Onkyo Integra TX-7711

[sharnyo]

Does anyone still have this CD player ? I would like to know if anyone has ever done comparison with the recent players out there. I have one for 5 years now and are looking for a replacement that supports SACD ie. Denon 2200/2900.

Wonder if the new universal players would have a better CD sound quality than this one.

[Burke Strickland]

Onkyo Integra TX-7711

I'm not familiar with that model. Are you, perhaps, referring to the Onkyo DX-7211? That one was pretty good especially considering its price. But given that its US and Canadian versions did not have a digital output, assuming you have one of those, you would be limited to using its own internal DACs. Depending on the electronics in your system (receiver or pre/pro or external DACs), that might be an immediate advantage of stepping up to a newer (and not necessarily more expensive) model that could be used as a transport-only, taking advantage of digital outputs.

As for comparing its CD performance against current universal players, some of the "uni's" are notorious for handling CDs as "second class citizens", while others do a fine job, rivaling expensive stand-alone CD players. Even the budget priced Pioneer DV-563A (discontinued but still available at some stores) is considered a very good CD transport, (using the digital outs), since it has stable operation with very low jitter.

A Denon 2200 would probably surpass the Onkyo in terms of sheer musicality in analog mode, with its more up-to-date specs and higher quality DACs, although again, that would depend on the associated equipment to hear the nuances. There has been some debate regarding the relative performance of the 2200 vs 2900 for CD playback, with some suggesting that the less expensive 2200 is actualy better in that area.

Good luck!

Burke

[sharnyo]

Burke,

This one has a digital output. The manual mentioned TX-7411 as a its sibling. It uses the 1-bit accupulse that I saw is still being used by Onkyo in its current offering. I can't find any comparison being done with other more common one.

I am wondering whether I should keep this unit and use it as transport to hook it up later for my Rotel receiver (still waiting), or just replace it with Denon 2200/2900.

Yes, I read somewhere 2900 is superior in video but inferior in sound compared to the new 2200. I already own a decent DVD player, and the only reason I reconsider them is for the SACD. If audio is indeed better for 2200, I may just get it, plus its cheaper by about $250.

[Burke Strickland]

I am wondering whether I should keep this unit and use it as transport to hook it up later for my Rotel receiver (still waiting), or just replace it with Denon 2200/2900.

Now that a digital connection standard for hi-res music sources (DVD-Audio and SACD) is finally being hammered out, I expect that we will see a flood of new universal players in the next year or so with the standard digital connection as a feature (as opposed to some proprietary scheme requiring a receiver or pre/pro from the same manufacturer to use it).

Sounds like a good idea to use your current player's digital connection for CD playback so you can use it as a transport with your newly upgraded electronics (the Rotel). Since you already have a decent DVD player and a new deck would be primarily to be able to play SACD, I’d suggest holding off on getting an expensive universal player at the moment.

Instead, why not get one of the really economical uni’s (like the previously mentioned Pioneer) to get started with SACD, and bank the rest of the money until the newer offerings with the standardized multichannel hi-res digital connections show up and have been properly vetted by the reviewers and other HT hobbyists? I have a feeling that would end up being a more satisfying purchase scenario in the long run.

Burke

[sharnyo]

Thanks Burke. I think your advice is a good one :T . At that time, I should expect the SACD to go down in price as well.