# Another Onkyo bites the dust



## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

back on August 19, 2013 I wrote that my Onkyo 706 had bit the dust. I contacted Onkyo repair and was advised that the unit was no longer repairable(unavailability of parts). I inquired as to what the repair cost would be to repair my 809 if the HDMI board failed. I was quoted between $300 and $400 . OUCH! They do have a trade in plan whereby they will accept your defective unit as a trade in for a discounted refurbished one. Well guess what. Last night the 809 quit. It is in a cabinet but has 8 inches of space above it , an open back and a fan sitting on top of the unit with a thermistor regulating fan speed. I have been a loyal Onkyo fan for years and years but I think that it is time to give'm up. 
I paid $749.00 for the 809 and want to buy something in that price range, on sale if possible. What would my fellow readers suggest for a comparable unit in power and configuration?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I'm sorry to hear about the failure, Just a note on the cabinet, you say the front is closed? That's not going to help with airflow fan or not it has no place to get cool air from if the front is closed. Heat is the number one reason for failure and it won't matter what brand of receiver you get (HDMI board failures are common in every brand of receiver not just Onkyo) you need to address the issue if you don't want it to happen again.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Sorry to hear about your Onkyo - I personally have two and have not had any issues with either. That said, if you are looking to change brands, I also have a Denon 4520 and really have been impressed with it. Of course, I had to send back the first one of those I got due to a faulty HDMI board so it is not just Onkyo that has issues...


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Like the others have said sorry to hear about the failure of your Onkyo. As Tony said I believe unobstructed air flow is very important regardless of brand. I've had zero problems with my Onkyo tx-nr809 but it gets plenty of breathing room.


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## moparz10 (Sep 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your gear,as far as something in your budget I think you may be able to find a denon 3313ci
For 799.00 or less.Heat will be a factor with any manufacturer though, would it be possible to remove the door,or hinge it in a way that it's open when the unit is on? And maybe add another fan.


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## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

The cabinet housing the receiver does not have a front or a door, did not mean to give that impression. It housed my Onkyo 804 for years with no problem. I guess that is part of my frustration. In addition to being open , front and back, I placed a cooling fan on top of the unit and still lost it, I think. I did a reset and the receiver began to pass thru both audio and video. I let it play for a few hours and now it is only allowing video to be seen, no sound.

I had my heart set on purchasing a 70 inch T.V. , not another receiver. Benbo


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

It still sounds like a heat problem, 8" is not much considering you live in a hot climat I would not have it in any sort of cabinet. What is under it, just a shelf or another piece of gear?


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

Sorry to hear about your Onkyo. A month ago the HDMI board went out on my 808. Factory service wanted $90 just to diagnose and told me average price of repair was $250.00.

I found a service on eBay that will repair the board for $75.00. I sent it off and they replaced the bad chip by cutting the leads and installing a daughter board, connecting to the main board with jumper wires. I've been soldering components for 50 years and can recognize good work; they did a great job with the repair.

I popped the board back in and the 808 worked great. Sadly, last Saturday, I had another failure. I contacted the shop that did the repair and it was covered by their 30 warranty. I'm sending it back. 

I'm beginning to think it is a heat related failure. The 808 sits on a shelf in a rack enclosure. The front of the rack is in my dedicated home theater and the back is in an 8x10 storage room that is climate controlled. There is plenty of space above the AVR for good air flow.

The reason I think it is heat related is because both failures have followed audio heavy action movies, "Close Encounters", then "Star Trek - Into Darkness" Friday night. We don't listen excessively loud, usually -15db for action movies. By happenstance, I actually stepped into the storage room immediately after viewing "Star Trek". Since I knew the 808 had a workout, I put my hand on top of the unit and it was warm, but not hot. Still, given the reputation, I think it might be heat.

Even if they can repair the board again, I'm not optimistic regarding the long run. I don't want to be in the AVR market again. Right now I'm looking hard at the Marantz SR5008.


