- 100 Watts per Channel at 8 ohms, 20 Hz?20 kHz, 0.08%, 2 Channels Driven, FTC
- HDMI (Version 1.4a to Support 3D and Audio Return Channel)
- Network Capability for Streaming Audio Files
- HDMI Video Upscaling to 1080p with Faroudja DCDi Cinema
- THX Select2 Plus Certified
I will preface this review by saying I am not a die-hard audiophile who's interested in the schematics of the circuit boards inside, and how discreet they are, and whether or not they use premium toroidal coils and all that other stuff. I merely like watching blu-ray movies, playing hi-def video games, listening to music, and making the whole experience sound good. So with that in mind if you're looking for an in-depth analysis of the output of this unit using reference loudspeakers that each sell for the price of a baby grand piano, you might want to search for a different review. ;)
It took a while for me to write this review. Mainly because this is one seriously complex piece of equipment. It's got more connections, more buttons, and more overhead with regards to setup than my home computer network. Don't let this scare you away though, it is an absolutely outstanding receiver. I'll try to relay the experience I've had with it so hopefully you can get some value from reading my wall of text review.
My setup:
I'm not using any spectacular speakers for this. I've got a somewhat hodge-podge of KLH for surround speakers, Panasonic for the rear channels, and a large sub I've had for years and don't recall the brand (it's a 10" sub though.) My main interest was putting together a system that would sound immersive, and not necessarily give a crystal-clear reproduction of the source material (again not an audiophile, just your average listener.) This is why I didn't bother spending thousands on speakers, and chose to use what I had from my old 5.1 system. The receiver is paired with a Samsung 48" LED LCD TV. For Blu-ray and games I've got a PS3, as well as an Xbox 360, a PS2, and a Nintendo Wii. For cable I have a Comcast HD DVR. The TV, PS3, Xbox 360, and HD DVR are all hooked up with HDMI cables. The Nintendo is using RGB RCA connectors.
Ok with that out of the way, I'll move on to what I went through after unboxing this thing.
Initial setup:
Connections -
This is where the confusion starts. It's a 7.2 receiver, but it's has *more* than 7 channels that can be hooked up to it. However it can only output 7 channels at a time, and this is why it's labeled as 7.2. I believe the ".2" stems from the fact that it's got dual sub channel outputs, for people who think one subwoofer is not enough. Looking at the connections this thing has is intimidating. It's got an unbelievable amount. HDMI, component, S-video, composite, USB, 11 connectors for speakers (YES ELEVEN!), subwoofer connections, low level audio outputs, antenna connectors, coaxial connectors, serial port connector, optical connectors, a CAT-5 cable input to hook the thing up to the internet/world wide web, and other connections that I don't even know what their purpose is. WHEW!
Tackling the manual clears some of these things up, to a degree. When you're making your connections you will notice that inputs are grouped according to their suggested purpose. An example is the Cable/Satellite section. It has an HDMI input, component video inputs, an S-Video input, composite video input, coaxial audio input, and two RCA inputs for audio (left/right). Not all groups have this many, and some have different options such as "Game" it has an optical audio connection. This is for flexibility. You'll want to use the best inputs your device supports to get the best results, of course. It would be silly to have a nice DVD player with component output and optical audio and hook it into the receiver using composite and RCA audio connections. So with that in mind, stick to the best outputs on your devices, and you'll have to play around with what makes the most sense with your gear. I would highly recommend putting this all down on paper before you start plugging everything in, otherwise you'll wind up going back and shuffling things about when you find out what you were doing won't work.
The way the unit chooses which input to use is through the on-screen display in the setup menu. Inside of it you can decide which group uses which input. The caveat is you cannot do something like hook in a blu-ray player to the Game group's HDMI input, then use an Xbox 360 component output on the Game group's component input. One input per group. This is why planning ahead is important to avoid this mess. Hopefully this clears up a bit about hooking devices up. I don't want to go into more detail, because if I did this review would be more massive than it already is going to be!
