
Setup is fairly easy and straightforward, as the technology has matured. Be aware that one of the places where they cut costs is by removing connection ports for legacy hardware; you may need to buy some external adapter cables if you’ve got some vintage gear you’re still determined to hook into this rig.What sets this system apart is the superb sound quality. Many people who’ve never experienced a Dolby 7.2 surround system before are completely unprepared for the crystal clarity it gives, and it may completely change your opinion of music. (We recommend looking up La Villa Strangiato by Rush, which has nuances that you won’t believe until you hear them on a Dolby 7.2 system.)The Onkyo TX SR607 works at its best when it’s got the full seven speaker array, it does however, support fewer speakers as needed (this is something that’s been standard for digital home theater systems for years, but it’s nice they didn’t cut the feature out). Even with left, right and subwoofer, the Onkyo’s sound quality is impressive. Because of the HDMI interface, it’ll also play nicely with your Blu-Ray player, giving you cinema quality sound to go with cinema quality movies.One place where there’s a drawback with this system is that the HDMI control doesn’t quite meet the full backwards compatibility mode of the HDMI specification. It’s close – and we were eventually able to get it up and running, but CEG HDMI proved to be a bit challenging to configure.If push comes to shove, you can always get an IR repeater, but it’s worth it to cruise the web forums and read how other people have solved their configuration problems before you shell out for another piece of electronics gear.What sets the Onkyo apart is the value, small size and stunning sound quality. It’s fairly easy to set up (HDMI interface glitches notwithstanding). It’s strongly recommended. It’s a very feature rich device, and of very high manufacturing quality.You might have to spend a few days playing around with the remote just to get to know the different features of the Onkyo, because there is a lot to learn.