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## kenbola (Jan 24, 2012)

Great feedback from everybody. Learning a lot about heat and air flow. Seems to me some receivers just run hotter than others. 
I would seriously consider a Yamaha Aventage. 
Or maybe a Yamaha 675. 
U can really beat the out of Yamaha receivers. Good luck.


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## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

The 809 sits in a entertainment cabinet that has one shelf above, with 8 inches of space. On that shelf sits the Direct TV receiver, which has a cooling fan sitting on it's top. There is 6 inches of space above the Direct TV receiver with a top shelf on which sits a 55 inch Sony flat screen. With the space between receivers and shelves, plus the cooling fans I would have thought that I had adequate ventilation. However, the unit failed. My home is air conditioned so climate has little bearing upon room temperature.

I am strongly considering a refurbished Onkyo 809, if available, or bigger receiver from accesories4less. I will await Santa in the brown truck within a week or so.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Another frustration with things like failure rates and trying to purchase based on comments like "my ________ has been bulletproof" is the fact that manufacturers can swing back and forth from a stellar product at amazing value to a kind of lemon unit from model year to model year. Even worse, sometimes there's a big difference in the same lines between the model numbers, and some just perform extremely well while others don't. I wouldn't write off Onkyo for this, as they still seem to be one of the top producers. Check out the reviews and threads for any specific unit you're interested in, and you're likely to get an idea if it has been problematic or spectacular. (and even then there are the odd anomalies).


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

DougMac said:


> Sadly, last Saturday, I had another failure. I contacted the shop that did the repair and it was covered by their 30 warranty. I'm sending it back.


Well, I have good but potentially embarrassing news. Last night I went to pull the board to return it. I decided to give it one last try. I unplugged the 808 and waited 30 seconds. I plugged it back in and stepped around to the home theater to try it. I turned on the projector and noticed it showed the wrong input. I turned on the receiver and changed the projector input to HDMI and lo and behold, everything worked!

The only thing I can think of is that I inadvertently changed the source when shutting down the night before, something that has never happened.

I will give it another try tonight and if all is well, I'll contact daveselectronics and tell him about my stupidity and let him know all is well.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

That is good news - glad to hear it was something minor. We have all had those :doh: moments - yours truly has probably had enough for two people...


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## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

I received a INTERNET ad today from a audio retailer advertising the Onkyo 717 for $549, including free shipping. I had considered replacing the 809 with another 809. Would I be dropping that much, if any, in performance by going for the 717 instead of picking up another 809? If I can't locate a 809 I found a 818 for $750. Any thoughts on which I should pick?


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

benbo said:


> I received a INTERNET ad today from a audio retailer advertising the Onkyo 717 for $549, including free shipping. I had considered replacing the 809 with another 809. Would I be dropping that much, if any, in performance by going for the 717 instead of picking up another 809? If I can't locate a 809 I found a 818 for $750. Any thoughts on which I should pick?


If you can afford it I would get the 818. I own the 809 and am completely satisfied with it but I would love to have XT 32.


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## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

After a diligent search I found my receipt with a purchase date of 1/11/12,for my Onkyo 809. Upon reading the Onkyo site I thought that I saw receivers warranted for two years from date of purchase, if from an authorized dealer. I am OK on the dealer part, which means my repairs may be covered, right?


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

It would seem so, unless you bought a refurb or B stock unit.


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

ALMFamily said:


> That is good news - glad to hear it was something minor. We have all had those :doh: moments - yours truly has probably had enough for two people...


Well, it turns out I'm not so stupid after all. I started to have intermittent problems, and two nights ago the unit was DOA, no audio. I tried everything, including a reset. It's hardware.

I'm contacting daveselectronics to see if he'll honor the warranty. If not, I might throw in the towel.

In the meantime, I pulled my venerable NAD T-762 out of storage. It fired right up. I've ordered a new HDMI switch box to replace a cheap Monoprice unit I used in the past. I also ordered a S-Video to HDMI convertor so I can see the NAD menu on the projector. 

