Onkyo TX-SR504 Entry-Level Receiver
My first receiver wasn’t even surround sound! In this age of 7.1 channels of surround nirvana, stereo seems somewhat antiquated. But you have to start somewhere, right? And today, if you’re looking to start yourself a nice home theater setup, but don’t have a lot to spend, then Onkyo has a receiver you might be interested in.
This receiver has HDTV-compatible component video switching, 7.1 channels of surround sound, iPod hookup capability, and a lip-sync adjust, all for a measly $300. However, it only has one coaxial digital input, which is a real limitation in my view. It also has three optical digital inputs. Why not have 2 and 2? Hmmm….
The Onkyo includes Dolby ProLogic IIx processing, which can give you 7.1 channels of surround fun from sources that.. well.. aren’t 7.1 channel. Nifty, huh?
So if you need a 7.1 receiver, and are low on cash, and have an iPod, and… and… and… ah, just take a gander.
Onkyo TX-SR504 Entry-Level 7.1 Channel XM-Enabled Home Theater Receiver
Need a display for your home theater? Check out the HDTV Blog for ideas.
June 20th, 2006 at 11:57 pm
Wow. This is a nice unit! I only use optical, and im guessing more and more people are going the all digtal route as well. I would be very upset if they went 2 and 2 like you said. In fact, it may factor into me making the decision NOT to purchase this product with only 2 optical outlets. So, you can see why they made that decision. BTW.. What do you think about the white shell?
June 21st, 2006 at 8:01 am
I think it looks fine. Though I’d prefer black or charcoal myself.
June 21st, 2006 at 11:37 am
Oh, and there are two types of digital audio-only connections: optical and coaxial. Both are fully digital. I personally prefer coaxial because you can use regular RCA cables for it.
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:55 am
There are other reasons to prefer coaxial: unless you have a really really good and extremely expensive fiber optic cable, it will suffer from timing jitter, which the coaxial cable won’t. In theory, it is possible to hear the difference, even though the signal itself is digital.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Late-breaking news: I had originally tried to order a digital coaxial output mod for my laserdisc player, along with an AC-3 RF output mod, from a company called Precision Laserdisc. (The player originally had only an optical digital output alongside its regular analog stereo outputs.) They sent the AC-3 RF mod, which I installed and enjoy immensely, but went out of business before they shipped my coaxial digital mod. But now it looks like I can get one from BDE in Germany (yay Germans!) All hope is not lost…
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Didn’t you order those ages ago?
July 5th, 2006 at 9:29 am
I did order those ages ago… several years in fact. As I mentioned, I got the one right away, and installed it, but they kept delaying and delaying on the other one, and eventually just went out of business. Now I haven’t gotten any response from BDE yet, either, which doesn’t bode well.