Onkyo TX-SR875 review

Weaknesses
It's hard to really find anything wrong with the SR875. The price is probably a little too high for casual surround sound enthusiasts, but if that's the case, Onkyo has a whole range of cheaper AV receivers that might be more appropriate, such as the TX-SR605.

In terms of styling, we really think it's a nice looking kit. But it's enormous, and incredibly heavy. Moving it around is very nearly a two man job. But such heftiness is a sign of good quality, and let's be honest -- you're never likely to want to take it on holiday with you so the weight is unlikely to be bothersome.

We tested the Onkyo with some fairly high-end speakers, and to get the best out of this amazingly powerful system, you'll probably have to spend a few quid on a good speaker system. This will increase the cost of the setup considerably, but the good news is that if you have speakers already, the Onkyo will make the most of them. In addition to the Jamo speakers we tested the SR875 with, we also tried it with some cheaper speakers we happened to have knocking about, and the results were still excellent.

If you are planning to integrate the SR875 into your home theatre, be warned -- it kicks out more heat than some ovens. You should never, ever put anything on top of it, unless you like the smell of burning and the sensation that your house is being burnt to the ground. The Onkyo needs to be well ventilated, and we'd advise against locking it in cabinet unless you can be sure it's well ventilated.

Conclusion
Whatever you want to listen to -- be it movies, TV or even music -- the Onkyo TX-SR875 does a fabulous job at reproducing it. Setup is simple, the machine is attractive to look at -- in a deeply geeky way -- and although it costs a grand, it performs as well as systems costing quite a substantial amount more. 

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday