Onkyo TX-NR609 – Best Price
Interested in the Onkyo TX-NR609? Read on for an honest review. This A/V receiver, new for 2011, is one of the best bangs for your bucks. It delivers high-end quality, features, and performance at a low-end price. It boasts both network and USB interfaces as well as enhanced audio and video processing.
My Review
This year's addition to the 600 series has been called a “masterpiece of a mid-range receiver.” It even feels solid and high-quality physically. With THX-certified 7.2-channel surround sound plus HDMI switching and upscaling it's the core of a great home theater experience. Nothing's perfect, so I'll also be mentioning a few short-comings.
Onkyo TX-NR609 Audio
- This A/V receiver incorporates Audessy processing for great audio quality. It's been praised for its clarity and channel separation. Audessy includes automatic equalization that can coax fantastic sound out of even entry-level speakers. If you're upgrading from a low-end receiver, you're likely to hear movie sound effects and background ambiance and conversations you haven't even noticed before.
- With 7.2 channel processing you'll have 2 sub-woofers for true bass power and stereo. This receiver can even send a different audio program to one pair of speakers to serve as a stereo in a separate room.
For the cinema buff, the 609 features THX certification. That “guarantee” of audio quality is almost unheard of in mid-priced A/V receivers.
To be fair in this review, there's one minor audio drawback. Last year's model, the 608, featured MultiEQ equalization whereas the 609 only offers 2EQ. Most users won't notice the difference, and I suspect MultiEQ is a bit harder to get going properly.
And Video
Like prior models, this model has 6 HDMI inputs to support sophisticated home-theater setups. You could have your cable box, a couple of game consoles, a blu-ray player, and a DVD/CD player all hooked up and still have the front-panel HDMI input free.
The 609 uses a different video processing chip to provide enhanced video upscaling. The occasional stutter on slow video sources is gone, and you can upscale to 4K resolution. The conversion also includes interlaced to progressive conversion, noise reduction, and edge enhancement. Even 480i sources look great, even on really big screens.
Network Interface for Internet Audio
Internet Radio
The biggest addition, even showing up in the model number, is a network interface. You can connect the Onkyo TX-NR609 directly to your home network to directly receive internet radio. The system supports Pandora, Napster, SirusXM, Rapsody, and several more. You can even control Pandora with Onkyo's remote
A Couple of Short Comings
I need to mention a few minor short comings. Although the receiver feels really solid, the remote feels a bit cheap in the hand. Also, the remote's labeling is poor making it harder to learn. But once you get the hang of it, it works really well. The on-screen-display graphical interface is truly fine.
I'm not sure if HD radio has really caught on, but some people are annoyed that the 609 includes a network interface but not a built-in HD receiver. You can of course add one, but the cost is around $100, another box, and one of the HDMI inputs.
Overall
click for larger image
Even with these minor drawbacks, the Onkyo NR609 is a fantastic mid-range A/V receiver. List price is around $600, but if you look around you can find it for well under $500. It's hard to beat this model's performance and features at that price. It'll share the spotlight with your HDTV as a star in your home theater. With 6-HDMI input switching this receiver will be the hub, making set up a lot cleaner, simpler, and quicker.
Click here to get the Onkyo 609 at a great discount
I hope you've found this post on the Onkyo TX-NR609 useful and honest. Please leave a comment with any thoughts, compliments, or beefs you might have.
More on the Onkyo TX-NR609 and Easy Web Radio
The Onkyo 609 makes internet radio soooo easy. This new generation of Onkyo receivers feature a built-in network interface for internet radio stations as well as firmware upgrades. You just connect it to your home network and it's all set to go. You don't need to dedicate a PC or hook up a laptop into your home cinema system. But you still get the sort of graphic interface for web radio sites (like Pandora, Netscape, Spotify and many more) you'd expect on a personal computer. The NR609 is an audio-video hub, and also connects to your HDTV. In addition to selecting from six HDMI inputs as video sources, the Onkyo also creates various on-screen user interfaces. Besides controlling the receiver's audio and selecting between sources, you can also use the hand-held remote to interact with web radio stations. Your home theater system no longer needs aPC, and you get far better audio quality than that nearly any PC sound card and speakers can offer. Big advantage for the Onkyo TX-NR609.
Note: You should know I'm affiliate for the products on this page. This means that if you purchase through a link from this site I'll get a small commission. But you won't pay a penny more than if you'd ordered directly. So please help support this site. I pledge to post honest reviews; if there's a limitation or problem that I know of, I'll mention it.
home-theater-audio.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com