News

Onkyo unveils its THX Select 2-certified receivers, the TX-SR803E and TX-SR703E (16/2/2006)

Wise movie fans will know that buying a THX Select 2-approved AV receiver guarantees you'll own a product that meets ultra-stringent performance standards for home cinema reproduction.

THX Select 2-certified products are designed to deliver the very best possible movie- watching performance in a domestic setting (2000 cu.ft). Among many other qualifying parameters, they have to feature stable power reserves that deliver accurate sound quality under all conditions, and with minimal noise and distortion, no matter how testing the movie.

Buy one of Onkyo's latest generation THX 7.1-channel receivers - the TX-NR803E or the TX-NR703E - and you'll also be investing in a receiver that ticks every important box when it comes to features, facilities and sheer quality of engineering.

With High Definition video finally about to become a reality in Europe the TX- SR803E's pair of HDMI inputs (V1.1 - carrying both video and up to 8-channels of 192kHz/24-bit audio/uncompressed DVD-Audio) ensures that your AV system will be perfectly prepared to handle HD signals from two sources.

To make sure all the bases are covered, however, the TX-SR803E also boasts three wide bandwidth (100MHz) HDTV-compatible component video inputs plus one output. To simplify connections to plasma screens, projectors and the like there's full Composite/S-Video-to Component Video Up-conversion.

Setting up the system is a cinch, courtesy of a fast automatic speaker set-up system. Plug the supplied microphone in and, with just a push of a button, the system sends test signals to different speakers in the room. The microphone captures the test signals and makes any necessary adjustments to compensate for the distance between speaker and listening position, loudness level and the frequency response of audio signals from each speaker.

It'll come as no surprise to discover that when it comes to surround sound this receiver (available in black or silver) offers a full house of decoding capabilities, including DTS, DTS 96/24, DTS-ES Discrete/Matrix 6.1, DTS NEO:6, Dolby Digital EX and Dolby Pro Logic IIx... THX Surround EX mode replay is a given.

Audiophile fans will also appreciate the inclusion of a Pure Audio mode. This offers significantly improved reproduction from two-channel sources, important for those who cannot afford the luxury of separate systems for hi-fi and home cinema.

There's more. Most conventional Dolby Digital receivers have to scale the LFE (Low Frequency Effect) signal in the absence of a subwoofer, so narrowing the dynamic range and distorting the sound.

With the TX-SR803E's Non-Scaling Configuration, however, the DAC layout has been designed to convert all channels to analogue before the LFE signal is mixed with the left and right channels. The result is true full-bit conversion of the LFE signal, with no reduction in fidelity - especially advantageous for those who have invested in L/R speakers capable of superior high-frequency response.

There's state of the art digital processing employed here too, with 192kHz/24-bit audio DACS used for all channels along with a pair of 32-bit processors. These high- resolution 192-kHz (192,000 samples per second)/24-bit digital-to-analog converters are capable of providing full resolution of DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD and are highly impervious to the degrading effects of clock jitter.

Multi-room system will appreciate the pair of powered Zone 2 loudspeaker outputs provided, in addition to the 7.1 channel outputs for the main room. By switching the TX-SR702E's replay mode to 5.1 in the main zone it's possible to enjoy a Dolby Digital soundtrack in one room while playing, say, a CD in the kitchen or bedroom (a 12v trigger plus line-outs for Zone 2 add even further flexibility). Got an iPod? Good news... add an Onkyo DS-A1 iPod dock to your system and you can listen to all of your iPod tunes in your second zone while playing a 5.1-channel movie in your living room.

Topping things off is an RS232 connection, designed to allow the TX-SR803E to be interfaced with AMX/Crestron type systems. Last but not least there's a wholly new backlit remote control handset, a versatile pre-programmed device, capable of learning multi-key macros, that's also compatible with Onkyo's RI-control system.

PRICES

TX-SR803E - £849.95
TX-SR703E - £699.95

Both products are available in black or silver and will be available in February 2006.

www.onkyo.co.uk