Onkyo TX-SR606 AV receiver

The world’s hottest AV receiver has had a facelift. After breathing new life into the moribund AVR market with the TX-SR605 last year, Onkyo has returned with a sequel product, the £400 TX-SR606. A cursory glance would indicate that there’s little real difference between the two models, so what’s new?

What is all new for 2008 is 1080i upscaling, two more HDMI sockets, and Dynamic EQ tech. Connectability is very good for the price point; the four HDMI inputs give you the same flexibility that you would enjoy on a higher-end receiver. They can all pass through a 1080p signal and handle uncompressed multichannel audio, including DSD from a Super Audio CD player. There’s no Ethernet port or USB inputs, though, so you can forget about any networking or multimedia playback functionality.

It’s a brash, exciting amplifier that’s tuned for fine detail and bass thump. It therefore makes short shrift of modern movie soundtracks, as long as you don’t try and crank it up much, as which point it becomes a bit breathless. Just flick to a chapter on Blood Diamond to hear how well this AVR handles short, sharp bursts of gunfire. A less dynamic amplifier would have trouble convincing your speakers to make such sound effects convincing, but here there’s enough rampant power to really feel the impact. The metallic click of the reload will probably make you jump, too.

To read the full review on Tech Radar click here.