MY RECOMMENDATION FOR SPEAKER LAYOUT: This is COMPLETELY subjective. You may find that your preferences differ. My goal was immersion when watching movies or playing games. You're "limited" to having 7 surround speakers active at a time. The receiver supports some very funky layouts and surround-sound encoding. The speaker positions it supports are: center channel, left and right, WIDE left and right, HEIGHT left and right, surround left and right, and rear channel (either rear left and right, or just a single rear speaker.) If you have a huge room and the money, there's nothing stopping you from hooking up every single output to speakers. Just remember the system will only drive 7 powered channels at a time. The channels that are driven are decided by either you, or the source material you're playing. Since I don't have tons of money or a huge room to hook up all the speakers, AND from experience I've whittled down my speaker position preferences: I went with center channel, left/right, surround left/right, and rear left/right. This (in my opinion) offers the best experience and most immersion. When you play back media which supports 7.1, it sounds AMAZING. Stuff moves behind you. To your sides. And in front from left to right. You can literally hear things flying in a circle around you. I tried out the height position just to see what it sounded like... wasn't even really noticeable at all, and a complete waste. I have not tried out the wide left/right as my room doesn't have the space to support it.
On-screen menus -
I will touch on these lightly as there are simply too many menus, sub-menus, and sub-sub-menus. The most important ones are setting up the speakers, mapping inputs, and setting up the surround modes for each source. Start by setting up your speakers by going into the Speaker Setup/Speaker Configuration menu. Step through each speaker pairing and choose a frequency to cut off at, or set the pair to OFF if you don't have speakers in that position. Next go to the Input/Output Assign menu and step through each source you have and select the input it uses (this is where you choose, for example, if your game console uses the HDMI input or the component input, etc., depending on which input you plugged it into) Last you will want to set the Listening Mode Preset for each source. The last step can be confusing since there is a myriad of choices to choose from. I've typically found that for sources which can output different surround modes that selecting DIRECT for all modes is the best except for 2 channel signals then it's up to your preference on what listening mode to choose. "Direct" allows the source material to select the surround mode to use, so you hear media the way it was meant to be heard. If you force a surround sound mode, the receiver does some fancy processing of its own to simulate the chosen surround sound mode, which will not be the way it was recorded. For sources that do not have multiple surround modes (for instance a VCR), it's up to your set up and listening preferences as to the surround mode you choose (my preference based on my set up is PLIIx THX Cinema for almost all sources that don't have the ability to play back in a surround mode.) I'd go through all of them while listening to your source material, and make your selection based on what you think sounds the best.
There are some other items, such as choosing how far apart your speakers are, and naming your inputs more accurately, but again trying to keep this review as minimal as possible here (too late!)
USE:
The remote. Lots of choices, and some odd groupings. There are two different groupings with regard to your sources. One group selects the input you wish the receiver to play from (Cab/Sat, Game, etc.) and the other chooses the mode the remote is in (TV, Receiver, etc.) The latter is so the remote can control the device. You can press TV for instance, and if you have a TV that can be controlled via the Onkyo remote, then you're in luck and can operate most of the TV via this one remote. The remote could be laid out better. Given how complex the receiver is, it's not too surprising the remote is so cluttered.
The cool factor. Look, you can hook the thing up to the web. Why would you want to do that? Because it supports streaming audio over the web, that's why! Whether you set it up to stream from your Windows PC, or directly off the web with Pandora/Sirius/V-Tuner, it's worth it. I have some very strange taste in music, and when I went on the web with the receiver using V-Tuner (which is free with your Onkyo by the way) I found dozens of obscure stations that played back exactly what I like. If *I* can find music on there that I like, I almost guarantee you that you'll have no problems finding hundreds of stations to listen to. It's simply awesome.
On screen display. For menus it's very nice to have them displayed on your HDTV instead of the tiny LED screen on the Onkyo. Makes menu options much easier to scroll through and select.
