Discount Onkyo TX-SR806 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

I really like the quality of the Onkyo SR806. Great layout, awesome automatic calibration (the result is WAY better than any auto-calibration I had ever run before)

BUT.....

I bought the Receiver primarily to do two things:
1- Upconvert / Downconvert all video for output to 1080i
2- Process the Dolby TrueHD and DTS MasterAudio from my playstation 3.

Unfortunately, I was thwarted in my goal, I think largely due to the equipment I am hooking up to it.

As far as Decoding Dolby TrueHD goes, the Playstation3 does not bitstream that format out of the HDMI connection - it must send it as a 6-channel PCM signal, which is not processed by the receiver. This is most definitely and issue with the PS3, not the ONKYO. After much web research, I found that most BluRay players currently decode those signals onboard and then passes them on to the receiver. So I'm getting the TrueHD output, just not processed by the receiver, so the nice little lights never fire up. I'm not sure that there is a compromise in sound quality by doing it this way. In thinking about it, I'm not sure how much of a difference I should expect with a lossless signal, the Dolby Digital signal is great on its own. One important point is that the optical digital connection cannot carry the multichannel PCM signal, so a receiver with HDMI inputs was a necessity anyway (my previous receiver, an awesome Pionneer Elite, does not have that capability so it has been demoted to my bedroom system.

More disappointing is the video upconvert / downconverting. My HDTV is a 5 year old 65" Mitsubishi which has a GREAT picture but only component video inputs. The receiver will NOT upconvert ANYTHING to 1080i via the Component Connection. If I had an HDMI connection on the Mitsu, it would upconvert everything to 1080p. Again out of luck, but not the problem of the Onkyo.

I'm keeping the Onkyo because I love the way it sounds and I think it will work well when I upgrade to a flat screen 1080p unit with HDMI inputs. Get more detail about Onkyo TX-SR806 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black).