Onkyo TX-SR876 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) Review

I've been an Onkyo owner for almost 20 years, and sadly, in a recent move, my original Onkyo receiver from around 1990 got dropped and totally destroyed. Turns out that was good for me, since it gave me the excuse to pick up the 876.

I won't repeat what all the other positive reviewers have said previously other than to summarize: this is an outstanding piece of equipment for audio and video applications at a really great price. That said, as many reviewers have noted, it sure does run hot (as pretty much every high-powered amp or receiver does), so it does pay to add external cooling to the unit if you plan on installing it in an enclosed cabinet. I found that the Antec Low Profile AV Component Cooler for Media PC Home Theater Products works particularly well with Onkyo receivers. My AV components are in a glass-front AV cabinet in full view in the living room, and the housing of the Antec Cooler has a very similar look to Onkyo AV components (all the way down to similar blue LEDs on the front) and fits in perfectly. The Antec unit is only a few inches tall and sits on top of the receiver; it has downward facing inlet ports and rear-facing fan ducts, so it sucks heat right away from the receiver and blows it out the back of the cabinet. Very nice addition.

Just an aside: I noticed some reviewers docked a few stars from this receiver for the heat issue. Everybody's got their own opinion, but if you're looking for an AVR that delivers 140W to 7 channels and has extremely sophisticated audio and video processing, well, you're going to get something that runs hot, whether it's from Denon, Marantz, Yamaha or whoever. I wish it were cooler myself, but I find it hard to rate this lower just because it obeys the laws of physics and gets a little warm. Therefore: 5 stars. Highly recommended.

Buy it here now!