I'm giving up 7.1 (back to 5.1), lossless audio and Audyssey. They all did offer and improvement, but I'll be fine without them.

I'll take a sabbatical and decide later about replacing with a new unit. I'm leaning towards Marantz, but I'm just bummed by the idea all AVR's have the HDMI board failure problem.


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## GusGus748s (Jul 22, 2013)

I had two Onkyo AVRs. Both of them had the HDMI board failed. I switched to Pioneer SC-1522-K and never looked back. I'm very happy with the Pioneer, and it runs cool all the time, it doesn't matter for how long I've been using it. I got it on sale at Costco for $600 bucks.


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## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

Benbo here again. After much discussion with the misses I was given the go ahead on a new receiver while my 809 is at the repair center. I sort of narrowed it down to two receivers, I think, the Onkyo 818 and the Yamaha RX-A1020. I can get the yamaha for $799. I know the Yamaha is a little less powerful and lacks wireless connection. I have been going back and forth because I am a Onkyo fan and have been for years. I see that the Yamaha RX A1030 is now out and there may be a price drop on the 1020 shortly. What do I do? What do I do?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The Onkyo has Audyessey multi EQ XT32, and a much better video processor. Those two alone are BIG steps up from the Yamaha.


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## 3dbinCanada (Sep 13, 2012)

tonyvdb said:


> The Onkyo has Audyessey multi EQ XT32, and a much better video processor. Those two alone are BIG steps up from the Yamaha.


Don't forget to mention that Onkyo's keep burning up their HDMI boards like white bread in a toaster set to cremate. Personally, I would move Onkyo to the bottom of the desired list. 

Video processing is far over rated on an AVR. I would only look at an AVR's pass through capability and let the display to the processing. That's as much importance that I would tie to video processing on an AVR. Yamaha's new YPAO has been greatly improved. It may not be as powerful as Audyessey multi EQ XT32 but then again, I doubt that it would be that noticeable difference between the two expcet for specs and bragging rights.

If I were you, get the Yamaha and don't look back. They have one of the best reliability records of any AVR manufacturer out there and their customer support is far better than that of Onkyo. Onkyo is only interested in selling products. Customer support is at the bottom of Onkyo's concerns.


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## GusGus748s (Jul 22, 2013)

I'm never going back to Onkyo after what I went through with both AVR's, and one of them was the 809 as well. However, Onkyo offers the most features for the money, but I don't think it is worth it due to its rather quick product failures.


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

GusGus748s said:


> I'm never going back to Onkyo after what I went through with both AVR's, and one of them was the 809 as well. However, Onkyo offers the most features for the money, but I don't think it is worth it due to it rather quick product failures.


Sadly, I've come to the same conclusion. 3 years is a short life for a receiver.


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## Jeff Aguilar (Apr 11, 2006)

After my board failed on my Onkyo 1007, I sent in the board to Davelectronics from eBay. I ended up getting permission to go ahead and get another receiver. I bought the Denon X4000. It has been filling in really nicely.

Jeff


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## jon96789 (Mar 21, 2013)

I am also one of the many Onkyo owners who had a bad experience... I had three Onkyos, two TX-NR905s and a TX-NR906... All suffered from bad HDMI board failures... All were out in the open with 120mm fans over the "hot" spot sine day one and they still failed. It boils down to poor design and/or cheap parts. Every year since 2007 Onkyo has suffered from failures, bad HDMI boards, bad IDE connectors, flashovers, amps.

If anyone buys an Onkyo now knowing this, is wasting their money. I am now a happy owner of Pioneer Elite receivers...


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## arkiedan (Oct 20, 2013)

My Onkyo 805 was a great AVR. As long as I kept it relatively open in the rack and added a couple cooling fans on top it survived for four years, although it got pretty hot. Alas, last summer we were hit with a lightning strike and, along with many other electronics in the house, the HDMI board was fried. Good insurance bought me a new AVR (a Denon 3313) so I'm up to date and happy. The Onkyo 805 now lives with a friend who can live without the HDMI connections. Thus another Onkyo still going strong!

