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The M1A1/M1A2 Abrams main battle tank. It’s 32 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 8 feet high. It weighs 69 tons. Its gas-turbine engine generates 1,500 horsepower and propels it at 42 miles per hour. The crew of four is fully protected against nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards. A round from its Rheinmetall 120-mm smoothbore cannon can destroy reinforced concrete up to 8 feet thick. The Abrams is the armored fist of the U.S. military as well as that of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Australia. It’s considered the best battle tank in the world.
To my knowledge, Onkyo does not manufacture tanks. Instead, it makes the TX-NR1000. This THX Ultra2-certified surround beast is 17 inches wide, about 9 inches high, and 19 inches deep. It weighs 73 pounds. Its seven amplifier channels can each generate up to 150 watts. It provides all the current THX, Dolby, and DTS processing modes. It bristles with high-tech interfaces, including HDMI, i.Link (a.k.a. FireWire or IEEE 1394), RS-232, and Ethernet. As you’d expect, it’s built like a you-know-what. And it is undoubtedly one of the best receivers in the world.
But the TX-NR1000 is something the Abrams tank is not: future proof. While all military hardware will one day be destined for the scrap heap, the TX-NR1000 is, literally, built to last. Its most innovative feature is its modular construction, which makes it hardware-upgradable. Take a look at the photo of the receiver’s backside. You’ll see the faceplates of removable modules that contain key input/output interfaces.
Much like PC Cards that plug into a computer, these modules can be pulled and replaced with other modules, including those for future interfaces that might not be invented yet, or perhaps source devices or processors that add new capabilities. For example, by early next year Onkyo expects to release new modules for adding digital HD Radio and XM satellite radio reception. (Release dates and prices have not been announced.) Internal software to support new modules or surround modes can also be downloaded and stored via the receiver’s RS-232 terminal.
Onkyo currently offers 12 different modules, all of which come loaded in the TX-NR1000. They accommodate all the traditional audio and video inputs and outputs, the digital interfaces mentioned earlier (more on those in a moment), and an FM tuner module. Given how quickly digital connection standards evolve these days, this kind of protection from obsolescence is one of the best features a manufacturer can deliver.
KEY FEATURES Of course, there are plenty of other amazing details here, all spelled in this monster’s 151-page instruction manual. Space prevents me from describing all of them (see the short list above). But start with, by my count, 42 listening modes, most of which can be tweaked to your personal taste. Then add in three-zone multiroom capability, with the option to power Zone 2 with the back surround amplifiers, which lets you do a home theater in one room and stereo in another without an external amplifier. Onkyo has also taken the traditional speaker A/B switch to a new level, providing two full sets of speaker outputs for all seven amplifier channels — you can set up two 7.1-channel systems in different rooms and flip from one to the other.
Now throw in those very cool digital interfaces, among them the i.Link (FireWire) ports, a pair of flexible connections that allow, for example, the direct digital connection of multichannel DVD-Audio or SACD audio signals from compatible players. (Two eight-channel analog inputs with on-board bass management accommodate players that lack a digital connection.) Or you can daisy-chain up to 17 FireWire-equipped audio sources to an i.Link port and access them as desired from the receiver.
The two HDMI inputs and one output let you move high-def video in and out of the receiver in the digital domain to retain pristine picture quality from a DVD to your TV. Conveniently, the Onkyo upconverts composite- and S-video sources for playback through the HDMI or analog component outputs and will also pass audio through its HDMI output.
On the downside, though, it can’t play any audio signals supplied to the HDMI inputs. You’ll still need a separate digital audio connection from an HDMI-equipped DVD player or other source. Onkyo says the TX-NR1000 was designed before release of the current HDMI 1.1 spec, the first to recognize digital audio inputs but still an interim standard that fails to recognize all multichannel formats. It’s waiting for the v.1.2 spec (said to be imminent) before designing a new module, which would be an optional purchase for TX-NR1000 owners. Still, it’s ironic (and annoying) that a $5,000 receiver designed to prevent obsolescence comes out of the box with an obsolete interface.
Finally, there’s Net-Tune, one of my favorite features in the NR-1000. With the help of proprietary Onkyo computer software and the receiver’s Ethernet connection, the NR-1000 can tap your home network to stream music files from your hard drive and give you remote-control access to Internet radio stations. Awesome!
SETUP The TX-NR1000’s basic A/V was as easy to connect as any other receiver’s. A little audio, some video, the speakers, and you’re done. On the other hand, the Onkyo offers amazing setup flexibility. As a random example, you can configure the effects and playback options differently for DVD-Audio and SACD inputs via i.Link. The receiver’s memory automatically switches to a preassigned surround mode for each source you select. Explore a bit, and you’ll surely find new ways to enhance your setup.
