Onkyo tailors its latest audio products for UK ears

New hi-fi system and home cinema receiver promises high-quality sound for British tastes

11 August 2006 15:04 GMT / By Amber Maitland

Japanese manufacturer Onkyo has released two audio products that have been specifically tuned for UK aural tastes, which are apparently very different from Japanese ones.

The CS-515DAB is a hifi system that plays CDs and features DAB, FM, and AM radio tuners.

Onkyo UK’s general manager, Kengo Iwasaki, explained why the system is so special: “Our engineers spent many months researching UK sonic preferences and analysing the CDs available in the UK".

“To everybody’s surprise, we discovered that Japanese CDs sound great on Japanese equipment but awful on UK equipment while UK-sourced CDs excelled when heard on UK components but sounded dead and inert when played on Japanese equipment.”

If that seems logical to you, read on: the CS-515DAB houses expensive circuitry and comes with 2-way, bass-reflex speakers in wooden housings.

Connectivity includes four audio inputs, a subwoofer output, two analogue audio outputs, as well as a digital optical audio input and the option of a DC output for hook-up of an optional wireless USB adaptor.

The hi-fi system is priced at £300 with matching speakers.

Onkyo has also adapted its new home cinema receiver, the TX-SR674E to British tastes, after extensive listening tests in Europe.

The receiver features all sorts of design innovations meant to improve sound quality, like its expensive internal high-grade plastic moulding.

The device features two HDMI inputs, plus one output, and includes an automatic room equaliser set-up and correction system that detects where all the speakers are and automatically adjusts levels and other settings.

If all this isn’t enough to tempt you, it also supports every type of surround sound to reproduce stereo and multi-channel sources in 6.1 or 7.1 surround sound.

Be prepared to fork out £500 for this receiver with 7 x 150w power output and more input and output connections than you can shake a stick at.