Owner's Reviews of TX-8511:

Onkyo's Owner Reviews offer our customers the opportunity to share with others their experiences with our products.

Found: 32 reviews for TX-8511

Great stereo receiver

Reviewer: Brian from Albuquerque 03/23/06
The TX-8511 is a great piece of equipment. I have an Onkyo system in my home theater and needed a stereo receiver for my living room. I can run a CD player, computer for mp3s, separate minijack for the ipod, and a turntable through it. It even has video ins and outs to hook to your TV/DVD setup. I have it hooked up to two pairs of Polk R15s in separate rooms (the unit has A and B speaker outs). They are small, but the Onkyo really makes them shine. The only drawback is lack of a subwoofer output. That's fine though as long as you get a woofer with line-in inputs.

I bought a refurbished model and it looks and performs good as new.

Great Sound & Power

Reviewer: David from Bennington, VT 02/28/06
I purchased this unit refurbished from Onkyo online. It sounds and works great. No problem driving my Cambridge Soundworks Tower II speakers. You get what you pay for with Onkyo!

Good sound, great value

Reviewer: Jerry Graham from San Diego 02/06/06
Great mid-fi receiver. Much better, more musical sound than competing products from Sony, Yamaha, and Harmon Kardon. I use it for a second system in my bedroom and it is a great solution. Just bought another for my girlfriend.

My first Onkyo Receiver

Reviewer: Vishal from Maryland 02/02/06
I had a Bose wave radio with CD and though I was happy with it I always wished to have a component system for the power and expandability. There comes Onkyo. I had once listened to a Bose-Onkyo combo system and liked it. After going thru several online reviews I decided to go for an Onkyo 8511 with Bose acoustimass speakers. its AMAZING. I'm not much into surround sound - stereo rocks! and if you love stereo too, you'll love this system.

Great Value for the Money

Reviewer: John Carlo from Antioch, CA 01/25/06
I bought my Onkyo refurbished from this website and it came nice and clean. It says cosmetic defects on the outside box but I found nothing wrong with the front or around the receiver. It is clean and it seems brand new to me. The sound quality is very good at this price you just need to match this receiver with a decent speakers that can handle the receivers power. I can hear details in music that I have not heard before. It is a good buy at $160 for ClubOnkyo members. I just wish they built this receiver with better speaker connectors and also preamp outputs.

Money well spent!!

Reviewer: Rich Long from Portland OR 01/25/06
I am totally stoked on this reciever I have a pretty good set of speakers that I never really heard till today big difference from my old HK reciever that I payed almost three times as much for. No complaints for the price !!

Classic Onkyo quality

Reviewer: Patrick from Seattle 01/22/06
I am very happy with the great sound from the TX-8511 and the price was so low I had to buy it. I would like better speakers connectors but they work fine. I now own 9 Onkyo products and as always I am very happy with the quality. I will buy from Onkyo again.

Pure Sound Again!

Reviewer: Morris Booker from Murfreesboro, TN 11/21/05
As a teenager I was into audio seriously and had some fantastic equipment which through the years was dispersed here and there. Several years ago I started trying to put together a system like I remembered from the past. I didn't have the time to become a true audiophile again and so I purchased Technics, Sony's, etc., but always felt like something was missing. Figured maybe I just didn't have the hearing I used to have or maybe I just had poor memory.

After a little research in the audio forums I felt Onkyo might do well for the price range. I set up my home theater and it was great but I wanted "PURE" sound for listening to music and decided to try out the TX-8511.

MAN was I in for a surprise! There it was again, the sounds I had remembered and sought after for so long!!! Crisp, clear, full spectrum sound that dances in your head and crawls in your veins taking over your senses and enrapturing your soul!!!

WOW! Onkyo, you've done a fantastic job building this unit!

Excellent soundstage with crisp and clear highs, full midrange, and nice tight bass on my Fisher ST-830's, JVC's, and Polk R-15's. Not the best speakers for sure but this unit makes them sound really rich! Crystal clear pure sound! I love it! Remote Integration works well.

XM radio performs nicely over this system. The FM reception is very good in my area just outside of Nashville I haven't tried the AM yet.

High quality at a low price. No corners cut here. Wire terminals are no problem for me. Same thing on my speakers.

Nothing but good sound here! Thanks Onkyo for a wonderful experience.

Wow!

