Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater AVR Onkyo 606

I just bought an Onkyo 606, M22's, vp100, QS8's, ep350, and Panasonic 50PX80. I don't have any complaints at all, but also didn't have anything previously to compare the setup to.

Let me think about the Onkyo.. Maybe the best compliment is that I don't pay much attention to it.. I listen to the speakers, and watch the plasma, and the receiver just does it's job.

Feature wise I'm very happy. It has more options than I know what to do with, and has handled everything I've asked it to.

Power wise, I've had 1 DVD so far where I turned it up to max volume (original Matrix, seems to have only 2/3's the volume of any other DVD I've tried). Other DVD's I can get to about 65-70 (max of 80).. I don't have an SPL but at this level conversation with someone standing next to you is difficult, but not impossible. This is loud enough for me. My daughters (early teens) start to complain it's too loud much over 60.

CD's I turn it down a bit more.. most of them seem about 10-15% louder than the average DVD at the same volume. I haven't tried hitting 70 with a CD.. 60 seems just as loud.

Maybe one issue I saw, and have seen mentioned on the AVS forums as well is 480i sources. I saw a definite increase in picture quality after switch to component cables and 480p output on my dvd from 480i. I don't have the receiver doing any upscaling, just switching input source to the HDMI out to my TV. I have yet to have time to investigate the quality of the upscaler on the receiver (I sort of figure the brand new Panasonic should be just as good or better than the Onkyo 606.)

All in all I'm very happy with it. I had been looking at the 505, and comparable receivers, but went with the 606 mostly for the additional inputs, and Audio formats, but I'm really glad I did. My impression is I wouldn't be getting everything my speakers had to offer if I had any less powerful receiver. I think for some people the 606 would be a tad underpowered for anything more than M2/M3's.. especially in 5.1.

I wouldn't suggest going with anything less then the 606.. and if you like watch movies or listen to 5.1 music very loud, then maybe I'd suggest moving up a couple notches as well.. for my purposes the 606 does everything I want, and still has 5-10% left to give.

Gene

P.S. My basement room is ~14 by 15' with stairs up on one side, and 7' ceiling (open floor joist).

Question of my own actually.. is pairing a $550 receiver with a $2000 set of 5.1 axiom speakers within sort of suggested guidelines? I know it's not a Denon 3808, and I'm quite happy wiht it, but I'm sort of curious if I've grossly mis-matched them.

If it functions fine and you are happy with it.......yes it's fine. There are no set guide lines for such a pairing.

Gene, as Rick points out, there are no "suggested guidelines"(except from salesmen interested in hiking up the bill)for paying a certain amount for a receiver in proportion to the amount that was spent on speakers. One of the great things about the current audio scene is the availability of excellent receivers(such as the Onkyo 606)at modest cost which amplify transparently. Audibly flat frequency response with inaudibly low noise and distortion is the bottom line, regardless of the price tag. No "matching", least of all with respect to price, is required.

Karlman - that Onkyo 606, M22's, vp100, QS8's, ep350 is exactly the setup I've been considering. However I'm really new at this, and I don't want to be spending too much money if I'm not going to realize the benefit. I'd appreciate any advice on that speaker combo or room matching as I'm about to move into a new house that will provide me with some room in the already finished basement.

It's a 14 wide, 20 deep, but the back half of one side is open to a 9' hallway, so it will be configured like a 14x11, there's also some nasty bulkheads that I suspect will be a big issue:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rickburdeniuk/115Hollybush/photo#5206647011946113826
http://picasaweb.google.com/rickburdeniuk/115Hollybush/photo#5206647020536048434
http://picasaweb.google.com/rickburdeniuk/115Hollybush/photo#5206646999061211922

Dialog in movies is my #1 priority, I hate missing what people are saying. Next would be surround performance (hence QS8). I'd say I'll be 60% HT, 10% audio books, 10% PS3 gaming, 10% mp3 music like Blue Rodeo & The Clash. I'd do not prefer great amounts of volume, and this will be my first set of remotely decent speakers. While I'm patient and willing to learn - I don't have room/configuration tuning expertise.

In addition to the room complications I have young kids who will share the room, a big dog, and a wife+mother-in-law who won't entirely respect the equipment so I'm not sure if huge floor standing speakers will be practical.

Welcome alsonot. I think that will be an exellent setup for your purposes. The EP350 will really fill in the bottom end for music and will do a good job on movies. In fact, the M22+ EP350 sounds like a full range floor standing speaker.

I am running M80s with dual M2s as centers and I am completely amazed by the clarity of dialog on movies. That is one thing that has always bugged me about sound from conventional TVs. Sometimes the dialog gets muddy.

I listened to bits of LOTR on the VP150 at Axiom as well and it gave the same clean clear dialog. From what others here have posted there is not a lot of difference between it and the 150. You will get great dialog!

I listened to music on the M22 with the EP350 at Axiom in a 20x12x8 room and they had no problem filling the room with headroom to spare (80-85db). I expect you could easily push them to 95-100db (very loud).

Nice house Rick.

So far everything is working just fine for me.

Watched Ice Age 2 last night, and at 70 out of 80 volume, it was too loud for my kids in 5.1.

The vp100 is very clear for dialog in movies, and the m22's are amazing for everything. I've bumped the center up 2 db in movie mode and the sub by 3, but that's about it past entering the speaker distances. Like a lot of other posters, the m22's and even the vp100 sound so good I can't figure out how the more expensive axiom's can sound better, though I'm sure they do somehow.

as to value of the system.. I was originally budgeting about 800-900 for speakers, and I'm SO glad I ended up doubling my budget (factory outlet helped :). I'm incredibly happy with the speakers, in fact I could see myself using these for the next 20 years and still being very happy.

The receiver is also doing a good job. Onkyo doesn't seem to be one of the most popular brands, but it's working fine for me. The connectivity was one of the big reasons I chose it over cheaper options, and that's working fine for me.

I wouldn't advise going any cheaper on the receiver.. the Axioms seem to be able to handle everything this receiver can throw at them, and more.

I wall mounted my 50" plasma, and my front 3 speakers.. (the FMB from Axiom worked great). I'm still figuring out where exactly to put the QS8's, but probably going ceiling mounts.

If you have any other questions.. just post, or pm me.