New Home Theater Receivers from Onkyo

Onkyo makes it easy for you to augment your HDTV set with cinema-like sound by adding a home theater-in-a-box or one of two new home theater receiver components. The former is a complete home-theater system; the latter are models meant as replacements for an obsolete receiver in a home where existing or new speakers and a subwoofer will be deployed.

With its four matching satellite speakers, a center speaker and 8-inch subwoofer, the HT-S3500 Home Theater Package will surround you with 660 watts of total power from the moment you make the connections. The package is best used in a small to medium-sized room. The main component is a versatile receiver with four HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. Incorporating HDMI version 1.4a, the receiver supports 3D video (from your Blu-ray Disc player or other source) and an Audio Return Channel (ARC) from your TV. Built-in decoders handle Dolby Digital TrueHD, DD Plus, DTS and HD-Master Audio. If you’ve attached a game console, you’ll want to deploy Onkyo’s game surround modes. The speakers are wall mountable.

Convenience features include the ability to connect your iPod, iPhone or USB memory device via the front-panel USB port. Onkyo’s optional DS-A4 accessory adds an iPod/iPhone dock to the receiver. The front panel analog A/V inputs also allow you to plug in a game console or camcorder. The HT-S3500 contains an AM/FM tuner with 40 station presets, but if you want to experience higher audio quality and more station choices, you should spring for the optional UP-HT1 HD Radio Tuner. Like conventional analog radio, digital HD is subscription-free and locally broadcast.

While the HT-S3500 Home Theater Package is meant for someone who doesn’t plan on streaming music from a computer or the Internet, the most digitally sophisticated product in our threesome—the only one with network connectivity—is the TX-NR414 A/V Home Theater Receiver. As the centerpiece for your 5.1 speaker system, the TX-NR414 puts out 80 watts per channel and contains six HDMI inputs. Like all the models here, it’s both 3D- and ARC-capable. Through its U-Port, it can accept either Onkyo’s iPod/iPhone dock or HD Radio Tuner accessory. The receiver also has the unique ability to provide a picture-in-picture input source preview.

Using its built-in Ethernet jack or optional UWF-1 Wireless LAN USB Adapter, the receiver is well suited for streaming music from a computer or network attached storage device. This is because the TX-NR414 features Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certification. It also has the smarts to play music from such cloud-based services as SiriusXM Internet Radio, Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody, Last.fm, vTuner, Slacker and iRadio (a subscription may be required). You can also play music directly from a memory device you plug into the receiver’s USB port.

The TX-NR414 takes advantage of the Onkyo Remote 2 App for iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. It’s available for free from the iTunes App Store. It’s also available for Android devices through Google Play. From your handheld device you can select Internet radio stations without turning on your TV, stream audio files from a DLNA-compatible server, select an over-the-air radio station, control the volume and more.

The most affordable 5.1 receiver from Onkyo is the TX-SR313 A/V Home Theater Receiver, which puts out 65 watts per channel—a little less than the TX-NR414. The TX-SR313 is equipped with four HDMI inputs instead of six, but it still features the latest HDMI version. Unlike the TX-NR414, there’s no networking capability, so it can’t be controlled by an iOS device or stream music from a computer or the Internet. All these Onkyo models feature 40 FM/AM presets, color-coded speaker terminals, a front USB input, on-screen display via the receiver’s HDMI output and each one comes with an infrared remote.

Click here for Specs on the HT-S3500 Speakers