The Onkyo TX-8xx Series

When I was a baby in the late 80's my dad worked at circuit city and he bought a whole set up, which includes. A TX 8210 and pair of big JBLs. I've kept them my whole life and they've been wonderful.
Great strong sound, and completely reliable... until I recently moved and both of the L channels no longer put anything out.

Hello @Arthur Smith, where are some good places to look for information on attempting a repair?
Google is your friend.
 
I am new here. Really glad to find this discussion of the Onkyo TX-series. The TX-850 I have owned since the late 80's has given me very good service. One thing I have never figured out: as far as I can tell, the muting feature can be turned on/off only with the remote control. There is no switch on the unit itself for this purpose, at least none that I can find. Now, after all these years the remote has cratered, the amp is muted and has suddenly become useless. I expect there is a simple explanation/solution (other than "fix the remote stupid") for this but it escapes me. Anyone?

Never mind. Went back and carefully read the friendly manual and found that that's just the way the thing was built. Just never really needed to know the answer before the remote croaked.

Now all I need to do is find a working remote......which I did on Ebay. $9.50 plus shipping.
 
Last edited:
I am new here. Really glad to find this discussion of the Onkyo TX-series. The TX-850 I have owned since the late 80's has given me very good service. One thing I have never figured out: as far as I can tell, the muting feature can be turned on/off only with the remote control. There is no switch on the unit itself for this purpose, at least none that I can find. Now, after all these years the remote has cratered, the amp is muted and has suddenly become useless. I expect there is a simple explanation/solution (other than "fix the remote stupid") for this but it escapes me. Anyone?

Never mind. Went back and carefully read the friendly manual and found that that's just the way the thing was built. Just never really needed to know the answer before the remote croaked.

Now all I need to do is find a working remote......which I did on Ebay. $9.50 plus shipping.
I have only seen models with muting on the remote. It pulls the volume way down, in case you get a phone call, and want to hit the button quickly. It does not fully mute the sound.
 
Thanks Arthur. I just ordered a RC-329s on someone's suggestion that it works with the TX-850 (actually TX-830 thru TX-870)as well as the TX-8511. I'll post the result here.
 
I have a TX810 and an 870 Integra. They are well built, nice sounding receivers. My only gripe with Onkyo receivers of this vintage has been with FM tuner performance. They are a bit finicky, for all of their "automatic" gadgetry and lights. I have really tried almost everything, and am thinking about going back to old school basic dipoles, just to see if less is more.

Check out the first page of this thread; the OP discusses how to mod the US version to match the European version that has much better tuner performance.
 
I have a mod TX-85 that I purchased in 1985 and for the last few years only one of the two channels has put out real well. I have kept it
in MONO mode and that has resulted in good music to both left and right speakers. I have not used anything but the FM tuner for 25 years
and it has done a superb job. I would not mind spending a reasonable amount of money to have it overhauled and tuned up if there
is such a thing that can be done. My bigger problem is finding and qualifying someone who was really skilled and able to do the job instead
of just taking it apart and charging me money. Does anyone know of a technician that specializes in these older kinds of units ?
I am In Atlanta, GA
 
I have a TX-870 Integra that I purchased 3 years ago from a fellow AKer. It has been working flawlessly since then. I recently took it in for a routine check-up. The tech just reflowed a few solder joints, that's it for a nearly 30 year old piece of gear. He also benched it at 144 wpc into 8 ohms! FWIW, I can hear a signicant difference when using the Source Direct pass-through vs. having the tone controls set flat; it's much cleaner using Source Direct.

I recently picked up a pair of Polk SDA SRS 2s that really need separates to shine. I'm still using the TX-870 for now and at low-medium listening levels it does a credible job. I won't be getting rid of the TX when I do get around to purchasing separates.
 
Just chiming in... I'm a huge fan of Onkyo regardless of tx-xxx digits aside from the stk models mainly because many boast low %thd. have a pair of tx-82's that I found were pretty damned nice for performance and I found new remotes for them, too. A good indicator of a potential buy is good cosmetics.
 
