Onkyo - TX-SR674 7.1 Channels Receiver Review

This receiver is my first upgrade since a Kenwood receiver I purchased back in high school.  I must admit the Kenwood had some serious sound behind it but since I'm not into just volume as much as a nice home theater set up with true surround sound, I dont miss the extra decibels too much.

The many inputs (both digital and analog) and HDMI capabilities are great although it can be a bit tough to go through the setup process the first tie to assign all the inputs.  I do wish it had more than just 2 HDMI inputs however so I can connect not only my HD Dish receiver and PS3 but also my mac mini that I have set up as part of my theater system for iTunes and web browsing on the big flat screen from the couch.

One weird feature that I can't figure out is the Zone 2 capabilities.  It lets you connect a 2nd set of speakers (say for a porch) but it can only play analog signals!  Why in the world they didnt set this up to accept a digital signal is beyond me since this IS a digital receiver.  Since most of my components are digital, I can really only use the 2nd set of speakers to play the radio - boring!

Overall, I rate it an average...would probably be above average for the cost (under $700 at Abt.com) but I still think they could have finessed a couple more enhancements into this system.