Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Should I be concerned about my recent reciever buy

Hey guys, I'm very new to "quality" audio and this board. I have decided to pick up some of Axiom's bookshelf speakers with center channel and the 350 subwoofer and later graduate to surrounds. I read this board for a while and names like Harmon Kardon, NAD, Denon, and Yamaha are thrown around all over the place as recommended recievers. I did some research and as a poor ass college student, the least I spent the better off I was. I really wanted a Harmon Kardon since I've heard good things for them (and their pretty) but have noticed the closer their output reached 100 W/channel the closer their price got to $1000. I CAN'T do that! So perhaps I jumped the gun but I found an reciever on Ebay and placed a bid on it and won. Real quick it puts out 130 W/ea. to 6 channels. Problem is, I don't see Onkyo being recommended that often. Is there a reason for this? Am I a fool? Below is a link to the reciever and its specs. Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks so much in advance!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5778961794&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Onkyo makes a good reciever with good options.
You did good grasshopper.

Clickable

link

The good news is you did not make a mistake (assuming the product is as advertised, of course.) Onkyo makes some fine products and this one will certainly have no trouble driving your speakers to ear-splitting levels.

Wow. Thought I blew it there for a moment. So far looks like I made a good buy. Thanks guys!

Been using an Onkyo, very happily thank you very much, for more than 3 years, with no problems. There are several more here who run Onkyos including pmbuko, and BigJohn. Ya did just fine.

I've never had a problem recommending Onkyo. I have an older model in my second setup and my parents have one as well because of my recommendation.

Also, Ebay is a little evil in that it is so easy to bid on something "hoping" you won't get it, then getting sucked into the bidding process. Luckily, you got a great receiver for a great price. Congrats

blacksheep- that 520 model just looks like a little older model, probably produced in 2001/2002. they started making the next models in 2003/2004, that were reclassified as the 501's, and now the 2004/2005 models are designated the 502's. i have the 701 series that i got last spring, and it is a great unit, i really like it.

after looking at the specs for the one you bought, you should be very confident in your decision. it has ALL the necessary connections, and decoding ability(DTS, DOLBY DIG, ETC).. the 130 watts per channel is plenty of power to push any speakers you hook it to. i think you have found a great bargain.

the only drawbacks i could see were that your unit doesnt seem to have pre/pro capabilities. in other words, i dont think you have availibilty to add an additional amplifier(but with 130wpc already , who needs it.?).. and i couldnt tell if it had the component hook-ups to handle a SACD player. but i wouldnt worry too much about that. with all the new formats, there is no guarantee SACD's will even survive for a few more years.

you got a great deal, awesome purchase. hope you enjoy it!!

bigjohn

It's actually part of one of their HTIB models, the 770 as per the auction listing that usually comes with speakers. I had a htr-510 receiver for a while which was the predecessor to this one and it worked very well. You have chosen wisely.

I have a 502 upstairs pushing my M22's. I have not had any problems and love the sound......

Hi blacksheep,

You'll be fine with the Onkyo receiver so long as you use it to drive main speakers rated at 8 ohms (or 6 ohms) which includes all of Axiom's speakers except for the 4-ohm M80ti's.

Onkyo A/V receivers won't drive 4-ohm loads without going into current limiting, which severely limits the receiver's power output to avoid overheating and shutdown. That is the reason I don't generally recommend Onkyo. Other brands like Denon, H/K, Rotel and B&K will drive our 4-ohm M80ti's with no problems in rooms of reasonable size.

For Onkyo owners, there is a way around this, if you should ever choose some 4-ohm main speakers, which is to use a 2-channel stereo power amplifier rated for 4 ohms, such as an NAD or similar just for the main channels, using the Onkyo's internal amps for all the other channels.

Regards,

FWIW, I have an Onkyo 2 channel amp driving my 6 ohm MAs without any trouble so far. Hopefully I WILL have some problems and have to buy a new bling-bling monster amp.

Thanks everyone for your reassuring me with my recent purchase! Now comes the hard part: waiting until the end of July to pick up the speakers.

Alan, On the audioholics site (one that gives quite a bit of praise to axiom products) they review the Onkyo 601 receiver with good praises. Just found it interesting that they used the M80ti's as their reference speakers for the testing. Any additional thoughts on this. Obviously they didn't melt the thing but should Onkyo owners really be worried about the 4 ohm thing or is it more of a general precaution.

Thanks for the wisdom

Here is a link to the review of the 601 on Audioholics. I have it and have had 0 problems with it, though it does get a bit warm so keep plenty of space above it for ventilation.

jr

Hi,

It's a general precaution based on customer feedback from owners of M80ti's who have tried to use Onkyo A/V receivers to drive them. I also base this on bench tests that Sound&Vision magazine did with various Onkyo A/V receivers (not all of them). When all channels were driven into a low-impedance load, the receivers went into immediate current limiting, which limited the power output to 30 watts per channel or less.

I know Audioholics tested that particular Onkyo model with M80ti's, but I don't know whether they checked it to see if it went into current limiting.

Given the other brands (Denon, H/K, NAD) that will drive the M80ti's with no hassles whatsoever in rooms of reasonable size, I just avoid recommending any brands of A/V receivers that customer feedback has shown to be a problem with 4-ohm loads.

Regards,

In reply to:

---

There are several more here who run Onkyos including pmbuko, and BigJohn.

---

If pmbuko owns it, that is good enough for me.

if i had one complaint about my Onkyo 701, it would be that it can get kinda hot when driven real hard for extended amounts of time. i have it well ventilated, so its not a problem, but i could see where this might become an issue for someone who was not aware. i couldnt imagine how hot my 701 would get trying to push a 4ohm load..?

EDIT- gee, thanks TNT...

bigjohn

Well if you are looking for a silver lining, I did capitalize BigJohn. pmbuko?

I own a few other things I'd be happy to sell you so you could have one, too.

I'm running 6 ohm mains and surrounds with a 4 ohm center off my Onkyo 797, and have never had a problem. It only has about 2 inches of clearance above the receiver but is open on all 4 sides. Of course, I rarely run at loud volumes. Most often 82 to 84 dB max. More on peaks, of course.

I also use the Onkyo 797 and have run some 4 ohm Kefs off it for a brief period. I cannot say how heavy a 4 ohm load they were though and the SPL was not very high.
Overall the unit runs warm when driving a 5 speaker set and has never shut down.

Not that long ago I had a Onkyo 800 that ran a set of M80's plus every other speaker in my set-up. It got hot but it kept going with no problems of any kind. Granted I didn't have the combo for long but when I did, it seemed to work fine.