Onkyo TX-SR507 5.1-Channel A/V Surround Home Theater Receiver (Black) Review

Onkyo TX-SR507 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

Overall I was very exited for this new receiver. -it was priced affordably and $150 less than the $500 Onkyo TX-SR606 that I thought I was going to have to buy unitl this beaut hit the market. I didn't need the 7.1 Surround that comes with the SR606. If your after a bar none receiver that has Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD and only require 5.1 surround then I don't think you can find a better buy out there. It may seem contradictory to require HD sound and not have at least 6.1 surround but for me I was upgrading from two decent sized 3-way bookshelf speakers to my first 5.1 surround sound system so I didn't see the pnt in getting too crazy.

It powers my Polk RM85 Home theater system wonderfully along with the PSW111 Woofer. Used some Banana Plugs from Monoprice and was set.

I didn't need an outrageous amount of watts because I don't get crazy loud with my Home theater, although this receiver can get too loud if I wanted it to.

The only CON I have found is when using the B speakers; i.e. Zone 2. It's awesome to be watching cable inside and listening to music off my iPod outside on our patio (Zone 2) but that's also the flaw. Zone 2 only sends music sources; i.e. radio, cd, aux. It does not play the cable audio. This was a huge set back for me because I was excited to be able to have college football on in the house on the 5.1 surround while also playing it out on the patio for those weekends spent constantly running around the house. Additionally we have a Sanus swinging mount so that we can angle the tv out from our fire place in to direct view with our hot tub that is out on the patio. I was really looking forward to watching Conan from the hot tub while playing the audio from Zone 2 but that `s not how Zone 2 works, unfortunately. Furthermore, when Zone 2 is in use you lose the rear speakers for the 5.1 surround and only have the front 3 speakers playing. So the idea of someone being able to watch a movie in one room while someone else is listening to music in another is somewhat deceiving because the person watching the movie would only be getting the front three channels and woofer...that's hardly watching a movie in my book as you lose the entire surround that this receiver is built to do. Essentially your rear speakers become your Zone 2 speakers if that makes sense?

Anywho, I rate this receiver 3.5 stars (I'll be generous and round up) because for the money it can't be beat, but it so lost 1.5 stars with the wackiness Zone 2 causes and the limited sources that can only be played through Zone 2. If you don't have intentions on utilizing Zone 2 then I would give this baby 5 stars.


Buy it here now!