand needs that extra bit of volume as it really is that much quieter



Now i have a question. Do you think running a passive subwoofer in the same connection as my Surround Right Speaker is ok on the system. I have an old passive sub from my original HTiB kit (which i don't use) I did try this setup for a bit with my back surrounds and added some great LFE to 300 HD-DVD, but i'm worried that it might cause harm to the system over time.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

Well for my PS3 i can only select the direct or multichannel only. For some reason i don't get that with my HD-A1 connection. I don't know if its because i had to download the 5.1 TrueHD firmware patch for the HD-A1 and the new players come with it already built in. Maybe i need to buy a new player

Thats cool, just leave it set on "multi" & you should get decent LFE. If you prefer it louder, you could simply go into the receiver's channel db settings & adjust the LFE output higher sinse the auto calibration probably doesn't have it at max.

[Ruined]

So much for my DTC-9.8. *ALL* of the Integra dealers within a 60mi radius of my house are backordered until friggin DECEMBER with this unit due to higher than expected demand. Gonna be a long wait

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

HD-DVD and TrueHD tracks really to need the volume turned up on the receiver compare to the PCM tracks on Blu-ray.

This is actually a good thing. If you recall, DVDs also required people to turn up the volume more than when they listened to CDs. The reason why is because the lower volume allows for greater dynamic range.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Ruined

So much for my DTC-9.8. *ALL* of the Integra dealers within a 60mi radius of my house are backordered until friggin DECEMBER with this unit due to higher than expected demand. Gonna be a long wait

That sucks. I wanted to hear what you thought. After watching my HD DVD of Transformers, I'm dying to get my LFE levels back. My front speakers produce a lot of bass, but I want full LFE again! The Integra is near the top of my list... unless Pioneer puts out a new ELITE model in the next few months.