Onkyo TX NR838 Receiver - Hands on Review

For decades, Onkyo's A/V receivers have been topping best-seller lists. The company's well-earned reputation for producing high-performance, high-value electronics is built on its relentless pursuit of the latest technologies, and a dedication to high-current amplification that reliably delivers knock-out performance. But this year, Onkyo has really outdone itself with the TX-NR838, an A/V receiver that can pull off nearly every home theater trick in the book for the cool price of $800.
If you're interested in Dolby Atmos surround sound but don't have thousands of dollars to spend, then we can think of no better receiver to look to. After a 15-minute firmware update, the NR838 is ready to rock up to a 5.2.2 surround sound system -- that's two fronts, two surrounds, a center channel, up to two subwoofers and two Atmos speakers -- with 130 watts of THX Select 2 plus-certified high-current power.
The receiver is outfitted with built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and two small external antennas facilitate excellent reception. Wi-Fi connectivity allows access to thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as Spotify connect. You can also stream high-resolution audio files up to 192kHz/24-bit, with support for nearly every file type, including FLAC, WAV, ALAC , and WMA. The NR838 also handles 5.6 MHz DSD and Dolby TrueHD formats thanks to top-notch Burr-Brown D/A converters.
On the video side, four of the receiver's six HDMI inputs support 4K UHD video passthrough up to 60Hz, and HDMI 3 is HDCP 2.2-compliant for compatibility with future DRM restrictions. And thanks to two HDMI outputs, you can share HD video with two different displays at the same time.
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