Reviewer: Jim from Florida 11/19/05
All I needed was a solid 2-channel receiver to drive my 4-ohm Wharfedale speakers and the TX-8511 fits the bill nicely. Having a loudness button (Onkyo calls it "selective tone control") was a pleasant suprise... I use it at low volume levels and usually turn it off for high volume. This is a great receiver and I'm quite happy.

Pro's: Built like a brick outhouse, sounds great, loudness button, drives 4-ohms with reserve current to spare. Also very simple to operate, gotta love the soft touch buttons.

Con's: No subwoofer output, "guillotine" clamp style speaker connectors.

POWER!

Reviewer: Shane from Wyoming 11/11/05
If you want super clean power...this is your receiver. I've teamed this with Bose speakers and have a system that sounds great. I could have spent a lot more money but then I would not have gotten such great sound. Thank you Onkyo!!!

A Worthy Replacement for My Carver

Reviewer: Rodion from Virginia 11/09/05
Purchased the refurbished model to replace an '80's era Carver receiver. I probably paid around $800-900 for the carver and $125 for the Onkyo. Without hesitation, I say that the Onkyo is a much better value. Not quite up to the Carver's sound and excellent FM reception, but for $125 I ain't complaining.

Great Receiver!

Reviewer: Michelle from Calif 09/26/05
I was looking for a receiver that I could use to run speakers in separate rooms as well as speakers for outdoor application. After shopping for about 2 months I narrowed it down to this receiver and love it!! I mainly bought it based on the fact that I have other Onkyo products and have had great luck with those over the years, very reliable. Also because I did not need a receiver that had home theater application. This receiver is solid and has great sound quality. I would definitely recommend this receiver.

tx-8511

Reviewer: Paul Hamilton from Lakeway, TX 09/25/05
I originally bought this because it was the most receiver i could afford at the time ('98) and now would only consider trading out for fairly expensive separates. I’m currently using my 8511 with some old 4 piece Fraziers from the late 50's and really couldn't ask for more. What doesn't it do? It would be nice to have pre out/main ins but that's all it lacks in my book. A real solid performer overall. One can't go wrong with this piece and its having been around this many years proves it.

Great receiver for the Money !

Reviewer: George from Miami, Fl 07/11/05
I purchased the TX-8511 to replace a 19 year old Onkyo Integra 870.

I'm running it with Bose Acoustimass 5 and it sounds Great!

I could not be more pleased, I just wish they had used something better than spring clips for the speakers even though it doesnt seem to have any real effect.

WOW

Reviewer: MIchael from Bethesda, MD 05/21/05
With the extreme popularity of home theatre surround sound, 2 channel stereo receivers are becoming a thing of the past. I personally own a 6.1 surround sound system, which works wonders for movies, but falls drastically short with music. My father, who used to sell stereo equipment (once upon a time), used to live by the saying “buy your electronics from Japan, and your speakers from America”. He has, and always will be an Onkyo man when it comes to audio needs, and after I plugged in my TX-8511 and cranked that baby up, I will always be as well. This receiver blows any of its few competitors away in terms of sound quality, connectivity, and price. The flexibility of the receiver itself in terms of speaker impedance alone was pretty astounding, since it can easily push pretty much anything you can throw at it. This baby has 0 audible distortion, despite how loud I drive it, and I do like to drive it loud. Just looking inside it through the vent, you can see that it is made from the best parts available, and with great care. The design is flawless and sturdy, and as a college student, that is what I need. So far, it has withstood anything I have thrown at it during parties. Both my father and I own the TX-8511, and he currently has it pushing some of the most amazing speakers I have ever heard, Onkyo F-5000's. Although he endorsed American made speakers, even he had to cave in when he heard those bad boys. His system is all Onkyo, and the one I am currently building will be as well. ONKYO MAKES QUALITY STUFF, if you dont already have an Onkyo set up, get one, as quickly as possible. I wish I could say more about how amazing this receiver and any other Onkyo products are, but nothing explains better than actually hearing for yourself, so go now, and buy! As for me, I am going to go out and try and find a pair of vintage Onkyo speakers, because unfortunately, in the great move to home theatre, they have really limited our selection for good old stereo speakers.....I just need a little something more than a 5 ¼” low frequency driver in a slim tower/bookshelf design.

