Onkyo has unveiled its latest batch of home cinema products for 2010 including a three HDMI 1.4 receivers, a budget Blu-ray player, three receiver/speaker packages and a 2.1 sound system.
The TX-SR608 7.1-channel receiver (£450 – due April) is the standout of the group and is intended as a replacement for the highly rated TX-SR607. It can output 7×160 watts and comes with five HDMI inputs on the back (and another on the front), all of them HDMI 1.4-capable and claiming to be comfortable with 3D video.
There’s an Audio Return Channel via HDMI 1.4, which allows audio content received via an HDTV’s tuner to be decoded by the TX-SR608 via the HDMI connection, so removing the need for an extra digital optical cable between display.
There’s video upscaling to 1080p thanks to Faroudja DCDi (Directional Correlational Deinterlacing) processing, and it can decode all the HD audio formats. It also has Audyssey DSX which allows it to reconfigure the surround back channel speakers as either front height or front width speakers for a more immersive surround experience. It even has an analogue RGB input which allows PCs or laptops to feed video through the receiver to the TV through the HDMI monitor output.
A little further down the scale, the TX-SR508 (£350 – April) offers 7×130W and loses the front-mounted HDMI input, PC video connectivity and Audyssey DSX mode. The entry-level TX-SR308 5.1-channel model (£250 – March) has three HDMI 1.4 inputs, 5×100W and a front-panel audio input. It’s only got 1080p passthrough though, without upscaling.
The BD-SP308 Blu-ray player (£200 – May) comes with a hi-fi quality, 192kHz/24-bit audio DAC, BD-Live, 1080p upscaling from DVD and a front-mounted USB port.