Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great sounding receiver - software and Wi-Fi connectivity need a bit of work. I do like this receiver, it sounds great, has plenty of power and plenty of connection options. The Wi-Fi on it however is pretty flaky - I find quite often in the middle of AirPlaying to it, it just disconnects and takes 15-30 seconds to reconnect to Wi-Fi. I do not have this issue with any other device in the house, including my phones, Apple TVs, AT&T STB, Samsung TVs etc. Once on the Wi-Fi, the network steaming options are also a bit flakey - I get "Now initializing" on the screen a lot and have to pull the plug to get the thing to reboot and start working again. Please update the software.

First, this Onkyo does output excellent sound, but there may be some issues getting to that point. The problem has been solved. Here it is: sometimes the Onkyo lost communication (via ARC) with my Vizio TV; that is, no sound. Onkyo phone support had me reset, reboot, unplug, disconnect, etc. both the Onkyo and my TV in various combinations, but still no sound. Then some days it would work perfectly. Finally discovered the problem was the notebook computer I was plugging into a different HDMI on the TV to get a movie on the weekend. If I turned on the TV/Onkyo first and then plugged-in the computer, I got sound, but no on/off or volume function. I could live with that. However, if I plugged-in the computer first, I got no TV-to-Onkyo communication at all. This happened even when the computer was off!! I was about to switch to an optical (TOSLINK) cable (instead of HDMI cable) to carry audio from the TV when I made this discovery. Instead I replaced the notebook computer with a new Roku - problem solved. (Thanks to Vizio support for suggesting that sometimes different HDMI plugs may interfere with each other.) Don't blame Onkyo for this problem (it was either the TV or the computer), but they should have anticipated this. There are some minor quirks when switching from radio tuner or CD back to TV or vice versa. The TV may come on at MIN volume. You think it's off, but you just have to turn up the volume. Sometimes when switching from TV to tuner, it jumps back to TV. These are minor issues. Be aware, but not a real concern. Also be aware that all the fancy sound fields are only as good as your source. Most of the TV/computer based apps (eg. Netflix, HBOmax) at best are sending Dolby 5.1 audio, and your TV needs to be able to send bitstream data. Several sound fields are perfect for this, and they sound great. Would Dolby Atmos sound better than Dolby 5.1? I don't know, but 5.1 through the TMX setting on the Onkyo sounds pretty darn good with the big movies. (If your source is limited to 2.0 stereo, don't worry, there are also some sound fields that will make the 2.0 stereo feel like surround sound.) All considered, the sound coming out of this unit is spectacular. There is a handy Quick Menu button on the remote for making sound adjustments on the fly. Be sure to learn how to use this. Finally, a comment about setting up the balance of your speakers. My front speakers are much larger than my rear speakers. I suspect that is the case for many people. I set the rear speakers several units higher in volume than the front. You can do this in the Onkyo speaker calibration menu. This dramatically improved the surround sound effect.

I really wanted to give this 5 stars, and keep it, but ultimately I had to return it. I wanted to leave a review though to help others. I've owned Onkyo in the past and really like the brand and quality I've seen from them and at first blush this receiver seemed like no exception. One of my front speakers is slightly quieter than the other and while this is no fault of the receiver this model doesn't offer independent volume levels for the front left and right channels; they can only be adjusted together. I was willing to overlook this as the fault was with my speaker and not the receiver until I was watching a Monday night football game and noticed the rear channels were much quieter than they should have been. I went in to the menu to turn them up only to find there is no option for rear channel volume. For many people these things may not matter but in a receiver priced at $649.99 they shouldn't be optional features, I expect them to be standard on even a base model.

Upgrading from a 5 year old denon, wanted something that could do atmos. My living room isn’t very big, so I didn’t need anything over 7 channels. This thing definitely has more power than my old receiver, and I really like how it makes my speakers sound. They are clearer, and can get louder. I also really like the GUI. Easy to find what I was looking for. If I had any complaints, I’d say I don’t like the built in calibration. Measurements were wrong as were crossovers. Easy enough to do on my own, so I don’t hold it against it. Also wish there were pre outs, but at this price point it makes sense for them not to be. Overall, very happy with this receiver. Don’t think I’ll need to upgrade for a long time .

Incredible....let me say that again; Incredible sound. I am running Klipsch 5.1.2 and this thing really makes a massive difference. I was using a comparable Denon which I purchased a year ago and the Onkyo smokes it. Easy to set up and a real pleasure to operate. I just can not express the difference in the sound quality. It was a huge upgrade for the same price. Onkyo = performance.

I was looking for a worthy replacement for my 2013 Pioneer VSX-70, as it doesn't support some of the newer audio formats (like Dolby Atmos, for example), and this Onkyo's reviews were difficult to ignore. I just upgraded my TV, and I'll be upgrading my speakers sooner than later, so I knew I was working on something of a budget. This receiver fit the bill perfectly - a robust set of powerful features that can handle all modern media, but it doesn't break the bank at purchase. Despite my numerous input and output needs (TV, Cable, XBOX, PS4, Switch, Wii, 4K Player), the unit was fairly easy to set up, and it has serviced each of them well. I would highly recommend this receiver!