Ive got 15 of these recievers hooked up to 36 speakers.... hooked up my pioneer sx850 and onkyo tx88 with same speakers and the sound was identical.. onkyo had alittle more power though... so I sold all my silver faces and bought all onkyo's.... that was 6 yrs ago... match these babys up with a tube pre-amp and I was done with up grading... nirvana heaven :)))
 
I have two wonderful Onkyo receivers of the TX series: a TX-870 and a TX-85. While they are both so unique (and extra heavy), I do like the tuner section of the TX-85 better. I know (on paper) it is slightly better in the FM reception than the TX-870, but the 870 just has its own unique sound. I'm keeping both of them! I'm running them through mid-80's Boston Acoustics A-150s. Doing well here, from classical music to Jimi!
 
Pretty happy this has been such a well received thread. Earlier in the summer, I was in a high end hifi store that sells new and brand new gear, including Luxman. The guy tried to get me to "replace" my TX-870 with a used Luxman, claiming it would provide significantly better sound quality. I use the Onkyo as a preamp. Not convinced, I then later looked at a used Luxman receiver for $30.00. I thought it was a high price, just because it had the Luxman name on it. And, in no way to bash the brand, but the build quality and fit and finish on it simply was not that good. My TX-870 keeps on as a daily workhorse. And, I cannot imagine better quality sound.
 
Like you, Arthur Smith, I have several Luxman receivers, integrated stereo amplifiers, and tuners. Each had their own sound (of course) but for "build quality" is definitely ---- in my Onkyos! Glad you wrote that.
 
myu701, The receiver I was using prior to acquiring the Onkyo is a Technics SA 5470, rated at 65wpc. The Technics at say 9:00 was as loud or louder than the Onkyo at 12:30 using the same speakers and music source. The Onkyo seems to be running fine, no problems to speak of. So Onkyo may have been slightly generous with their power ratings. Apart from that I'm pleased with the performance and features of the 844. It's a lot of receiver for the money. If it had pre outs I'd be good to go. :yes:
Could just be a gain difference.
 
Any TX-890 owners out there? I have one that in my opinion idles much hotter than all my other Onkyo gear. The heat is mostly in the front/middle around the heat sink, not the transformer. I can touch the top of the case and it won't burn my hand but I would say it's hot rather than warm. It runs hot idling or playing, I don't really notice a difference. I disconnected the speakers, turned off both speaker channels, set the input to an unused input, and it gets pretty hot just idling there for an hour.

Otherwise everything sounds great so I am just wondering if others have similar experiences with this receiver or if there might be something wrong. Most of my other Onkyo stuff runs much cooler.
 
Just picked up a TX-890 last night. $150. Had remote and original manual. Haven't ran it much but messed with the FM settings and noticed it's switching modes back and forth as I listened to Alice Cooper's "Alice at Night" broadcast. Sounds great when it locks in but I hear a big difference when it switches out from one mode to the other.

Anyone run turntables through theirs yet? How's the MM/MC preamp on this thing? Have some Altecs and some vintage Cerwin Vegas that can really reproduce the bass. Want to make this my party on the patio set up for BBQ and cookouts. Wanted something vintage, decent, and with a remote. Rather a large footprint on this TX.
 
I picked up a TX-88 yesterday for 30.00, with the box. My Realistic 2600 sounds very nice but it seems to lose it's punch at higher levels. I'm not sure what that could be since it is a 100 wpc receiver, it just sounds flat when I crank it. The Onkyo sounds really good at high volumes, with lots of punch from the Dynamic bass boost I'm assuming. One thing though, the CD sounds terrible and I am hoping it's jut the jacks, I'm going to try them on Tape 1 or 2 tonight. I've never owned on Onkyo Receiver but had a few friend that did back in the early 80's, always sounded good to me. Nice thread, even if it is old!
 
Onkyo tx-80 hooked up to yams ns-670, TT sansui fr-d3 with goldring elan cart and not bad for a starter at all. Vintage orchestrated, pop crooners vinyl sounds pretty good. Worth the 30 bucks I payed
 
Someone asked earlier if they ran hot. They sure seem to give off some heat at idle. Least mine does.

Cranked up some Judas Priest and some AC/DC digital sources and played along with the SG. We all sounded very good, until my neighbors came over.

Seriously though, one of the cleanest receivers I’ve heard. Thinking that maybe they are a little under the radar for what they are giving out.
 
Back
Top Bottom