| Great Deal Onkyo HT-RC180 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black) | |||||
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Onkyo HT-RC180 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black) Features
Onkyo HT-RC180 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black) Overviews The THXSelect2 Plus Certified HT-RC180 combines the latest home-theater functionality with home-network capability to create a compelling mid-range centerpiece. A rear-side Ethernet port enables the HT-RC180 either to receive and output audio tracks playing on your PC, or to bypass your PC and directly stream internet radio stations such as Rhapsody and Pandora. The HT-RC180 provides five HDMI1.3a inputs to handle a range of high-definition video and audio sources. HDMI compatibility also enables the receiver to upscale any video input to 1080p via Faroudja DCDi Cinema. This 110 W-rated receiver also features Audyssey DSXand DolbyPro LogicIIz, two new surround-sound formats that expand the spatial dimensionality of games and movies. On top of all this, you also have Audyssey room-correction and equalization technologies working to create a well-balanced soundstage, no matter the volume level or the shape of your room. Among the other highlights of the HT-RC180 are a customizable remote controller and a proprietary Universal Port that enables single-cable connection of peripheral audio devices. Related Products
Customer Review Best Customer Review : UPDATE 12/23/09 UPDATE I've had my replacement receiver for roughly a week and everything is working well. My system sounds great - right now I'm only driving a 5.1 speaker set up and this receiver handles it with ease. The internet streaming capabilities of the receiver are very enjoyable. Pandora streaming is very easy to set up, and once you've went through the somewhat tedious process of entering your login information by way of remote control, the Onyko provides a great user experience. One complaint concerning the DLNA capabilities - Windows Media Center [along with other media servers I've tried such as TVersity] require you wade through a relatively deep directory structure which can make it painful to search for and stream specific music stored on your local network. If you plan on using this feature my advice is to build a number of playlists on your computer. This way you need only navigate to one file to begin streaming your music. In order to keep the complete review at a reasonable length I'll stop here. Please note that, after receiving a working model that I was able to run the firmware update on, I have increased my rating from 3/5 to 4/5. I am satisfied with this purchase. Original Review: I received my new Onkyo HT-RC180 a few days ago and proceeded to set everything up. I finally got to the point where I could run Audyssey Thursday [12/10] evening and, after successfully doing so and toying with some of the features such as Pandora and DLNA, I believed I was 'mostly' finished with the setup. I figured that everything from here on out would be fun stuff such as tweaking settings and enjoying the receiver and so forth... But then I decided to attempt a firmware update through the included Onkyo 'NET' functionality. The first time I ran the firmware update, after the firmware download was complete but before it could finish writing the new firmware state, the console displayed a mysterious 'Error!!! 3 - 14' message. I immediately went online to look for information. It turns out that updating this model's firmware has been problematic for many people. A number of people were apparently lucky - simply rerunning the firmware update after unhooking all HDMI connections has reportedly worked for some. Fair enough I thought, I'll attempt a second update. I can't get the receiver to respond to any input following the first attempt so I'm forced to pull the power plug to force a reboot. Once the receiver has rebooted, I attempt the firmware update again. An oddity - the remote no longer works, so I have to use the receiver's front console to run setup. Another oddity - the option to run a firmware update under the Setup => 'Hardware Settings' doesn't appear until about 30 seconds after the receiver has been powered on. This is more confusing than it sounds as the 'Hardware Settings' option under Setup is always present and it takes only a few seconds to navigate to where you know from previous experience that the firmware option should be. It would be very easy for someone to simply think this value had vanished and there's certainly no reason to think new items would be added to the list in a few more seconds. Anyway, I finally attempt the second update. This time, after the download has taken place, I see a flash of text that goes by too quickly to interpret which is then immediately followed by a new error code of '3-4.' The console is not locked, I can back out of this error code and attempt to run the firmware update again. During this second consecutive run, no error message is