Video. Setting up the video can be confusing, especially when it comes to mixing HD 16:9 sources with standard 4:3 sources. All the different stretching and zooming modes to squish or pull a 4:3 source so it looks good on a 16:9 wide screen HDTV is a pain. I don't really blame Onkyo for this, but digging through the menus for each source to choose a mode is not what I'd call fun, especially since the on screen display doesn't tell you how to select a source for editing the video mode. Answer: you simply press the input on the remote to choose it while in the menu to edit the video mode.
Sound. It sounds great to me. There's enough power to blast it at an extremely loud volume when watching scary or larger-than-life movies like Avatar. Pair this thing up with a beefy subwoofer and a great HDTV and you literally will have a better experience at home than you will in the theater.
SUMMARY:
Pros:
Vast array of inputs and outputs
Incredibly flexible surround sound speaker outputs and modes
More HDMI ports than you can shake a stick at
Streaming internet radio!
7.1 experience that can't be beat
Cons:
Setup is confusing due to the aforementioned vast array of inputs and outputs/incredibly flexible surround sound speaker outputs and modes
On screen display isn't as intuitive or well laid-out as it could be
Remote is way too busy
Very easy to mess up the setup and wind up sitting there, scratching your head wondering why your 4:3 picture looks horribly squashed, and/or your audio sounds bizarre
So many connections! SO MANY! Sorting out what works for you and what to hook up can be daunting
Manual is pretty lacking. It really fails to spell out in plain English how to get a source to play back its audio the way the audio was recorded.
Last word of advice: To truly experience what this thing can do, you need Blu-Ray, a good LED LCD HDTV (in my opinion), a decently sized subwoofer, and media that supports 7.1. See, the thing is, not ALL Blu-Ray supports 7.1! As a matter of fact, most Blu-Ray disks are 5.1 from my experience. You'll have to hunt for 7.1. It's well worth it though. When you have the receiver all dialed in, and throw in your first 7.1 Blu-Ray, the experience will blow you away!
Despite the steep learning curve of this item, I still recommend it. The hassle of getting everything set up pays off tenfold when you're watching movies or playing games.
Buy Onkyo HT-RC270 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver (Black) Now
I almost returned this thing but the latest update fixed initializing problems I was having and it now connects like it should. I mainly purchased this unit over others mainly for its ability to stream Pandora radio, Slacker radio, and my local stations via the internet without the need of a computer. It's awesome now that it works, sound quality is good but some stations use much lower bit rates than others. One cool feature is the ability to ban a song when using Pandora or Slacker by just looking at the units display, I like, I don't like, Ban. Also most of the radio stations in LA are on there including news. The ability to stream music throughout most of the world is pretty cool and should be a standard feature in most units in the future.
Cons:
No HD radio, Remote requires extra steps to do simple tasks. More power would be nice but its adequate for now. I wish it had a screen saver for when streaming music or that senses no movement.
Now if you're having problems out of the box like some us were you could try this to connect it worked for me.
Receiver runs through the never ending initializing process. 1. turn off the receiver 2. unplug the Ethernet cable 3. turn on the receiver and wait about a minute for the initializing process to say no cable is attached 4. attach the cable and hit the back button on the screen, and lastly select your station, and it should work. You could also update your receiver using the network connection, if not you could try the flash drive option.
I have a fairly new network set up in my home by Time Warner which uses Motorola SBG901 wireless router/cable modem.
I deducted 1 star because it didn't work properly out of the box and because of the lame remote, it took them almost 2 weeks to post the right firmware update and I would of never of known that they posted another update if it wasn't for someone replying to my original post on amazon.
Read Best Reviews of Onkyo HT-RC270 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver (Black) Here
Let me start this review by saying that I am not a tech person. I am a typical consumer in that I love movies and music and I want the best possible audio/video experience without too expensive a price tag. I want something that I can work and looks nice in my living room.
