Onkyo TX-NR818 and TX-NR717 AV receivers are midrange monsters

Onkyo has already launched a range of AV receivers that cater for the entry-level end of the home cinema market - including the feature-packed TX-NR616 - but now it's ready to reveal the two mighty midrange monsters that offer more bang if you've got the bucks.

At £999.99, the Onkyo TX-NR818 is the daddy of the two. It comes with a slightly longer specification list and, like many of its stablemates, is fully network capable with Spotify and Simfy apps on-board.

It sports Audyssey MultEQ XT32 room acoustic correction in order to accurately assess the right set-up specification for different room styles and sizes. It's a 7.2 channel affair, with Dolby Pro Logic IIz, Audyssey DSX and now DTS Neo:X decoding all able to offer front wide or height channels in order to broaden the facing soundstage.

The 818's Video processing is managed by two chips: the HQV Vida VHD 1900 video processor for 1080p upscaling and Marvell’s 4K video processor, which can upconvert HD images to work on 4K2K displays. There are also ISF video calibration controls in its feature set, so the receiver can be set to industry standard.

Costing a couple of hundred quid less, the TX-NR717 also features 7.2 channels, and Audyssey DSX and Dolby Pro Logic IIz decoding. Like the 818, it comes with THX Select 2 Plus certification and similarly comes with Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DACs on all seven channels.

Both receivers come with eight HDMI inputs - one front, seven rear - and two outputs, in order to service both a TV and, say, a projector. They also feature InstaPrevue technology, displaying video thumbnails representing the content on separate connected devices.

As previously mentioned, the Onkyo TX-NR818 will cost just shy of a grand, while the TX-NR717 will be £799.99. Both AV receivers will be available in silver or black and will hit stores in May.

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