Onkyo TX-SR606 Receivers

 

 

Onkyo TX-SR606 is a home theater receiver is large box measuring 6.88"h x17.13"w x 15.06"d. It is very much similar to the earlier model, TX-SR605. A prominent volume control knob is located at the front upper right section.

The middle receiver has a striking glossy black plastic strip. An LCD screen is in the center and is easily visible even from a distance of 7 feet. A front panel directional pad is to the right of the display.

This makes it easy to navigate without a remote. Many more front panel buttons are located under the black plastic strip. A headphone jack, as well as additional front panel buttons are located at the bottom. There is also standard AV input here. Though this receiver cannot take the prize for good looks, this is a standard AV receiver.

 

The remote that comes with the receiver is well designed as is better than the remotes of earlier models of Onkyo remotes. The new version is simple and designed to navigate using on screen menus. This reduces the number of buttons to access features. People who dislike navigating onscreen menus may feel frustrated by this.

People who are not expert in the use of receivers may find this easy to handle and will not have a problem with using on screen menus. There are however some aspects which could have been better designed. It would have been nicer if the volume rocker was located prominently and not grouped together with other rockers.

Some input buttons such as DVD require the remote to start controlling the DVD player. This is frustrating. For example, the ‘set up’ button attempts to load the player’s menu instead of the menu for the receivers. However, these are minor complaints, and on the whole the new model is well designed.

Unlike Denon and Sony which put in a lot of effort to make graphical user interfaces very attractive, Onkyo retains the plain display using solid white text. Certainly, good looking GUI are nice.
One has, however, to appreciate Onkyo’s principle of not tempting the eye by expensive fancy stuff but to keep the price low by being simple and solid. Take for example Sony’s STR –DG920 which is very similar to TX-SR606 in its features but it costs $100 more just because it has Sony’s cross media bar GUI. TX-SR Audeysey 2EQ automatic calibration system has a microphone to analyze the sound of speakers and subwoofers from three different positions in the room.

When the mic that comes with the system is plugged in, the receiver’s on screen display immediately flashes an important message asking you place the microphone at the center of the listening area at ear height. This is crucial for calibrating and this is mentioned in the user manual.

People do not always read such manuals with any degree of care and may, without being aware of its importance, place the mic in places that will not help in correctly processing the audio. Onkyo has to be commended for emphasizing this point.