Onkyo SR606

I finally found a decent deal on an Onkyo 606 at Circuit City since they're closing. It was the last one that was still in a sealed box. There were only 5 there on a Friday after work, and on Saturday, there was only the one. So I picked it up and called it a day.

So here are my questions:

I spent some time yesterday hooking it up, and I must say that I was blown away by the Dolby True HD and DTS-HD MA soundtracks I played around with!

Anyway, who on here has one and uses it in their main theatre room?

Is there any way to change the input names (i.e. GAME to PS3 or Blu ray)?

Since the receiver is new enough to accept HDMI 1.3a, does having a TV that is a year or 2 old mean I will not benefit from what HDMI 1.3a has to offer? And my HDMI cable from the PS3 to the receiver was labeled as 1.3a compliant, but the one from the receiver to the TV is older. Is there a major difference in what I can expect in terms of PQ or audio if I were to have a newer HDMI cable instead?

Since the PS3 does the decoding of the new codecs, having it set to LPCM makes the receiver say Multichannel instead of Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA, etc. when playing a Blu-ray. No matter what I play, it says Multichannel 7.1 input. I only have a 5.1 setup, so I then went into the PS3 settings to disable the 7.1 PCM options. Now, if I were to pop in, let's say, Criterion's The Man Who Fell To Earth, would it matrix it to the 5 channels, or would it sound as the director intended and only come out of the 2 channels? Furthermore, would the receiver show that it was 2 channel, or would it still say 5 channel?

Sorry for the questions...but you know...

Once you go blu, you don't go back!

-Dave

Dave,

I have an Onkyo 705, a year earlier model, but I'm assuming your newer receiver behaves in almost the same way.

You should be able to change the receiver's input display names by customizing them in the receiver's menu. On mine, you go to "Source Setup" and "Name Edit." I have labeled my three inputs "BLU-RAY," "DVD/HD DVD," and "Cable TV."

If you let the DVD/Blu-ray/PS3 player do the decoding, the receiver will light up with the generic "Multichannel" label. If you let the receiver do the decoding, it will specify the type of format it's decoding: Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master, etc.

If anything, your new receiver will pass a signal from your components to your older TV better than ever.

As far as HDMI cables are concerned, they will all provide the same results (unless they're defective). The young guy who sold me my Sony XBR6 insisted I'd need a fancy new HDMI cable to take advantage of the TV's 120 Hz refresh rate. Sure, fella.

John

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[Post edited by John J. Puccio on Feb 10, 2009 - CST 2:30 PM]

John, thank you for the reply.

Unfortunately, I do not think my receiver has an option to change the name of the input. I guess I can live. Does yours have an front panel speaker display, lighting up which speakers are being used? The 606 does not, and I kind of miss that from my older Pioneers. However, it is only a visual perk and I can live without that as well for the performance I'm getting.

When you say my receiver will pass a signal from the components to the TV better than ever, what exactly do you mean? I'm still unsure of why things are labeled 1.3a vs. whatever the older designation was.

I am familiar with the old and probably ongoing argument about pricey cables being superior, but when it comes to HDMI 1.such and such vs. HDMI 1.3a, I have no idea.

Thanks for your help!

-Dave

Dave,

I have the 605 and the 606 is more in-line with my model of receiver. The 705 that John has is more in-line with the 706. On the 605 you do not have the option of naming your inputs nor do you have THX cerification like John's 705 but I set my 605 to GAME/TV.

Only cosmetic difference that I can see is that the 606 doesn't have the optical and S-Video inputs on the front but as far as function wise the 606 can upconvert to 1080i where as the 605 is only 720.

Excellent choice in receiver. I'm very happy with the performance of my 605.

Quote:
would it matrix it to the 5 channels, or would it sound as the director intended and only come out of the 2 channels? Furthermore, would the receiver show that it was 2 channel, or would it still say 5 channel?

As far as that question goes, I do have a 7.1 setup and at times it seems as if it's not down mixed but maybe John can give further info on this.

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[Post edited by tony1569 on Feb 10, 2009 - CST 6:32 PM]

Tony, thank you!

-Dave

Dave,

If you play a disc that is encoded with two-channel stereo only, the receiver will handle it in whatever way you have it set to handle any two-channel stereo material. I have set my 705 to play back two-channel stereo in Dolby Pro Logic, which simulates a center and rear channels. You can't get real, discrete 5.1 or 7.1 sound unless it's encoded that way on the disc. But Onkyo gives you plenty of choices on how to handle two-channel sound, and the Owner's Manual should list all the various options from Dolby and DTS and others.

John

I have a 705.
I love tony.



lol... sorry, all questions were answered