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By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Apr 02, 2008

Accordingly to numerous insiders in the industry, Onkyo had a rosy year in 2007 and it's hardly surprising considering its aggressively priced and feature-packed receivers. These have beaten just about every reputable offering in value, as well as gaining traction among enthusiasts and reviewers alike. The heat is definitely on and the Japanese company is all rearing to go with the award-winning TX-SR605 successor, the spanking new TX-SR606.

Upside: New on the plate for this 2008 rendition is a timely HDMI upgrade. So you will have double the HDMI 1.3 inputs to four with Deep Color and 1080p24 signal pass-through. This is comparable to the higher-end TX-SR875 which retails for a whopping S$2,599 (US$1,709.87). That said, this comes at the expense of a component-video and its front optical audio inputs--not a major issue since most A/V boxes have HDMI anyway. Another '08 specific addition is the Music Optimizer a la MP3-targeted audio-enhancement function for restoring the sonic fidelity of these compressed soundtracks.

With the TX-SR606, you still get onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding which propelled its predecessor to fame. At S$1,019 (US$670.39), nothing comes close to this Onkyo in terms of its future-proofed surround sound decoding, compatible with just about every Dolby and DTS format under the sun. Matching its comprehensive audio-processing capability is a videophile-grade Faroudja DCDi processor. Renowned for its jaggie-free video-upscaling performance, the chip will readily adapt any standard-definition analog source to 1080i quality through HDMI.

For those who're eyeing a multiroom setup, this humble A/V receiver can also accommodate zone 2 speaker installation. This can be implemented by either running a separate pair of speaker cables from the receiver to the rooms or simply relaying audio to a remote amplifier. Two independent materials can be played back simultaneously, too. For example, CD in the hall and radio in the study. On the other end of the spectrum, if you're hoping to squeeze every bit out of your front speakers, you could reroute the surround back channels for bi-amplification to enhance music playback.

Downside: The TX-SR606 could have been even better if multichannel analog pre-outputs are catered for. These open up an alternative upgrade path to further boost all-round audio performance. This approach bypasses the receiver's amplification circuit which effectively turns it into a surround sound processor. This allows users to employ beefier power amplifiers capable of delivering cleaner power sans potential interference from non-audio electronics. It's also about time Onkyo updated the deck's onboard HDMI upconversion to the latest 1080p standard to further sweeten the deal.

Outlook: At the moment, it seems the Onkyo TX-SR606 is going to be another instant hit among budget punters. However, for those willing to fork out more, perhaps it may be a good idea to hold back until the rest of the mid- to higher-end Onkyos are released. Who knows, maybe we will be looking at six HDMIs for the TX-SR806?

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