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The Onkyo TX-8xx Series

Hi all!
This is my first post, but I lurk around...

I currently have an Onkyo Integra tx-ds838, but I am thinking of buying an older tx-870. Is this worth it? Or will it be a lateral move? The 838 is one of the first ac-3 receivers, and I wonder if it will suffer in stereo for that. Will be running it with a pair of Sony APM-77W’s. I’m looking to make more of a “vintage” setup. But not too vintage. I need a remote.

The 838 sounds pretty good in stereo, and has plenty of grunt. Really, I have a terrible sickness that requires me to buy audio equipment!

I really do like the 838, but am looking to get the best bang for the buck.
 
Will be receiving a TX-890 in the next week or so. Seems like these things tend to fly under the radar and that's always a good thing. Nice to see that it is stable down to 2 ohms as well so it should drive my CVs without any issues. Excited to hear how it will compare to my Realistic STA-2100D.
 
lowercasee said:
Will be receiving a TX-890 in the next week or so. Seems like these things tend to fly under the radar and that's always a good thing. Nice to see that it is stable down to 2 ohms as well so it should drive my CVs without any issues. Excited to hear how it will compare to my Realistic STA-2100D.
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It will drive your cv’s past what they can handle. I have tx-890 and pair of CV’s. Probably the cleanest sound and best sounding receiver I’ve ever had. Lots of clean power and full sound. Not found lacking. Also, direct source will sound best as mentioned earlier.
 
desertrat748 said:
It will drive your cv’s past what they can handle. I have tx-890 and pair of CV’s. Probably the cleanest sound and best sounding receiver I’ve ever had. Lots of clean power and full sound. Not found lacking. Also, direct source will sound best as mentioned earlier.
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That's great to hear! At 120wpc, my Realistic pushes the CVs very well, I just can't run 2 sets at a time since they are 4 ohms speakers and the amp is not 2 ohm stable. Most likely going to put the Onkyo in the movie room. There is a set of CV AT-12s in there that I think it will be perfect for.
 
Ran the TX-890 with my CV VS-120s and D2s and it sounded great. Really gets those 120s moving and pushing air. Very crisp and clean mids and highs too. Definitely pleasantly surprised with how much punch it has. After about a week, when I got the speaker relay replaced in my STA-2100D, I moved the 890 into the movie room with my CV AT-12s. It really makes those things sing too! Since my HT receiver in there is also Onkyo, it is a perfect fit for the room. Very happy with the purchase and would highly recommend anyone that comes across one to pick it up.
 
desertrat748 said:
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.
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I ran mine with a set of D9s and it's indeed an awesome receiver. Make sure you have a decent antenna, not just a coax cable. Might want to get a converter to convert the coax to a standard 300 ohm and then use a wire. I noticed my reception was way better that way. I didn't like how hot mine was running so I opened it up and tried to set the isle current per service manual. Was having issues with that where the test point voltage was still drifting. I cleaned the trimmers with Deoxit and that seems to have stabilized the test point voltages for idle current. Ended up upgrading to a P-304/M-504 and sold the TX-890 last week. I have a TX-844 and it has some features that the 890 doesn't, like direct tune. I found that I wasn't a fan of the dynamic bass expander, I felt that I heard delays in it's processing. I prefer to use the variable loudness and keep the bass/treble flat. I don't like the 100Hz boost via the bass knob. Loudness boosts 70 Hz which in my opinion makes everything sound a lot better. I played a few records through it with a Technics SL-1800MK2 via MM and was quite happy with the sound. Wasn't happy with how hot it ran, I suspect there might've been an issue, because it was still warmer than what I am used to despite the idle current adjustments (although it did help). I've had the TX-108 and I preferred the TX-890 to it. I really wish Onkyo included subsonic filters in the late 80s Integra line.
 
lowercasee said:
Ran the TX-890 with my CV VS-120s and D2s and it sounded great. Really gets those 120s moving and pushing air. Very crisp and clean mids and highs too. Definitely pleasantly surprised with how much punch it has. After about a week, when I got the speaker relay replaced in my STA-2100D, I moved the 890 into the movie room with my CV AT-12s. It really makes those things sing too! Since my HT receiver in there is also Onkyo, it is a perfect fit for the room. Very happy with the purchase and would highly recommend anyone that comes across one to pick it up.
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Curious how things are going with two pairs of 4 ohm speakers. Although the manual quotes dynamic power ratings at 2 ohms I didn't think the receiver was 2 ohms stablem. have a set of AT-12s and I think they are 6 ohms. Glad to see others are into the Onkyo/CV combo.
 
blargh22 said:
Curious how things are going with two pairs of 4 ohm speakers. Although the manual quotes dynamic power ratings at 2 ohms I didn't think the receiver was 2 ohms stablem. have a set of AT-12s and I think they are 6 ohms. Glad to see others are into the Onkyo/CV combo.
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Running mine with a set of CV U123s and a set of 6 ohm Wharfedale diamond 8.3 They sound fine even cranked up. Ran with a few others w the CVs and again no problem. I don't know if it's possible to set the DC offset but I will look into that. The previous comment about idle current might make a difference too. When time presents itself.
 
Anyone know what the orange pots on the right/leftt side of these driver boards are for?

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desertrat748 said:
Running mine with a set of CV U123s and a set of 6 ohm Wharfedale diamond 8.3 They sound fine even cranked up. Ran with a few others w the CVs and again no problem. I don't know if it's possible to set the DC offset but I will look into that. The previous comment about idle current might make a difference too. When time presents itself.
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Not possible to set the DC. What is yours? Mine was about 10mV per side.
 
blargh22 said:
Not possible to set the DC. What is yours? Mine was about 10mV per side.
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I haven’t messed with it yet; just the running warmer than I expected. Idle current and then the dc offset came to mind.

Where did you get the service manual for idle current procedure? Vinyl Engine?
 
blargh22 said:
Curious how things are going with two pairs of 4 ohm speakers. Although the manual quotes dynamic power ratings at 2 ohms I didn't think the receiver was 2 ohms stablem. have a set of AT-12s and I think they are 6 ohms. Glad to see others are into the Onkyo/CV combo.
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I have switched things up a bit and I am now using my TX890 to power my VS-80s (6 ohm) and D2E-s (8 ohm) so it's not quite as stressed. The 120s are running on my Peavey CS800 power amp. That said, the TX works very well with the 2 smaller speakers. It's RMS rating is basically the same as the speakers so there is a lot of clean headroom. As much as I love the 2100D, I have moved it to movie room detail where it will work the AT-12s.
 
desertrat748 said:
Thank you! I didn’t realize that it had to be done at max volume, no load. That was interesting. How hard was it to find those terminals for the ID and the other terminal? I don’t know if I can locate them or they are right next to the adjustable resistor?
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I think max volume is a typo it should be min volume. It is easy to find the test points.
 
Yes, the max volume is a misprint. Very easy to test/adjust the bias. One thing I will say is to make sure to turn it on let it sit for at least 15 minutes before checking. When I did mine, it took about that long for the bias to stabilize.
 
lowercasee said:
Yes, the max volume is a misprint. Very easy to test/adjust the bias. One thing I will say is to make sure to turn it on let it sit for at least 15 minutes before checking. When I did mine, it took about that long for the bias to stabilize.
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I’m not a technician and I’m wondering about that idle bias but it says at max volume in the manual twice. Once at the instructions and again off to the right in the settings. Seems like it would be hard to mess up twice?
 
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