Onkyo TX-NR708 Receiver Thread

[Dean L]

Originally Posted by Dean L

My ancient Marantz AV9000 pre died the other day. I just ordered a 708 from Amazon for $550. Estimated to arrive on Friday. Gonna use it as a pre amp to feed my old but reliable Carver 705 power amp. Can't wait!

Had my unit for well over a week now. works perfect, sounds awesome, and no hdmi issues whatsoever. fyi, amazon still has it on sale for $549.99!

[thebard]

I'm awaiting shipment of the 708 & have been perusing the manual. Could someone who owns the unit please let me know:

1. Can the coax/optical inputs be assigned to the svid/composite jacks?

...and if so:

2. If an analog signal is also present on the associated svid/composite, will zone 2 "find" it? (Digital audio is prioritized in zone 1, and zone 2 will only pass analog).

Thanks.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by thebard

I'm awaiting shipment of the 708 & have been perusing the manual. Could someone who owns the unit please let me know:

1. Can the coax/optical inputs be assigned to the svid/composite jacks?

...and if so:

2. If an analog signal is also present on the associated svid/composite, will zone 2 "find" it? (Digital audio is prioritized in zone 1, and zone 2 will only pass analog).

Thanks.

1. Yes

2. Yes

[thebard]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

1. Yes

2. Yes

Great! So if I want to use the digital audio out of a dvd player in the main room, I can just run an analog l/r on the same input selector for zone 2, and not take up another selector.

That's what I was hoping. Thanks!

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by thebard

Great! So if I want to use the digital audio out of a dvd player in the main room, I can just run an analog l/r on the same input selector for zone 2, and not take up another selector.

That's what I was hoping. Thanks!

Yup!

[moneyonmymind32]

Hey guys,

Sorry for the plethora of information following this post. I just thought this would be a good place to start. I’ve been piecing together a HT for about a year now I finally ordered a receiver to complete everything. This is my first HT and I’ve really never even seen most of this stuff much less hook any of it up. I’ve read a lot of threads on here and learned a lot from you guys. I have a lot of basic questions for you that I was hoping to get answers to or pointed in the right direction. I have read the bass management guide thread and been following this thread for a while. I’m sorry if these topics have already been discussed numerous times but I wanted to just ask the questions that are specific to my situation. First off here is list of my gear:

Display - Samsung 58b860 Plasma
Fronts – Polk Monitor 70’s
Center – Polk CS2
Surrounds – Polk monitor 40’s (one Pair)
Sub – ED A2-300
Receiver – Onkyo TX-NR708 (On Order)
TV Service Provider – AT&T U-verse (don’t know if this matters or not)

So this is my 5.1 setup. I don’t plan going to 7.1 for awhile. I still need to order my speaker cables which I plan to do this weekend from monoprice. I guess this brings up my first question….

1)I’m going to get a 15’ cable for my sub just so I have some room to move it around but do I need a Y-splitter or is only if you want to use 2 subs? I do plan on getting another sub but it won’t be for a long time and my receiver is a 7.2 receiver. The reason I ask is because I read somewhere one time that people who had Onkyo receivers used a Y-splitter to “wake up” their sub and I didn’t really know what this meant.

2)My next question is about my 70’s. My Monitor 40’s came with speaker bridges between the 2 cable connectors but my 70’s did not. So I am either going to have to make some with speaker wire or bi-amp them. So since I am only using 5.1 do I use the 6 and 7 to hook up my front highs to? I am asking this because I thought the receiver sends out surround signals to those channels and if they are hooked up to the front highs it wouldn’t be sending the proper signals to the right place. Sorry if this question is confusing. I feel like I confused myself more when asking it. If anyone knows a better way handle this scenario please let me know.

3)I wanted to go head and get some polyfil this weekend from Wal-Mart to put inside the sub. I haven’t taken off the port yet but I was just wondering if someone can post a pic of how much to put in there and where. I know you are supposed to keep it away from the driver and amp but I don’t know what it looks like. I guess I will when I open it up. Lol.

4)On the sub itself I need to set the gain to about 12’oclock and the phase at 0. Is this correct?

5)Once I get everything hooked up cable wise and power on my receiver is the first thing I should do is run Audyssey? Do I put sub on or off? I have read that it is better to it with it turned off because it doesn’t get the distance right and this is how people blew there amps. I have had my ED A2-300 since May but haven’t been able to hook it up because I didn’t have a receiver so I hope I don’t have one with defected amps like many did around that time.

6)I set my speakers to small and put the crossovers for them at 80Hz and my LFE crossover to 120Hz. Is this correct?

