TX-SR805 Listening Tests

I evaluated the Onkyo using multi-channel and two channel source material. I used the Toshiba HD-A2 over an HDMI connection for HD-DVD, DVD, and CD audio decoding and a HTPC with an Audigy 4 soundcard over an analog multi-channel connection for DVD-A decoding. The Onkyo was used to drive a 7.2 setup consisting of Infinity Beta series loudspeakers for the high frequency array and a pair of JL Audio Fathom subs at the bottom. For both film and dedicated music source material, the TX-SR805 was set at an 80 Hz crossover point. Source material was reproduced in its native format, either multi-channel or stereo, with the Onkyo set in two channel mode for reproduction of stereo material and engaging the Beta 40 towers for the upper frequencies.

Overall, the receiver was musically satisfying, with a character similar to the TX-SR602, but with audibly more heft and solidity to the sonic signature, likely due to the more substantial power supply under the TX-SR805’s hood. The result of the heavier power supply gave added three dimensional depth, beyond what the 602 was capable of, breathing a little more life into the dynamic range of the reproduction. I found the TX-SR805’s sound to be natural, relative to the price point; it was smooth with minimal electronic etching and a good level of detail and control.

In comparison to the reference Rotel, the differences tended towards effects at the audible frequency extremes. The Onkyo did not sound quite as detailed or have as much spatial depth, and upper treble output was not as open or airy. Generally, words such as openness and air are qualitative audiophile speak for accurate reproduction into the ultrasonic range that, while inaudible, interacts with audible frequencies, indirectly adding to the naturalness of the playback. The TX-SR805 also did not sling surround effects about the room quite as quickly as I am used to. When considering such comparison, realize that the price difference is a factor of two between these pieces of hardware; such a price disparity indicates that they should not be considered direct competitors. Sonically, the TX-SR805 will compare favorably with or better than other price competitive receivers.

After some time with the receiver au natural, it was time to try out the Audyssey room acoustics correction included with the TX-SR805. Running the setup routine is as easy as plugging in the included test microphone and following some simple steps that mostly involve pressing the enter button on the remote and shutting up until the procedure is finished. Once complete, just about any system should sound better. How much improvement, of course, depends upon the state of the acoustic environment in the room before Audyssey is engaged. Poor acoustical environments will experience improvement that is more drastic and even relatively good environments will still have improvement, as no room is perfect.

With Audyssey engaged, I found some noticeable but not drastic improvements, mainly in terms of sound field solidity. This will be true for any room where some pains have be taken with the physical environment to minimize negative acoustical effects. I found a subtle, but noticeable increase in the coherency of the sound field in general, improved localization and envelopment, as well as improved low level detail. Discrete effects were more focused across the front stage, sound pans tracked more solidly across the field, and diffuse environmental effects more enveloping. The improvements also affected subtle sound effects and quiet sections of music scores, which were more distinct and spatially separated, not jumbled with other sounds when Audyssey was engaged. Improvements to the fullness and solidity of the perceived audio are attributable to controlling comb filtering from room boundary reflections.

One of the more noticeable improvements was that dialog simply sounded more realistic. As a combination of many detracting factors, realistic dialog is always tricky to get right; all too often, actors sound like they are talking out of a box. This can not be corrected in every circumstance, but Audyssey MultEQ XT goes a long way to putting on the finishing touches to get most dialog closer to that most elusive goal of sounding completely natural.

With DTHD and DTS MA capable receivers just coming to market, the configurations of currently available players assume no external decoding capability, so because of this I was unable to test DTHD directly. However, LPCM is inherently lossless meaning that all of these encoding schemes are theoretically identical; the only potential source of difference in the recreated waveform is the possibility of compounding discretization error due to the multiple decoding/encoding steps. Eliminating the additional conversion may prove negligible to the perceptible audio quality, but the potential to introduce unwanted error is always best avoided if possible. The main advantage of the lossless audio codecs like DTHD and DTS MA, now available with HD optical discs, is that they are identical to the studio masters but take up substantially less space than uncompressed LPCM.

Simply put, using lossless audio such as DTHD provides an audibly fuller sound than its lossy Dolby Digital predecessor does, and yet the sound quality is simultaneously more detailed and transparent, making it that much closer to natural sound. The sonic quality also no longer suffers from many of the artifacts that produce flat, lifeless sound reproduction. As a video analogy, many reviewers have cited an increase in the three dimensional illusion in HD video due to better separation of individual images because of improved edge definition; the same is true of the benefits to higher resolution audio.

