2. misc-audio
  3. 176026-2487

Decent mid fi with Onkyo tax-nr809

I previously owned various brands - Counterpoint, Cary, VTL, Usher Audio, Quicksilver, Mirage, Monarchy Audio, Doge….. and more. Sold it all years back and wanted to get back in recently but on a strict budget. So I acquired an older Onkyo tx-nr809 home theater receiver for $150. Retailed about $1100 when new. Added an older Nad dvd/cd player for $50, a $150 Schiit Modi dac. Tried a Polk Rt/Cs surround set up. Well sounded like crap to be honest. Swapped out the polks and got a pair of Tekton Lore speakers for $500. Running the Onkyo in pure direct mode - 2 channel which bypasses all the surround processing, room correction, and tone controls. All I can say is wow!!!! Not quite at the level of some of my prior set ups and equipment but honestly much closer than I would have imagined. Don’t over look some of the older higher end surround receivers repurposed for a 2 channel up. An excellent value !!!! Anyone else taking this approach???

pdspecl
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,518 posts
 

I’m sure the OP is enjoying his combination but I’m not sure it rises to the mid-fj level. Pretty much entry level. Most of us started with a receiver and a pair of loudspeakers. 

erik_squires
16,119 posts
 

I'm not sure how the Onkyo sounds in 2-channel direct mode, but my experience with a previous HT receiver was that the movie mode sound was pretty awful.  The decoding in my Oppo was so much better sounding. 

pdspecl OP
254 posts
 

When I got the Onkyo and hooked it up to the polks there was not one surround mode/setting that even sounded remotely decent.   So I assumed the receiver was crappy too to be honest.   I then acquired the Tekton Lores and wanted to play them immediately upon purchase to ensure their were no issues with the speakers.   The 2 channel audio quality in direct mode versus surround setting/polk set up was night and day.   Totally not expected.   It’s just musical, detailed…...   I’m sure it’s limitations are it the finer details it can’t reproduce versus better gear.     But I agree that in surround mode it’s lame

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