This is a long review, so here's the summary: Absolutely amazing sound. In the past I always felt that I had to settle for lesser music sound to get great movie sound--not with this system. Movies, music, Internet radio, games--everything is terrific. This receiver has great features normally only found on much more expensive systems. What sets this apart from other receivers is the internet/computer connections. Retails around $800 but you can find it in the mid-$500 at the time of this review. PC compatible, so you'll need Windows 7, but you can play your IPod through the USB port in front. It was somewhat complicated to set up and to learn to work the remote, but the manual is well-written and assistance from Onkyo is available. Did I mention mind-blowing amazing sound? The one downside: I had to call in a tech friend to set it up. (My problemnot really the fault of the machine.)
OK here's the rest:
I am an Onkyo fan--my previous receiver was an Onkyo and has been a great system with no problems. This model is a big step up, though. If you don't need all the features, this might be overkill. If you don't have Windows 7, or you don't want to hook up your computer to this system, or you don't need or plan to use 11 speakers, again, this might be more than you need.
Enough HDMI inputs are provided for a blu-ray DVD player, a VCR or DVD recorder, satellite or cable, game console, personal computer, and a camcorder. One HDMI output is used to connect to the TV or projector. If you want to take advantage of on-screen menus, your TV needs to be connected via the HDMI OUT.
The receiver provides a wide range of audio and video settings. The menus take some getting used to. Basic audio choices include: treble, bass, subwoofer level, center level, dynamite EQ, Dynamic volume, late night, music optimizer, Re-EQ, Re-EQ (THX), and Audio Selector. Video settings include wide mode, picture mode, brightness, contrast, hue and saturation.
This is the first time I've had a game console set up to this type of speaker/receiver system. It will blow you out of the room--almost literally. I thought my computer speakers and subwoofer produced great game soundsI had no idea how strong the sound quality is in some games until I heard this. I am not a gamer but others in my house are and this is quickly taking over the living room. (Something to consider before you buy this.)
The audio options seem almost unlimited. If you have a blu-ray discs or DVD's you can enjoy DTS or Dolby digital sound. With analog or digital TV you can enjoy Dolby Pro-logic IIz, DTS Neo:6, or Onkyo's own DSP listening modes. The settings are particularly strong for medium-sized rooms and the Dolby Pro-logic setting is great for action movies or games with helicopter and other sound effects. (I played "The Fugitive" which sounded wonderful.)
I was surprised that a microphone was included with the receiver: it is used to set up the acoustics in the room through Audyssey MultEQ. By positioning the microphone at the height of a seated listener (you need a tripod to do this) you take six measurements from the various seating points in the room and it calibrates the speaker balance.
A few words about speakers: To get the 7.1 channel sound you need 7 speakers and a powered subwoofer. The receiver provides THZ Surround EX--but you need to have THX-certified speakers to truly benefit from this feature. The system can accommodate up to 11 speakers. (I quickly learned that my 7 speakers aren't nearly powerful enough to take full advantage of this system. Guess what's next on my shopping list.)
You can use the Ethernet cable connection to hook up your computer and listen to music files stored on your computer and also internet radio through Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius or whatever system you prefer. A 100Base-TX Ethernet network is recommended. Wireless systems won't produce as good a sound.
Here are some other things I like:
The English-language manual is separate from the French and Spanish manual. This makes it easy to read through and keep nearby-it's not the size of a phone book. And it's fairly well-written, despite the very technical nature of the equipment.
I like the THX Loudness plus. Sometimes with THX systems, you have to turn the volume up high to get the right mix of dialogue and sound effect. This THX system has "loudness plus" which means that you can play it at a lower volume and still get the full range of sound. In addition, the Audyssey Dynamic EQ also adjusts settings for lower volume. The Dynamic volume notes the variation in volume levels between your TV programs and commercials and shifts to maintain your desired volume level--no more screaming infomercials.
What I am not crazy about:
The front of the receiver is busy not particularly streamlined or "pretty"--lots of buttons and jacks which might be a turnoff for some. I don't mind the tech look in my living room, but others may not appreciate that. Definitely not a B&O type display.
You can set Macros to enable one-button commands for multi-components. For instance, there is a default "My Movie" setting which turns on the TV, the Onkyo DVD player, the AV receiver, sets the input of the receiver to BD/DVD, and starts playing the DVD. But the presets assume you have Onkyo equipmentwhich I don't.