By the way! It was a real pain doing the firmware updates! Onkyo's customer service was non-existent. My new Denon updates at night, while I sleep!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

arkiedan said:


> By the way! It was a real pain in the * doing the firmware updates! Onkyo's customer service was non-existent. My new Denon updates at night, while I sleep!


When the 805 was released firmware updates were almost non existent for any receivers. That option became more common and much better as the years have gone on. Remember that receiver (same as mine) is now over 6 years old.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

jon96789 said:


> If anyone buys an Onkyo now knowing this, is wasting their money. I am now a happy owner of Pioneer Elite receivers...


My 809 runs cool as a cucumber. I have had it for a year now and it has worked flawlessley....


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## arkiedan (Oct 20, 2013)

tonyvdb said:


> When the 805 was released firmware updates were almost non existent for any receivers. That option became more common and much better as the years have gone on. Remember that receiver (same as mine) is now over 6 years old.


I couldn't agree more. My Denon 3313 is world's ahead of my 805 in features (not in power). Still, updating Onkyos in those days required an underground group that Onkyo made it a point to ignore. We were passing dongles around the web while Onkyo ignored it all. 

My Denon updates at night, while I'm sleeping. I assume Onkyo does the same now, but they ticked us all off at the time.


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## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

I am still wating on my 809 to return from the repair center, so I pulled the trigger on the Yamaha RX-A1020. The first thing that I learned is that the 1020 lacks the weight of the Onkyo 809. I did not need to get the help of my grandson to slide it into the shelf in the entertainment center. As far as the sound is concerned, there is a difference. The Onkyo seemed to have that stand in you face presence where as the Yamaha has a subtle , yet clear , presence. It may mean that I have to do some more tweaking. It would be understandable of some differences in tone and umph as the Yamaha has less power per channel, but not that much.
In spite of the problems with the Onkyo units I am still somewhat partial to the features and sound, however, I can't drop $800. to $1000. every two years for a receiver.

I am going to listen to the Yamaha, as I do want to give it a chance, and who knows, I just might warm up to it,,,,, Benbo


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## Picture_Shooter (Dec 23, 2007)

OP: Sorry to hear about the hdmi issues you are having. 

Well I just purchased an lightly used 809 from a seller here @ The Shack. 

I did read plenty of folks whom had HDMI failure issues, but mostly I read about was due to lack of cool air circulation, which in my case I plan to have my 809 in the open and maybe a few usb computer fans running behind or bottom of it (laptop cooler).

I am a huge fan of yamaha receivers which right now I own a RX-A710 and cannot praise how dependable this receiver is! The only downfall on this YAMI is not having preouts.

I really do-not make a big hissy on calibration between audyssey vs ypao vs mcacc; Why? because at the end I always seem to tweek it to my preference not what the calibration is telling me what is best! At the end of the day you have the golden ears, not the receiver and the mic that was included  .

Now if you ask me "if I was so happy with my yami, why didn't I get another one that offered preouts?" .

Good question, however I got an easy answer.  the 809 was a great deal! I got it cheaper than what Accessoriers4less sells it for and I still have 9 months of factory warranty remaining on it  .


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Congrats on the purchase and yes that was a great deal! I've had no issues whatsoever with my 809 and have been very pleased with it. I had always owned Yamaha previous to my Onkyo purchase and they are built like tanks. I am a big fan of Audyssey and think it makes a huge difference in my room. I think you'll be pleased with your purchase.


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## davidburn (May 10, 2007)

I too have had an Onkyo HT R-690 fail and had repaired after 2 months from purchase. Was playing in Pure Audio for about 30 minutes at high volume and then some smoke and no sound.

Had a pioneer unit for the past 10 years and not had a problem and its received its fair share of workouts and replaced it with the Onkyo. 

