Onkyo 806 AVR-bi amp with Polk SDA's

arkaig1

I've got the Onkyo 806 driving some RTi A9s. The 806 manual claims it will do as you describe experiencing, Rocky.

If you were to switch back to 7.1, I'd be curious to know if the fronts sound better attached via the m282, instead of direct from the 876. Just a hunch. I'm still trying to figure out all this myself.

Barry

rockygreatdane

I originally had onkyo703 and m282 biamped for rti 10s had 703 amp outs to the bass and m282 for tweeters and had 7.1 didn t sound great thats why i got the 876 sounds way better like nite and day but 876 is 40 watts more power though 5.1 sounds really good i have not thrown jumpers back on to see how they would sound without biamping Do you guys think It would make a big diffrence Is there really a big diffrence when you biamp

arkaig1

Rocky, I don't know about bi-amping yet. The 806 manual states that it puts out 130 watts @ 2 channels driven. I hear some say that 7 channels is only at about 40 wpc. I do not know this for fact. I do not know how the 876 behaves either.

If the fronts on the amp sounded better than on the AVR, that would imply it more than hearsay alone.

Bi-amping with the AVR on a 5.1 system puts a 7.1 load on the AVR. If the wattage drops, you would be robbing Peter to pay Paul. A 7.1 with the fronts on the amp would only have a 5.1 load on the AVR. (And the .1 is at line level, so no real load, compared to the 5.0/7.0, which are driven at higher power.) Now "real" multi-amp bi-amping (getting a second m282 and driving the fronts with power from both amps), that might be more noticable. Bi-wiring from the same amp just drives each half at the per-channel power level (again, as I understand it; I may be wrong, and have not tried it myself).

At least that's how I've been able to make sense of the various "nearly conflicting" statements that I've heard folks say about these various configurations.

I very much welcome hearing your actual experiences.

arkaig1

Also, does the 876 have the BTL feature (Bridge Transfer Line?)? That would allow you to borrow AVR power from the surrounds and rears and give that power to the fronts. The 906 has that. I'm not sure but I thought I'd seen that the 876 has that too.

rockygreatdane

the 876 does have btl Arkaig but then i think you would only have 2.1. You take the power from the surround backs because you can assign the surround backs to your fronts when you biamp with just the 876.

arkaig1

That's too bad about the BTL. I had thought it was more variable than an all-or-nothing thing. But it makes some sense.

Anyway, (sorry if you answered before), but if you put your fronts on the amp and let the AVR drive the surrounds, I'd heard it was an improvement (more amps, if not more watts). Worth a try? You tell me.

Good luck Rocky!
Barry

polkmeister

mhw58 wrote: »

I've pretty much decided to buy the 806, I think it's the best bang for your buck receiver. I've read mostly rave reviews of it. Have you had the blue dot issue with blu ray, apparently it can introduce blue dots in some blu ray movies but it seems to mainly be a problem if you use a PS3 which I don't.
Mike

Sorry for the delayed response, Mike --
Yes, I most certainly read about that reported "blue dot" pathology and worried quite a bit about it. But, truly... I cannot tell that there is any blue dot issue with the video out of my 806. FYI, I have it as the AVR command center, running source material in "thru" mode to my flatscreen, Sony KDL52-XBR6. (Which I absolutely adore, BTW.) And, working together, the video is awesome -- what can I say? The only problem I've had is with crappy source material.

I did read an especially troubling experts report that "thru" (from the 806) isn't really thru, and there are some issues with the blackest blacks of high quality source material reproducing faithfully. The guy clearly knew his stuff, and used some heavy instrumentation to perform his evaluation. So we probably read this same report. And, yes, it got me worked up...

But, dude, I can see NOTHING. And I'm the totally anal, type of fool who would have cried if ONE measley pixel had been bad when my flatscreen was delivered (... happily, no tissues were required). So I'd be one of the first to be upset if there were obvious black "issues". But so far I can see nothing, and I've passed the window for returns from Amazon on the 806 WITHOUT qualms.

I'll say this; I have no reason to doubt the expert review (I can't recall original source material... but should be available with a bit of googling.) Maybe someday I'll find the right video source material that will reveals this phenomenon... and gnash my teeth. But I doubt it. Meanwhile I'm one happy camper with the video through my 806 to the 52" XBR6.

Finally, a word of advice.
Bottom line... I suggest going Amazon for the 806. I returned two 606B's to them before I called it quits and went for the 806. Since then I've realized there are a wealth of reasons I'm glad I did. For example, unlike the 606, the 806 has pre-outs (which turn out to be essential now that I'm running the O/P into an NAD 2400 to drive a pair of LSi15's for the fronts). Stable for 4ohm outputs without heating. AND NO BUZZ t'all with Audyssey engaged.

... todos no es possible con 606, amigo.

And -- stated here without a shred of scientific justification, be forewarned -- the 806 just seems to sound damn nicer. But maybe that's some well-known psychological phenomenon associated with spending several hundred bucks more for something. I did listen to the AVR's sequentially... but of course it takes 30m or so to remove one from the HT and substitute the other... long enough for quantitative memory to fade.

Hope that helped... and elicited a few chuckles.
-pm