I hope this gives you enough info to at least compare this system to any others you're considering. I think it is amazing and I am thrilled to have everything connected and integrated so beautifully. I am still on a big learning curve with all the settings and the remote but I know that's just a matter of time and practice. It's a lot of bang for your buck.
Enjoy!
Want Onkyo HT-RC270 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver (Black) Discount?
I've owned this receiver over 6 months and use it every day. I have an excellent mid to upper level set of Canton speakers that require robust power, a high-end 12" 250-watt Velodyne subwoofer, I'm 50 years old, was a professional recording musician for many years, an absolute audio freak since the age of 12, and I've owned many class-A components from the days of old by Denon, Marantz, and too many others to mention. At the risk of sounding like an arrogant fool, I know far more about audio than most reviewers here, it's just a fact, and one I hope will help you in your search for an intelligent choice.
This model has been met with almost universal approval here at Amazon, but I bought the Onkyo HT-RC270 elsewhere, and they were showing 13 bad reviews and ZERO good reviews. If you read closely between the lines as I do, you can usually tell the difference between a bad review and a bad reviewer. It seemed to me that a few bad reviewers spawned a snowball of bad reviews. As a result, the HT-RC270 was being offered at an incredibly low price. I had an excellent (and expensive) higher-end Sony ES receiver at the time, but it lacked HDMI. The HT-RC270 has every kind of connection including HDMI, and I'd always known Onkyo to be excellent quality. So I examined those reviews closely and then pulled the trigger with confidence. I've been very pleased with this product ever since.
Only about 1% of home theater enthusiasts require more than what the Onkyo HT-RC270 delivers. In the context of "the right tool for the right job", this receiver is the wrong tool for that 1% group of people who own at least $7,500 in hi-end speakers. That class of speaker almost always requires the kind of high power only found in either the most expensive receivers on the market, or separate power amplifier components. If this is you, you probably shouldn't buy this unit nor should you be giving it a review; especially a bad review.
For the other 99%, I assure you this receiver is absolutely the right tool for you if it's within your budget. It has an incredible feature set, is more than capable of powering a high quality speaker system even in a moderately large room (mine), decodes all the new surround sound technologies with crystal clarity, and it just sounds superb. It really does. Isn't that what it's all about? And don't be fooled by the reviews; this receiver is easy to set up! In fact, it's equipped with a "system" to help you set it up to get the most out of your entire home theater. You just place the included microphone where you'll be sitting and press a button and your receiver automatically adjusts your entire speaker system including your subwoofer. When it's finished, you, your family and guests will enjoy movies the way Hollywood producers intended! It takes the guess work out of the equation, and that is more valuable help than most will ever fully appreciate.
IMO it's a waste to spend any more money for a "better" receiver than the Onkyo HT-RC270 because it doesn't get any better than this unless you spend 5 times as much, which is only necessary if you have those uber-expensive, inefficient, high-end speakers. If you don't own a set of speakers such as those, even a $5000 receiver will NOT sound better than this unit. Buy the Onkyo HT-RC270 with confidence. Spend the money you save on some Blu-Rays.
I had this product since 2/15/2011. Worked Perfectly from the day i got it. It sounded great, and had awesome features. Last night [8/3/2011] while i was watching a movie at -5.00db the sound crackled and then my rc270 caught on fire, shooting flames from the bottom and the top of it. I immediately unplugged it. My house smelled of burning plastic.I called onkyo and they told me to take it to a service center. I googled the service center in houston, texas. Out of the 28 reviews, 27 of them had a 1/5 star rating. I hope to get my rc270 replaced in a quick manner. I will not buy a onkyo product again. I have learned my lesson.
[8/4/2011]
Gave my receiver to all brite tv repair in houston, texas. ETA, 10 days
Batteries... D-Cells... They were fresh and had plenty of time left before they expired. What more do you need to know? One tip though, I found it's cheaper to buy them at Home Depot, but buying here is a good alternative if you are strapped for time.