I do love my Onkyo receiver, its a huge improvement to the pioneer but im just paranoid to play it loud for long periods for fear of failure which is a bit disappointing for a $1000 receiver and should of stuck with Pioneer.

Dave.


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## prerich (Mar 26, 2008)

I've never had an Onkyo to fail yet. I've owned two (one of my son's owns the ht-rc180/807) and i still use the 606 in the bedroom. I'm also a Yamaha receiver fan - had a 663 that wouldn't quit, a friend of mine has it now and it still performs like a champ. With all of that said - the very reasons here (repair cost and fears), made me go the HTPC route. I've always used seperate amps in my main setups (maybe that's why they last so long....hmmmmm, but that still doesn't cover the 606 :dontknow, so the amps in my receivers are never used. I went the HTPC route so I could repair my own gear - It's worked extremely well for me too. 

I hope you enjoy your new Yammy, it's a great buy and an excellent unit. Yamaha's tend to have a warmer sound than the Onkyo's, and may take some getting used to. Glad to hear all is working out for you.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Hello.

Like everyone else, I am very sorry to hear about your Onkyo AVR. Like you (the OP), I have been a brand loyalist for many years now, loving the tactile feel, build and overall performance of this brand's gear since being introduced to it/them -- I agree that heat can cause these issues (I think the OP addressed this in the last post) and would also agree that Denon would come to mind as a secondary brand choice. :T

For what it's worth, I have yet to lose any Onkyo receiver product I've owned, and one is actually powering a small workout room system (a vingate TX-SR600 from a first-generation surround system I set up when this receiver came out) driving Polk RTi15's on stands...and has survived a cross-country move in horrendous conditions as well as being subjected to physical abuse that lead to the receiver getting a pretty big dent in its side. The unit STILL pumps out the music for the workout room -- my other two Onkyo receivers, the 605 in the 5.1 home theater setup and a TX-8555 stereo unit in my two-channel rig, are doing fine...:huh:


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Oh -- I see, too late prior to my post -- that the OP pulled the trigger on a Yammie receiver...

Good luck!

I've used Yamaha's stereo receivers in the past and they were pretty well made; a friend of mine swears by their stuff and actually has one of the stereo receivers I owned when we did a trade years ago...


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## arkiedan (Oct 20, 2013)

Man!!!! I gave my old Onkyo 805 to a buddy, emphasizing that the HDMI board was torched and the part was no longer available. I told him the AVR would be fine using alternate inputs and outputs. Then the bloody hardhead, without telling me, put it in a local shop for repairs. ????? Of course, the shop sat on it for a couple weeks and then charged $100 diagnosis, saying they couldn't get the circuit board. 

Then, forgetting it was a gift and forgetting I told him the board was unavailable, he called me and said he sort of wished he'd never taken it! I felt like he was blaming me! Almost lost a friend because I had to tell him he acted "stupidly."

Next time, in the trash!


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

My cousin has an Onkyo Pre/Pro (had I should say) he has had the HDMI board fail on him twice within 1.5 years the last fix took about 6 months needless to say he had an unhappy home theater. He has since switched to a Pioneer unit which he likes very well and has the Onkyo up for sale (can,t say I blame him). 
I must say in in every manufactuers defence is that these thing can happen regardless of mounting, cabinet style or what have you. Fortunetly for me I have an old Denon 3808 that I bought new about 6 years ago with no problems. Great! I have probly just cursed myself.onder:


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Hey, Bambino!

I was just thinking the other day I should ask if anyone had heard from ya recently because I noted I didn't see ya around the 'boards that much as of late...

Good to hear from ya buddy!


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Osage_Winter said:


> Hey, Bambino!
> 
> I was just thinking the other day I should ask if anyone had heard from ya recently because I noted I didn't see ya around the 'boards that much as of late...
> 
> Good to hear from ya buddy!


Thanks Osage! It has been awhile. Life is amazing, I have been down to my Android which i'm sure everyone knows isn't a lot of fun to post with along with other things glad to see you are still here You are always good company.:T Thanks again.


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