Onkyo TX-NR818 AV Receiver. Probably one of the most eagerly awaited, award winning home cinema amps of 2012. Onkyo have included just about everything you could ever desire from an av amp. With 4K upsampling, 3D ready and THX Select2, not to mention the ability to have the TX-NR818 IFS calibrated, plus that amazing QDEO chipset. All these features mean that for home cinema, your perfect one stop, home entertainment hub is the Onkyo NR818.
For connectivity, the TX-NR818 has it all. With the ability to run a 9.2 speaker system and produce a whopping 180w of power for each speaker, is quite an achievement. Not stopping there either, Onkyo has enabled this amplifier to connect to the "cloud" wirelessly, when used in conjunction with the Optional UWF-1 Wireless LAN Adapter via the USB connection.
This will enable you to stream thousands of Internet radio stations, plus play musical formats from MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, to WMA Lossless directly from your music library stored on your PC.
As an amplifier, you can expect big things from this home entertainment hub. Using one of the best audyssey audio sound set-up systems, Onkyo has raised the TX-NR818 up into another realm. You can now experience a performance previously thought unattainable.
Once the TXNR818 has gone through its audyssey auto set-up and is driving your speakers for the first time, you will be asking yourself why you have waited so long for this Onkyo amplifier. Hearing everything the director and producer intended, sound tracks like Tron Legacy will have audio bouncing around the room without any confusion or audio cancellation.
Using the Onkyo NR818 as a video switching solution is something that Onkyo knew had to be good, and the TX-NR818 really is one of the best in the field. Not content with having just one of the best video upscaling chipsets, which would put this av amp into a class of it's own but to have two, is simply breathtaking.
Including the HQV Vida VHD1900 12 bit Analogue to digital converter takes care of any older devices such as the Nintendo wii and any other video signal which does not take advantage of HDMI, up sampling them into as near full high definition as is currently possible. Then using a little bit of Onkyo technology magic, the TX-NR818 will convert this and allow you to output it through either of your two HDMI outputs.
The second video chipset was first seen on the Onkyo BD-SP809 when it was revered as being one of the best upscaling chipsets today. As a result of that success, the BD809 became one of the best selling 3D blu-ray players in its class. How could Onkyo now leave this out of their pioneering sub £1k av amps? The answer is, they could not.
Seeing this chipset in action through the TX-NR818 is sublime. Capable of up scaling to 4k, full high definition presents no problems for this powerful chipset. It is capable of giving almost any visual device a stunning performance, leaving just one other option available for improvement, and that is calibration. Most manufactures at this point would shy away from this option, but not Onkyo. They have ensured that if you choose, you can have the TX-NR818 calibrated to IFS certified level which really is something to shout about.
So, if you have around a thousand pounds to spend on an av amp, then adding the Onkyo TX-NR818 to your must have list is essential. It really is a very special amp, just like the Onkyo TX-SR875, which was one of the best av receivers of all time.
