Onkyo TX-SR875 7.1 Channel THX Home Theater Receiver With HQV Video Processing

Blu-ray Discs: Spiderman 3, Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer, Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2, Alien vs Predator, Deja Vu, and The Host.

HD-DVD Discs: Transformers, 300, Hot Fuzz, Batman Begins, Top Gun, Next, Serenity

For audio only, CDs included: HEART - Dreamboat Annie, Nora Jones - Come Away With Me, Lisa Loeb - Firecracker, Queen - News of the World, The Beatles - LOVE, Blue Man Group - The Complex, Eric Kunzel - 1812 Overture, Joshua Bell - Bernstein - West Side Story Suite.

DVD-Audio discs: Queen - Night At The Opera/The Game, Eagles - Hotel California, and Medeski, Martin, and Wood - Uninvisible, Sheila Nicholls - Wake.

SACD discs: Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, Steely Dan - Gaucho, The Who - Tommy.

Audio Performance

The TX-SR875 is not only impressive in size and weight, but provides powerful audio performance. This receiver showed no signs of strain during very dynamic audio tracks. There was no sense of listening fatigue over long periods of time. Also, this receiver delivered an excellent surround image, with both analog and digital sources in both 5.1 and 7.1 channel configurations. In addition, the Audyssey MultEQ XT easily adjusted for differences in the different speakers used, resulting in good results, even from modest speakers.

The SR875 also produced a very clean audio signal output via both the direct 5.1 analog audio inputs and HDMI connections from both HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc sources.

The HDMI connection option for audio is a great convenience as only a single connection is needed for both surround sound audio and both standard/HD video between HDMI-Equipped DVD/Blu-ray/HD-DVD players and the receiver.

It was also convenient to access DVD-Audio/SACD signals via a single HDMI connection, rather than using the standard 5.1 channel analog audio connections usually required to access these high-resolution audio format(I tested both the analog and HDMI connection options for this review). Using the HDMI audio connection option, the Onkyo displayed the type of audio signal received on the LED panel (Dolby Digital, DTS, Multi-channel Direct, and DSD).

With regards to HDMI audio signal transfer, using an OPPO Digital DV-980H as the source, which has the ability to output both two-channel and multi-channel PCM and SACD-DSD signals via HDMI, I found that the SR875 had no problem detecting SACD (DSD) signals and DVD-Audio (PCM) Multi-channel audio signals from the OPPO 980 or Uncompressed PCM from the Blu-ray and HD-DVD players used; audio quality was excellent on all fronts.

The SR875 also reproduced standard Dolby Digital and DTS signals via the Digital Optical and Digital Coaxial connections accurately.

NOTE: I was unable to test the onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoders of the TX-SR875 as the Blu-ray and HD-DVD players I have do surround decoding internally and do not have the Bitstream output required for decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD externally via the receiver.

Video Performance

Utilizing several video connection options, I found that the SR875 did well with both straight video signal transfer, and did a respectable job of video upscaling, via the Silicon Optix Reon processor. The composite, S-video, and Component-to-HDMI conversion worked well, allowing convenient combining of all video inputs into a signal video output for HDMI-equipped HDTVs.

The image on a Westinghouse LVM-37w3 1080p monitor looked no different, whether the signal came directly from a 1080p source component or was routed through the SR875, before reaching the Westinghouse monitor.

In addition, using the DV-980H's 480i output setting via HDMI, the Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark DVD revealed that the deinterlacing/upscaling capabilities of the SR875 was very good; passing such tests as jaggie elimination, moire pattern elimination, noise reduction, and most frame cadence detection tests.

What I Liked About The TX-SR875

There is a lot to like about the TX-SR875. Some of the more positive points are:

1. Excellent audio quality and Power to Spare.

2. Very good Deinterlacing and Upscaling of analog video signals.

3. The inclusion of four HDMI inputs with HDMI ver 1.3a compatibility.

4. Excellent Speaker Connection Layout

5. Very Thorough but easy to understand user manual

6. Excellent automatic speaker level setup system.

What I Didn't Like About The TX-SR875

2. The SR875 runs hot; it needs plenty of ventilation.

3. At 50 lbs, the SR875 is heavy. Be Cautious when Lifting or Moving.

4. No Networking or audio streaming features.

5. Although XM/Sirius radio options are included, there is no HD Radio reception capability.

Final Take

In using the Onkyo TX-SR875, I found the audio performance to be excellent for both music and movies, even with modest speakers. The Audyssey MultEQ XT speaker setup was very useful in obtaining the proper speaker levels.

Video processing and upscaling, via the Silicon Optix REON processing chip was very good when compared to the upscaling capabilities of the OPPO DV-980H and DV-981HD DVD players. The TX-SR875 also passed direct 1080p from my Blu-ray and HD-DVD just fine.

From the design standpoint, the best feature is the layout of the actual speaker connections. Having them along the bottom rear panel in single file is great. Connecting raw speaker wire connections was easy and uncluttered. This is a much better layout than most, where the speaker connections are grouped in one small section of the back panel.

In addition, the extra-large LED display on the front panel is easily readable from the sitting position.

The were two major negatives. The unit does run hot; it could use a fan. The headphone output is stereo only as far as I could tell. It would have been nice to incorporate Dolby Headphone Surround, which is included on several receivers in this price range.

For an up-close look at the TX-SR875, check out my Photo Gallery.