ONKYO Says They Have the World’s First 3D THX-Certified Receiver

Onkyo has announced March deliveries of its first 3D-Ready home theater receivers and home theater in a box (HTiB) systems. The new models consist of three A/V receivers and three HTiB systems ranging in price from $299 to $599, and all of them support the new HDMI v1.4 connectivity standard (not 1.4a) for new 3D video displays and Audio Return Channel capabilities.  All these new receivers and HTiBs now decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreams, and include new 192-kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown PCM1690 DAC’s that are highly resistant to clock jitter and provide a 113-dB dynamic range. Although both Sony and Pioneer introduced 3D-capable receivers in the past month, Onkyo says theirs is the first one that’s THX-certified.

The new TX-SR608 7.2-channel THX-Select2 Plus certified receiver has new power amplifier section that uses three-stage inverted Darlington output topology, and a power boost from 90 to 100 watts. Audyssey DSX dimensional sound processing has been added to its predecessor’s Dolby PLIIz capabilities. Additionally, all video sources, including those using the new PC input, and regardless of source resolution, can be upscaled to big and beautiful 1080p via HDMI and Faroudja DCDi Cinema. The TX-SR608 will also include a front HDMI input, a feature first introduced by Onkyo in 2009. The TX-SR608 will be available in April for $599.

The 5.1-channel TX-SR308 and 7.1-channel TX-SR508 round out this initial announcement of A/V Receivers from Onkyo. The TX-SR308 will be available in late March with a list of $299, a followed by the TX-SR508 in April for $399.

The HTiB package systems, which each consist of a receiver, speakers and a subwoofer, are the 5.1-channel HT-S3300 and 7.1-channel HT-S5300; the latter also includes an iPod dock. Thanks to the HDMI interface and the use of advanced Dolby and DTS codecs, all of these receivers and systems are also capable of decoding lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. The HT-S3300 will ship later this month with a list of $379, followed by the HT-S5300 in April for  $599.

The new receivers are not on the ONLYO website yet, but when they are, we are told they will be listed here:  http://www.onkyousa.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Receive