Onkyo TX-SR707 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)My experience with the Onkyo 707 has been a pure pleasure. I endorse it wholeheartedly.
It is being used in my home theater. I think it is very important that I spend a moment describing my theater room's dimensions and speaker set up in order that you, the reader, determine whether my experience with the Onkyo is likely to be yours as well, should you be considering purchasing this particular receiver.
My home theater is approximately 14 x 8 x 18.5 feet; this means the Onkyo must power about 2070 cubic feet. The speaker system is 7.1 ; a Snell E center channel with matching front L/R Snell E speakers. They are of fairly normal sensitivity. The side and rear surrounds are modest JBL's. The powered subwoofer is also JBL . The room is drywalled, heavily draped and carpeted. All electronic equipment is placed in a rack room and controlled by IR repeaters.
Previously, the theater room employed a Pioneer THX 5.1 receiver, model VSX 37 TX. Its sonic performance was ok, doing much better a few years ago with the assistance of two Adcom amplifiers, this necessary to power a 7.1 system and to insure necessary power for the front speakers. It was considered, in its day, fairly high end. It did not have DVI or HDMI inputs/outputs. As time passed, it became clear that the Pioneer could not do justice to the increasing audio capacities within the newer , various DVD and Blu-Ray movies being added to my library.
And so I began to read about the current receiver market, and read of others' experiences with this receiver, as well as of competing models in the Onkyo 707's price range. This was my first Onkyo.
Price:
Listing for $899, it has been available in the range of $479-799 since Thanksgiving 2009. Watch and time your purchase carefully here on amazon! I do wish to emphasize that Amazon has consistently been very competitive in price. And it was Amazon from whom I decided to purchase the 707. It arrived timely and without trauma.
The next model up within the Onkyo line is the 807. It lists for $1099 but street price is naturally lower. Generally, it costs about $200 more than the 707. The price gap between the 707 and 807 widens and narrows from time to time. The 807 has slightly more power, and a few more, distinct features, elsewise, it is very similar to the 707.
At its suggested retail price , and in consideration of the Onkyo 707's features and general performance, the 707 is usually regarded as a midrange receiver. But to be emphasized is that for 4x the cost, you will not get 4x the performance from a different receiver; meaning, today, "midrange" receivers do very very well for most purposes and hit the economy of scale point spot on.
Power:
My Pioneer TX 37 receiver had difficulty powering my Snells when applied to DVD/Blu-ray movies. Often I was required to "dial up", completely, to the Pioneer's maximum volume. And even then, often enough, the results were not satisfactory.
The Onkyo 707 handles the same speakers and theater room with amazing ease. I cannot "dial up" the Onkyo 707 to maximum setting without 2 bad things happening; destroying my speakers and service of divorce papers. I find I only need about 35-40% of the 707's power, and this nonetheless results in "room shaking" sound from speakers that are not built to produce thunderous bass etc. And the bass is clean!
I mentioned the Onkyo 807 above, noting it has modestly more power than the 707. I doubt there is justification, however, to purchase the 807 upon the basis of its higher power capacity, standing alone. And this is why I provide you my room dimensions, in order that this review be evaluated as applicable, or not, to your needs. My sense is that if the 707 doesnt have enough power for a given application, then the 807 will not either. Other reviews here, however, suggest that the 607 Onkyo is underpowered and unsatisfactory, notwithstanding close power specifications between the 707 and 607. I suppose the power performance of the 707 is what Goldilocks needed when she was shopping for a receiver; the 707 is simply a receiver's whose power is "just right"
Sound:
Unbelievable improvement over the THX Pioneer VSX 37TX! Surrounds were awakened, made markedly alive. Separation and effects superb. Audio is very clean. Unlike at least one review here, I find the 707 does a wonderful, thrilling job with music, including when played through theater modes. Le Reve, eg, sounds mind boggling though the THX Cinema mode. Nonethless, the 707 has an option permitting stereo through all speakers, or simply thru the front L/R. Some older movies sound better in the all stereo mode. I am advised that many midrange receivers do not have an all speaker stereo option.
