Onkyo Delivers iPod And XM-Ready AVR
By Shane C. Buettner November 10, 2005 — If you ever want a snapshot of what's hot in consumer electronics at any given time, or perhaps even a glimpse of the future, take a look at the connectivity of the current crop of A/V receivers. Onkyo announced in October that it was shipping the TX-SR603X, the immediate successor to its best-selling AVR, the TX-SR602. The new receiver not only offers more power than its predecessor (seven channels of 90-watt power), it requires only a "Connect-and-Play" antenna to receive XM satellite radio and connects directly to Onkyo's DS-A1 iPod dock/charger.

For people fed up with AM and FM, XM and Sirius satellite radio have steadily gained traction by offering diverse, commercial-free music and featuring a broad array of music, talk and sports programming. Gear to connect up with XM and Sirius programming is showing up more and more in home systems and as factory options in automobiles.

Apple's iPod has become so ubiquitous it's referred to in all quarters as nothing short of a cultural shift, and even a "revolution" of sorts. When the TX-SR603X is used with Onkyo's DS-A1, users simply dock their iPod and it becomes a source component for audio playback and serves up any digital photos stored on the iPod. All of the iPod's functionality is controlled through the AVR for seamless integration.

Before any of you audiophiles groan about the sound quality, remember that although the iTunes store confines you to dismally low-quality, compressed digital sound, if you're importing your own CDs to make your library mobile and accessible you can choose Apple's Lossless Coding, AIFF or WAV files and get much higher quality sound, albeit at the price of more disc space. I've been using Apple Lossless Coding when importing my own CDs, which isn't quite CD-quality but dumps even "high bitrate" (320kbps) AAC. So far 836 songs, tallied in my iTunes library as 2.2 days of music, has only taken up 19.7 of the 40GB available on my iPod.

Of course none of the above would matter if the TX-SR603X weren't also well-heeled for home theater applications. In addition to decoding all the most recent Dolby and DTS formats (including ProLogic IIX), three high-bandwidth component video inputs are included, processing is performed by recent vintage 32-bit DSPs, and 24-bit/192kHz DACs are used on all channels. It also includes a microphone for automatic adjustment of channel levels and delays, and composite and s-video signals are upconverted to component video to simplify video switching. Like a growing number of AVRs, if your main system isn't 7.1-channels, this seven-channel receiver can be configured for 5.1-channel use in one room while powering a stereo system in a second zone.

I can't let this announcement slip without mentioning that this receiver also features my favorite acronym of all time, which is WRAT, pronounced to rhyme with the rodent and standing for Wide Range Amplifier Technology.

The TX-SR603X is available now at an MSRP of $500. The DS-A1 iPod dock/charger is also available now at an MSRP of $100. www.onkyousa.com