The receiver does well enough to power my 5.1 system.the ease of use with my fire stick is awesome. Switching from regular music to streaming is awesome. The onkyo app needs some work to be done but the receiver is more than I expected

Seems to be a good receiver. Setup was very easy and its full of features. Handles all audio formats and 4k HDR signals. Build quality is very sturdy. Just be aware this is not a small receiver make sure you have space for it. The only complaint is that I wish the remote was more substantial. It's a decent size remote with many buttons but just feels a little cheap and light. Plus it's not back lit. But other than that it's a great product.

Bought this unit to replace the tx-nr609 which lasted me 10 years of daily use of listening to music and watching TV and movies. This was a great unit, so I’m hoping this unit will be just as good and last another 10 years. So far so good! Setup was straightforward like the last. Remote is a bit more simplistic which is great for the wife and kids! Sound quality and power is great and the different listening modes enhance the quality of what you are watching. What I like the least is it’s connection with Google Assistant as it worked great upon first setup, but now is always a problem. I would recommend this receiver to anyone looking for a quality daily receiver that is in the mid price range.

Lots of HDMI inputs. APP works well. Runs my 5.1 great. Only flaw I find is zone 2 will not play what us in zone 1 if it is from one of the HDMI port.

Manny features in one unit including atmos and 4k upscaling. Adequate power per channel. Remote could be better and should be a universal remote for t.v.and cable as it used to be

This receiver was very easy to setup for Zone 1. Zone2 was a pain and took lots of trial and error. Hopefully these tips will help. Zone2 is not set up when you do the automatic speaker set up for Zone 1. You have to go back into the speaker settings (config 2-1) and turn it on. Now I am able to plug my Roku into HDMI 1-3 and Stream the same thing in Zone 1 and 2 out from the Zone 2 (HDMI out) and on Zone 2 the Sound is on the TV and Zone 2 Speakers. You can then use you phone app to control receiver volume etc. for Zone 2. Zone 2 Chromecast & Apple Play works when you stream to them but you have to stream first to Zone 1 and then you use your phone app to pick the source for Zone 2. It would've been nice to be able to stream directly from the beginning to Zone 2 but I don't think you can can do that.

Excellent receiver with all the bells and whistles, audio is great out of the box and after calibration it suits my room Got this receiver at excellent price from Best buy and will recommend to anyone looking for a mid 4K Dolby Atmos receiver

This Onkyo TX-NR696 replaced my old Sony receiver that started having serious issues after 20+ years of faithful service. Technology has come a long way in that time, and this Onkyo is a great example of just how far. Not only does it sound great, it's really intelligent and intuitive. The sound fields are very satisfying and the flexibility of the A/V inputs and features are a delight. Very happy with this purchase (and so are my speakers).

Initial setup was tedious and time consuming. The effort is worth it. This is a good low cost A/V for the money. I'm running this A/V receiver with the 3.1 channel setup. The amp has no problem powering 2 towers, 2 subwoofers and a center channel. There are lots of settings that can be used to tweak the sound. It's worth the effort to figure out. The Play-fi audio works as well as the rest of the Play-fi speakers I have which is great when it works. Play-fi isn't reliable.

This sound of this receiver is amazing. It's not so much the high power but the soundstage of the movie or music. It is a full sound. I located an "excellent open box" at one of the stores and I love it! I compared this one to the Sony 790, however the Onkyo features won me over.

This is a great receiver. This is my 3rd receiver I purchased from Onkyo and they just keep getting better. Awesome sound, THX Certification. Best feature, separate Voice, base and treble control on 7.1 sound. Now the voices are loud and not drowned out from loud background sound. I using 7.1 with a nvidia box. This box allows atmos and dolby vision to pass through with no issues.

The Onkyo replaces my dead (after just 3 years) Sony. The interfaces are extremely user friendly, setup is a breeze, sound options are endless. Sound quality and response is so much better than my old unit. The app for control of the unit is great. Haven’t found anything as a con yet on this unit. Bought us because CNET rated it at the top and they are right!

This receiver puts out a lot of power. It is very clean sounding with a ton of features and the price being as low as it is seemed too good to be true. The surround is amazing paired with a powered sub. Check out the specs just all around impressed for the bang for the buck on this one and would recommend it to anyone without hesitation.

I sure do love my receiver, from its ease of use to it almost being intuitive of the way the functionality of it operates. I like how the settings of the different sound formats adjust automatically. To the sound Collaboration set up basically onkyo included a microphone that you plug in the receiver and they place the microphone in the center of the room and it sets up the settings automatically from what it detects from running the speakers. I absolutely love my new receiver.