Generally, I found that Audyssey produced improvements that were most obvious with HD audio sources than with typical DVD audio sources. The explanation likely resides in the fact that this is more detail to be affected by a less than optimal acoustic environment, so that when correct, a greater quantity of detail returned. As I discuss what the TX-SR805 was sonically capable of in the subsequent sections, I will focus on these sorts of improvements when combining a good receiver with HD audio and Audyssey capability.

Batman Begins (HD-DVD, DD DTHD)

The well recorded soundtrack for ‘Batman Begins’ is provided in Dolby TrueHD encoding for the HD-DVD release, allowing the opportunity to hear it reproduced using a lossless codec. While it seems to be true that current players default to reencoding DTHD into uncompressed LPCM, it is still a lossless format and hopefully enthusiasts who support early adoption will be treated to firmware upgrades as more receivers and pre/pros come to market able to perform direct DD+, DTHD, and DTS MA decoding without the translation to LPCM.

Best put, the sound field generated by the Onkyo with DTHD and Audyssey simply sounded more spread out. The improved transparency that I spoke of above can be described as increasing the openness and sense of space, making a hitherto unnoticed congestion obvious by its absence. Fullness, depth, detail, coherency, envelopment are all words that come to mind to describe the improvement.

With the Onkyo’s full capabilities engaged, orchestral swells used throughout the film were spacious, fuller, and lighter. In many instances, the timbre of accompanying percussion became more natural, detailed, and much better separated when reproduced with the TX-SR805 at its best. Dialog benefited greatly with Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, and Ken Watanabe delivered with noticeably improved presence and solidity. The size of the acoustic space of the orchestra hall during ‘Mefistofele’ increased to new levels of realism and the cracking of the ice expanse during Bruce Wayne’s training extended into the distance. The Onkyo also did a fine job of increasing the sonic space of the bat cave, echoes were enveloping, the waterfall sounded more realistic, and the churning violins were well separated and given their own space off to the side. The Onkyo gave new life to sound effects and pulsing percussion during fight and flight from Arkham while the bat mobile was provided with a remarkable level of presence. Sound effect movements of the collapse and crash of the monorail and as Batman made his flyby after escaping were rendered as very coherent. Closing out the film, the TX-SR805 rendered a detailed and clean reproduction of the score; notes from individual instruments had more sonic shape, separation, spaciousness, fullness, and transients were crisp.

Serenity (HD-DVD, DD+)

I again turned ‘Serenity’; an underrated movie that features a well recorded musical score and sound effects that benefit from the improved audio codecs available on HD optical discs. The soundtrack captures many taut acoustic transients, in both the score and effects, which can become very three dimensional when reproduced on quality audio equipment. The score combines orchestral acoustic instrumentation and percussion with electronic elements providing layers and depth. The recorded sound effects are capable of developing a cohesive sound field with good directionality throughout the action such as during ship flybys and battles when handled correctly with good quality audio gear.

The improvements to clarity and acoustic space were again evident in the TX-SR805’s audio presentation. While not lossless, the improved bit rate of Dolby Digital + (DD+) eliminates of many of the shortcomings of DD that commonly lead to the belief that DTS sounded better. The TX-SR805’s sonic capabilities were able to showcase the improvements quite nicely, revealing lost sounds, added richness, and coherency. Of particular note, sounds with higher transient demands seemed to stand out from the sound track with noticeably improved separation. With the TX-SR805, sound effects were less clumped making individual sounds more distinguishable. Transient musical sounds, such as percussion and acoustic guitar, were also crisper and better separated from the other instrumentation. These types of transient sounds perhaps benefited the most from Audyssey, as they are more sensitive to phase errors where the sharp attack can be smeared and blunted.

The orchestral score throughout the film and closing credits definitely sounded more natural and spacious; the TX-SR805 could pull out additional depth from the score, spread it out, and separate inner detail. Inner synthesizer parts folded in with the acoustic instruments were pulled out from within and given better separation and improved character. Various passages with featured percussion gained additional three dimensional depth. Engine noises and hull groans during atmospheric reentry in the first scene following the title were more detailed and better localized. As the planet-side town comes under attack by reavers, a bell tolls in the distance, an impressive and realistic distance. Port and city sounds on Beaumont were more enveloping through the Onkyo, revealing details coherently, as were the sound effects and the synthesizer score through camera pans through the ion storms as Mr. Universe is introduced. I found subtle, dissonant background violin parts revealed in the quiet as Serenity passed through reaver space. As the film reaches its climax, battles in space and on the ground took on new presence, the TX-SR805 provided great improvements in solidity, localization, and detail, all adding to the overall sonic space. As the final scene opens, the TX-SR805 brought rain.