displayed - instead after the firmware download completes, 'VPS Setting...' appears on the console and never changes - the update is apparently caught in an endless loop. I let the 'VPS Setting...' run overnight and, come morning, the situation had not improved. Each time I attempt to repeat the firmware update, I fall into the same pattern where the first attempt sees an immediate error after completing the firmware download ('3-4' error code) and the second attempt, after backing out of the first, locks at 'VPS Setting...' and requires the plug be pulled. This pattern may be repeated over and over again depending on how much of a masochist the user is. So this morning, I call Onkyo support and explain the situation, and the tech on the other end immediately tells me to return the receiver as this product has no USB port and therefore no other way to manipulate the firmware. Amazon has already shipped me a replacement that is due to arrive Monday, I've unhooked and boxed up and shipped off the old one, and hopefully this doesn't happen to me again Monday evening. If anyone else goes through this and sees the same pattern of futility, hopefully this review may be of some help and lead you to cut your losses sooner rather than later. Customer Review 1 : Happy with purchase - Geoffrey Bussiere - I recently purchased the ONKYO HT-RC180 receiver and so far it meets my expectations. The main reasons I choose the HT-RC180 over other ONKYO models or competing brands is that it offered 1080p up-conversion and ethernet connection for a reasonable price. The ethernet connection was important to me for the ability to update the firmware. I bought the ONKYO through Amazon which I highly recommend. The setup was pretty easy but takes an hour or so when you perform the room calibration and firmware update. Once hooked up to your router the receiver basically configures itself. I followed the directions on the ONKYO website and had no problems updating the firmware. One negative thing about ONKYO is their customer service center. This unit is replacing an ONKYO TX-DS797 which was experiencing drop outs during dolby-digital broadcasts. I tried calling the service center and it was horrible. I know they make a good product so I decided to stick with them but I definitely thought twice about it. I hope my new unit works for a long time. Customer Review 2 : Solid Receiver - J. Finkel - Hoboken, NJ This is truly a beast of a receiver. While a lot of companies have been shedding pounds off their receivers and reducing their size, I'm glad to see Onkyo putting out this HT-RC180, which reeks of quality and good taste. Aesthetically, it's sharp and modern...and again, fairly big. Obviously some may prefer a smaller form factor or a unit giving off less heat, but this receiver rocks. The features list is amazing for the price. You can set up to 3 zones with this one receiver or you could go for a full 11.2, though the receiver is rated for a 7.1 system at 110W per channel, so 11.2 may be too taxing. The inputs include a ton of composite, 5 hdmi, but only 2 component, 2 optical audio and 2 digital audio. It also has thx certification, audyssey, front composite inputs, headphone jack, pre-amps, excellent video processing, sirius antenna, video pass through for no lag, input assign, etc. The only gripe I have (besides the industry standard 2 component inputs) is that it will make a loud click when my hdtv channels broadcast a commercial in sd. This is only minorly annoying though. The remote is practical and attractive. It can take a while to figure out where everything on the remote is because there are so many buttons, but it's extremely handy. You press a button to designate which input you are controlling so you can operate the power and settings on (most) other devices almost like a universal remote. Compared to my Denon AVR2310CI 7.1-Channel Multi-Zone Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity, it performs equally well. Both have more than enough power for my 5 Definitive Technology Mythos line of speakers (I also have an Epik Sentinel subwoofer). However, the onkyo is capable of a full 11.2 surround setup, so I didn't expect 5 speakers to show any strain. The biggest difference between the two for me was the remote control. The Onkyo has a far superior remote (and front panel buttons), which makes any task relatively easy. Also, the onkyo has slightly better menus, gets much hotter, and offers a few more inputs. It also was a bit more powerful and very slightly cleaner sounding. The Denon seemed to have better video processing and more audyssey measurements. If the two were priced the same, I'd favor the onkyo slightly, but you can probably find the denon cheaper if you try. |
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Onkyo HT-RC180 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black)
Posted by richy | 8:10 AM | (Black), 7.2-Channel, HT-RC180, Network, Receiver, Surround | 0 comments »
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