Setting up the Net-Tune module was an extra step that took only a few minutes, and it was the best small chore I did all month. I downloaded the Net-Tune Central software from Onkyo’s Web page and installed it on my Ethernet-enabled PC. Then I connected the receiver, via its Ethernet port, to my high-speed router.
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Voilà! I could play MP3, WMA, and WAV files on my computer using the Net-Tune software and listen through the receiver, using its Music Server source setting. Moreover, I could use the receiver to tune to Internet radio stations and listen to those, too. Its Internet Radio source setting let me select genres, locations, and languages — the receiver accesses the XiVA-net online database to see what stations are available and lets you preset 30 Net radio stations. The TX-NR1000 even displays buffering status as streaming files are received. Of course, Net radio is not the greatest fidelity, but still way fun.
Despite its inherent complexity, the receiver was pretty straightforward to configure and operate. Onkyo prides itself on simple menus, and the supplied RC-558M learning remote is itself a minor work of art. It has terrific heft thanks to its aluminum front panel and is beautifully styled with glossy backlit buttons, a central joystick, a scroll wheel on the side, and an LCD to keep track of things. To switch between source components, just spin the scroll wheel. The remote also lets you program macros (a series of commands invoked by a single button push).
MUSIC PERFORMANCE Of course, all the features under the sun aren’t worth much if the audio integrity isn’t combat-ready. To check that, I listened to a wide range of stereo and surround discs, focusing mainly on recordings of acoustic instruments, which to my ear are the hardest to reproduce realistically. For example, on the surround mix of Blues Traveler’s Truth Be Told, I listened to “Thinnest of Air.” This upbeat song features a rollicking Ben Wilson organ part, snappy John Popper harmonica licks, and quick interplays between Brendan Hill’s high hat and cymbals and Chandler Kinchla’s guitar. It’s very complex music.
The massive TX-NR1000 proved to be perfectly nimble with this track, conveying it without adding or subtracting anything. And that’s good — an amplifier’s job is simply to provide gain, not to contribute any sound of its own. It lacks literary drama, but the highest compliment I can pay any amplifier is to call it transparent. The TX-NR1000 was transparent. Moreover, its arsenal of 150-watt channels provided plenty of firepower, allowing me to pound my listening room (and probably my hearing) with extremely high sound-pressure levels. This receiver can knock out enemy amplifiers with ease. On the measure of sound quality, and the ability to deliver loud and clean power, the TX-NR1000 rates among the best I’ve ever heard.
Likewise, while I’m not usually enamored of ancillary surround modes (most of which are gimmicky and unnatural), I was impressed by what Onkyo provides on this front. As an example, the Orchestra mode very tastefully opened up the surround sound field to provide realistic hall ambience. All in all, in today’s video-centric world, this receiver takes its audio obligations seriously.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE Turning to the cinema side of things, I checked out Touching the Void. This quasi-documentary, a re-enactment of actual events, is one of the best films I’ve seen recently. It tells the epic cliff-hanging tale of two mountaineers climbing the west face of Siula Grande, a 21,000-foot mountain in the Peruvian Andes, and living (barely) to tell about it.
The sound quality from the movie’s Dolby Digital soundtrack was superb. The understated score sparsely and spookily comments on events as they unfold, foretelling catastrophe. But the film’s primary accompaniment is the sound of wind, which alternately whispers or howls through the surround sound field, clearly communicating the overwhelming forces of nature at work. Can 150 watts x 7 convey the sound of a gale-force wind? You bet. The musical score, the effects, and the dialogue were as vivid as anything I’ve heard. I was impressed by the raw audio power under the hood.
I also checked both the HDMI and component-video outputs. These were as impressive as the sound, adding no detectable noise or disturbing artifacts to the digital source. The film’s high-altitude cinematography looked simply awesome on my Samsung DLP rear projector. From both an aural and visual standpoint, the Onkyo is a movie lover’s dream come true.
BOTTOM LINE Could you go into battle riding something less awesome than an M1A1/M1A2 tank? Sure. But would you really want to? Likewise, you could probably enjoy movies and music with a run-of-the-mill receiver. But if you really want extreme operational flexibility, devastating firepower, protection from obsolesence, and sheer strength of build quality to back it all up, then choose the TX-NR1000. It’s a devastating weapon in the battle for home theater supremacy.
Click here to view full lab results.