Battlestar Galactica: Miniseries (DVD, DD)

Well written science fiction is always really about people and about change, a thought experiment into what happens to people in the face of change. Technology is one vehicle to introduce change, but in the more literate works of the genera, it does not dominate or supplant the story as it all too often does in common popular culture interpretations. The reimagined Galactica takes the very dark premise of the original story and examines it in a way that the original did not attempt: the fall of human civilization and the flight of the remnants from destruction at the hands of their own creation. On a fundamental level, the story is a variation of themes from Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ where hubris and improper handling of creation leads to disastrous consequences. This well written show features an equally well written and engaging musical score, drawing from nonwestern musical sources, which compliments the dark atmosphere. I will definitely be looking forward to the upcoming HD-DVD release.

Once again, all the audio spatial cues were expanded with the TX-SR805 fully engaged. The sonic envelopment was top notch for a receiver, with sound effects that attempted to depict large spaces allowed freedom through the Onkyo. I found that the receiver provided clean musical detail, allowed nuances and subtle shades of instrumental timbres to sound unfettered, and dialog to become solid and natural.

The opening title music is simply percussion; and through the TX-SR805, the timbral character of that percussion became well pronounced and more palpable. The ambience of the open space in the landing bays was unusually realistic, the ambient sound effects and voices as Apollo lands and his Viper is secured by the dock crew, the size and coherence of the open bay during the decommissioning ceremony as Apollo performs a flyby to a PA quality fanfare using the original show theme as Adama commences his speech. The envelopment of battle was also very coherent through the Onkyo as fighters fly by, overhead, swirled in weapons fire. As with isolated percussion, segments with orchestra score had well separated instruments that were detailed and rich with their own flavors. Of particular note was an occasional eastern flute, likely a surdu, which really took on a solid, audibly rich, reedy presence through the TX-SR805.

Porcupine Tree: In Absentia (DVD-A, DTS)

A recently acquired Audigy 4 sound card, capable of true DVD audio decoding, has lead to my first experiments with HTPC when I decided to take an unused PC and spruce it up a bit with a new AVIVO capable Radeon video card as well. While the advantage of DVD-A is that it can be decoded through any DTS capable DVD player, albeit rendered using only the lossy core encoding, it has been much more enjoyable to finally become familiar with the uncompressed recording.

Using “In Absentia’, I was able to have a listen to the Onkyo’s multi-channel analog capabilities which did not disappoint. Far too many midrange a/v receivers sound flat and somewhat sterile, which is particularly noticeable with dedicated music material where there are no flashing lights from a TV to distract the careful listener. The TX-SR805 presented an enveloping sense of three dimensional acoustic space with a seamless coherency to the sound field. The sonic character of the Onkyo would best be described as smooth, full, and present when playing this recording. Exposed vocals retained a natural character while the myriad of layered harmonies was rendered richly but with nuances and detail remaining unobscured. Throughout listening to this recording using the TX-SR805, I founded added dimension and shape provided to Richard Barbieri’s subtle, intricate synthesizer performances. I also noticed some nice percussion character with drums that had a richness of timbre while metals came across as very natural, not overly bright.

Acoustic guitars during ‘Trains’ were presented by the TX-SR805 with a lot of spatial depth out of the front channels. The three dimensional characteristics were enveloping; the TX-SR805 added depth but avoided pulling the instruments too far behind the listener, which can become annoying when overdone. I found the timbral quality of the guitars to be quite natural, sonically smooth, and rendered with a revealing level of separation between the multiple layers. Vocals during ‘Gravity Eyelids’ hung in space with the layering nicely revealed through the Onkyo and various synthesizer and surround effects were well localized in space and palpable. Vocals and guitar separation during ‘Prodigal’ were again quite good, vocals were natural, and TX-SR805 provided a well developed sense of three dimensional acoustic space. ‘Heart Attack in a Lay-by’ opened as cars pass by with the Onkyo creating space and enveloping the listener in the swirl of piano, electric piano, synthesizers, and guitar while the layered vocals are suspended in air, closing in a richly layered but clear vocal fugue.