Vocal articulation in movies is very good. Some options produce better sound than others depending on the source material. And the night mode ( to stay married mode) does a very good job of allowing all sounds at relatively lower levels such that you can hear the whispers and enjoy the {mini} booms without a visit from upstairs.
My theater room is prewired for 7.2; meaning, adding additional wiring for additional speaker set ups would now be difficult. That said, you should know that the 707 permits as many as 11 speakers to be run within Zone 1. If you are not familiar with this set up, it simply allows a total of 5 front speakers (permitting vertical and horizonal directional sound). I have not heard this effect and perhaps someome else will describe its value.
There are many audio processing options. All current state of the art formats are processable thru the 707. Historically, receivers offered proprietary audio processing options only to disappoint. Eg, acoustical options like: " Miami Underwater Cave" , "North Carolina Woods" or "U of M/Ohio State coliseum " modes (I jest but I trust you get my point). This is not the case with the Onkyo. Its many audio choices are well thought out and quite legitimate; in fact, these options have very particular reasons to be employed. And the manual provides a chart to guide your selection. Choosing wisely results in even greater audio pleasure. The 707 is a Select 2 THX receiver , and listening to its THX cinema options prove the very real value of THX technology and the resulting certification. This THX label of approval is far more than mere marketing or simple window dressing. Onkyo THX Cinema and other THX modes are very well balanced to the 7.1 ear. To me, THX certification is a feature than goes on the "must have" list when shopping for a receiver.
In evaluating a receiver's audio abilities, and deciding whether to upgrade, I believe it is very important to measure the receiver you are considering in view of what it can do with your existing movie/music library; meaning, most of your library probably lacks many of the latest audio codecs. So what improvements can you get with the 707? That is why I described my previous equipment when beginning this review. Against my background, the 707 has been a huge step up in audio perfomance when processing my existing library containing mono. stereo, Dolby, THX, DTS etc. Allbeit an overused expression , the Onkyo 707 blows away the audio performance of my Pioneer TX 37. The sound of my music and movies, when processed through the 707, are greatly improved.
Heat:
A fairly common criticism is that this receiver (and the 807) run "hot"; meaning, toooo hot in the most critical reviews. Two comments. First, the 707 has a cautionary , instuctional sticker on its top, stating that it occasionally runs "fairly hot". This means dont put anything on the receiver's top ( like your favorite Blu-ray or beverage). Such is no different than stating "dont use the blow dryer in the tub while bathing". Just common sense. Second, my experience with the 707 receiver is that it does run hot at times (when active-not usually when merely on) but not toooo hot. From time to time it will get fairly warm to hot when not powering anything---but it should be in the standby mode under such circumstances. Standby produces zero heat. (Yes I have watched for the "too hot" issue in light of the criticisms.) Please know that my 707 is in a rack room, placed on the top rack with nothing but air above (the right place for any receiver). The rack room is closet size and the heat issue, well, isnt for me. I have no need for an external fan .
Other Features:
Beyond that already said about the audio quality, I should note that the unit does have Audyssey. The 707 includes a microphone with a generous amount of line permitting hook up to a fairly distant receiver (that was my case). This was my first experience with acoustic adjustment using Audyssey or any equivalent. The Pioneer TX 37 permitted the manual setting of speaker distance and volume levels of the speakers on an individual basis, but went no further. In my case, this meant alot of experimentation (I do not own a sound meter, I walked around alot at night clapping my hands-and that wasn't moments of self-applause.) Setting up and executing the Audyssey system was a breeze, taking about 15 minutes. I should tell you that I used the 707 receiver in its natural default settings briefly, just to hear and determine if any real differences resulted from employing the Audyssey option with my movies and music. Well, yes. The brightness and front center domination produced by the 707's default settings were reduced to appropriate levels, and the surrounds greatly improved as a consequence. My previous set up with the...Read more›

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