I think this is all I have for now. I’m sure I will have a million more questions once I get my receiver and get to hooking everything up. Like I said this is just a starting point for me. I’m going to post this in a couple of other threads on here and avsforum. I know I’m going to anger some people by asking these questions that have been discussed many times but I have a full time job, a wife and 2 kids so like many of you on here I don’t exactly have a lot time to read thousands of posts, which many of it doesn’t pertain to you at all. Everything I have leaned about HT has been from reading information off and on for the last year and I just wanted to say thanks for all the information that is shared on these forums. Thanks you all your help!

[lsc]

Originally Posted by moneyonmymind32

Hey guys,

1)I’m going to get a 15’ cable for my sub just so I have some room to move it around but do I need a Y-splitter or is only if you want to use 2 subs? I do plan on getting another sub but it won’t be for a long time and my receiver is a 7.2 receiver. The reason I ask is because I read somewhere one time that people who had Onkyo receivers used a Y-splitter to “wake up” their sub and I didn’t really know what this meant.

2)My next question is about my 70’s. My Monitor 40’s came with speaker bridges between the 2 cable connectors but my 70’s did not. So I am either going to have to make some with speaker wire or bi-amp them. So since I am only using 5.1 do I use the 6 and 7 to hook up my front highs to? I am asking this because I thought the receiver sends out surround signals to those channels and if they are hooked up to the front highs it wouldn’t be sending the proper signals to the right place. Sorry if this question is confusing. I feel like I confused myself more when asking it. If anyone knows a better way handle this scenario please let me know.

3)I wanted to go head and get some polyfil this weekend from Wal-Mart to put inside the sub. I haven’t taken off the port yet but I was just wondering if someone can post a pic of how much to put in there and where. I know you are supposed to keep it away from the driver and amp but I don’t know what it looks like. I guess I will when I open it up. Lol.

4)On the sub itself I need to set the gain to about 12’oclock and the phase at 0. Is this correct?

5)Once I get everything hooked up cable wise and power on my receiver is the first thing I should do is run Audyssey? Do I put sub on or off? I have read that it is better to it with it turned off because it doesn’t get the distance right and this is how people blew there amps. I have had my ED A2-300 since May but haven’t been able to hook it up because I didn’t have a receiver so I hope I don’t have one with defected amps like many did around that time.

6)I set my speakers to small and put the crossovers for them at 80Hz and my LFE crossover to 120Hz. Is this correct?

I think this is all I have for now. I’m sure I will have a million more questions once I get my receiver and get to hooking everything up. Like I said this is just a starting point for me. I’m going to post this in a couple of other threads on here and avsforum. I know I’m going to anger some people by asking these questions that have been discussed many times but I have a full time job, a wife and 2 kids so like many of you on here I don’t exactly have a lot time to read thousands of posts, which many of it doesn’t pertain to you at all. Everything I have leaned about HT has been from reading information off and on for the last year and I just wanted to say thanks for all the information that is shared on these forums. Thanks you all your help!

Ok...let me answer your questions.

1. No you do not need any adapter, just plug the sub into the top subwoofer out. It is shaded in white.

2. No, it is better not to bi-amp them. Buy some jumpers or just wrap some speakerwire around both binding posts.

3. Not sure about this one.

4, 5, 6. Turn the sub on and use Audyssey. It will set the appropriate sub level and crossover frequencies..it's all automatic now.

I just got my 708 today and am thoroughly enjoying it.

[rana_kirti]

i have a question for 708 owners....

How/Why did you choose 708....?!?

why not the 608 or the 808...?

Thanks

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by rana_kirti

i have a question for 708 owners....

How/Why did you choose 708....?!?

why not the 608 or the 808...?

Thanks

Probably because it is right between those two? ...And the budget too.
...And the 708 adds preouts over the 608. And the 708 is less expensive than the 808.

[lsc]

Originally Posted by rana_kirti

i have a question for 708 owners....

How/Why did you choose 708....?!?

why not the 608 or the 808...?

Thanks

The main reason for not selecting 608 is that it does not have pre-outs and this was a must for hooking up a power amp. There are other features, namely the Audyssey MultiEQ vs. 2EQ and internet radio that was nice.

If I didn't have a power amp, I would have gone for the 808. It has a beefier amp section and it just looks nicer. I liked that fact that it has the same chassis as the top of the line Onkyo receivers.

I plan on getting a preamp in the future..the one I wanted didn't workout so this is a nice extended temporary solution.

[rana_kirti]

Thanks to all 708 owners for their replies as to why they chose this AVR....!!!

But I can't seem to find any reviews for this Avr online.... I'm keen on 708.

Anyone have any links....?!?

Thanks.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by rana_kirti

Thanks to all 708 owners for their replies as to why they chose this AVR....!!!

But I can't seem to find any reviews for this Avr online.... I'm keen on 708.

Anyone have any links....?!?

Thanks.

The 708 being right between the 608 and 808, you can check reviews of his brothers, and that would give you a very good idea of what the 708 is all about.

Plus, you can check reviews of all those predecessors (605, 606, 607, 705, 706, 707, 805, 806, & 807).
Plus of course reviews of the 608 & 808.

And you can also check at AVS Forum, in the "Official" Onkyo TX-NR708 Receiver Owners Thread.
-> @ http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1262803

* Bonus: @ http://www.testfreaks.com/a-v-receivers/onkyo-tx-nr708/

[Astrakan]

Just got back from a Boxing Day sale (sort-of Black Friday for Canadians) and this puppy is sitting in the foyer. Not going back home until the 27th, so hookup will have to wait until then.

I imagine it'll be straightforward enough, but if any existing owners have any tips I'd be all ears.

Thanks.

[nezff]

Originally Posted by Astrakan

Just got back from a Boxing Day sale (sort-of Black Friday for Canadians) and this puppy is sitting in the foyer. Not going back home until the 27th, so hookup will have to wait until then.

I imagine it'll be straightforward enough, but if any existing owners have any tips I'd be all ears.

Thanks.

not hard at all to hook up. What gear do you have to hook to it?

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by nezff

not hard at all to hook up. What gear do you have to hook to it?

Projector: Panasonic PT-AE2000
Player: Oppo BDP-83
Speakers: Paradigm Monitor 11s, CC-300, and ADP-390s and will soon get either a pair of ADP-390s or a pair of ADP-190s to make it 7.1.
Sub: Quest QS10

Haven't yet hooked it up, but will soon.

[Biggz]

Happy New Years Forum Members.
I love the Onkyo TX-NR708. It's a great receiver, but I have 3 questions.

(1) Has anyone found it difficult to access the Internet. There have been occasions that my receiver has had some difficulty logging onto my network. Eventually it logs in but I feel that it should log in quicker. There's been times when I had to unplug the network cable from the router before a connection was established. Is this a problem on the network side or on the receiver side. My network is password protected but I don't recall ever allowing the receiver access to the network by admin rights.

(2) Has anyone encountered problems accessing the remote setup menu after there remote was configured to other devices. I had this problem when I tried to setup the PS3 (unsuccessfully) remote after having everything working flawlessly. I did figure a way around it but it was a real pain.

(3) Do you know of any tweaks that allow the receiver to possibly be used as a Media Client. It basically has all that's necessary minus the video codecs to be used that way.

Again have a Great New year.

Biggz

[Astrakan]

I may be better off posting this as a regular question someplace else, but I figured I'd start here first...

I've noticed that the 708 chooses the DTS Neo:6 listening mode when it detects DTS-HD MA. I know this can be changed, but I was just wondering what people's thoughts are on this.

I know that DTS Neo:6 expands 5.1 channel sources (such as DTS-HD MA) into 7.1, but I'm concerned that doing this processing adversely impacts the mix, like perhaps details and certain nuances are lost or muddled whereas keeping the mode to the native DTS-HD Master Audio would yield a better overall experience.

I realize that the best way to figure this out is to simply to some A/B comparisons, but I was just curious if perhaps some of you have some insights.

Thanks!

[e84cooper]

I have a question currently i have a txsr607 klipsch kf2 fronts kc2 center kb2 sides and ks20 as rears and 2 psw10 subs. Is the tx nr 708 the correct next buy for me i can get it from my old place of work new for 550 plus tax

[Audio5oh]

I've been having problems recently with my Sony STR-DA3500ES. Here's my problem; I have two Sony blu ray players, the BDP-S570 and S770. The 770 is paired with the Sony receiver. One day, when I was watching I Am Legend on blu ray, the screen just went black for 1 to 2 seconds in middle of movie and happened several other times when playing other titles, such as i Robot, the Dark Knight and The Gravedancers. I figured it was the player, however, when switching the player with the S570, the same thing happened. This time I was watching Pitch Black, just to test the player and again, the same thing occurred, the screen just went black for 1 to 2 seconds, sound was lost, then the picture came back to normal with sound. I guess at this point, the receiver is to blame.
I've been looking into the Onkyo TX-NR708 for awhile and thought that maybe its good to upgrade at this time. Does anyone have issues with this unit? One thing that prevented my from buying Onkyo is I've heard complaints of their receivers overheating and going into thermal protection mode. Is this happening with this model?

[Blu-Benny]

i'm gonna be picking up a recv'r as the 1st piece of equipment and am considering this unit.

i'm planning on some jbl studio floors for fronts.....i'm a total noob when it comes to HT equipment right now....would it be a problem to hook up an amp w/this unit to get the most out of those speakers???