Finally a good no nonsense reciever

Reviewer: Naresh from Fairfield CT 04/28/05
Just bought another one of these puppies and using it with Bose Accustimas 5 speaker system and Polk Audio's XM Reference Tuner and loving every minuite of it. Thank You XM Radio, Thank You Polk Audio and Thank You Onkyo.

Finally a good no nonsense reciever

Reviewer: Naresh from Fairfield CT 04/23/05
Sounds so good, can't belive it priced so attractively. I am considering another one of these recievers to go with Bose speakers.

Ichiban, Onkyo!

Reviewer: Tony from Hartford, Michigan 03/25/05
In one room of our house is the "home theater" system. Fine. But I am a lifelong musician (as is my wife) and a dedicated system for pure listening is a very important thing in this house - and that's in another room. My Onkyo TX-8511 is the new centerpiece of that system.

I have owned four receivers: 1982 Yamaha (loved it) 1993 Technics (so-so),

2000 Kenwood Dolby Surround 5.1 etc, etc, (OK, but not a dedicated audio receiver, and a pain in the patoot to use!!) and now the Onkyo.

Before I go any further, I would offer my sincere thanks to Onkyo for still making a HIGH QUALITY, DEDICATED AUDIO receiver - those are getting to be hard to find! Finding one this good - with a phono input - is no small chore nowadays. I don't listen to vinyl 1/10th as much as I did 20 years ago, but I have many splendid old recordings that still sound wonderful, and I do use my turntable, There are A LOT OF PEOPLE out there like me. Onkyo realizes that, bless 'em!

The story of review here is mostly how good everything is, individually, and working together as a whole. It's not a perfect receiver (more later), but is to this point, the best I have ever owned. I dearly loved the Yamaha I had a quarter-century ago, but it's specs could not match the Onkyo's, of course.

POWER: Clean as a mountain brook, and 100W from 20 to 20kHz. An embarrassing number of "name" companies are now giving their specs for 40 (or even 60 - ye gods!!) Hertz to 20,000 Hz. That is NOT a high fidelity amp, folks! Another component of my system is my ADS 710 speakers. I've had them since '82, and I have never heard to this day anything that comes close to them in performance. They are a perfect "marriage" with this receiver. But they are nominally rated as 6 ohm impedance. No problem here - the TX-8511 is one of the very few receivers rated 20 to 20kHz for 6 ohm loads, too (130W RMS). Nice job, folks! I would never push that kind of wattage through my speakers, but the reserve - especially for powerful transient peaks - is very nice to have.

SWITCHING: Good old, easy, reliable, instinctive TOUCH PADS! Ergonomics, man! - nothing is more instinctive or easy to use than touch pads for each function.

"SELECTIVE TONE CONTROL" (Cough) otherwise known as a Loudness control. But no knock there - I find it a valuable tool for "background" listening while still being able to hear all frequencies. It's useful and IS used occasionally on my receiver - yet while it was basic years ago, it's rare to find a receiver that has one any more (why?)

FM TUNER: Very, very good, if not world-beater specs. I live about 18 miles east of "the middle of nowhere", and get clean stereo on any channel I receive where I live. Completely satisfied there.

AM TUNER: Let's say "as usual for a high fidelity receiver". Not horrible, nothing to write home about, either. I'v always admired Sony for consistently putting an above-average AM tuner section in it's audio components. I've certainly heard worse than the Onkyo's AM tuner in high ticket receivers before, but it's nothing special.

EASE OF USE OVERALL: Superb. My wife is an awful technophobe, and SHE finds it instinctive to use - the designers of the Kenwood this receiver replaced, went out of their way to make it confusing to use, so help me!

REMOTE: Almost as instinctive as the receiver itself, but wear your bifocals!

KWIRKS, KWIBBLES AND KVETCHES: Relatively few, but I do agree with virtually every review I have read about the speaker connectors. Nothing wrong with spring/guillotine type connectors, but they are a feature of most "standard" audio components. This is not a "standard" receiver. It really deserved - and should have had - the five-way posts.

On my receiver, the legend "Video 1" is lit at all times the receiver is on. It does not affect operation of any function in any way - a tiny harmless thing, but I'm certain that is a "glitch" that should have been caught at the factory. This receiver is not used for video in any way, and one quickly learns to ignore it, but I do consider it a minor flaw.

I would like to have seen an "F" connector for the FM antenna, like the "worldwide" models - why doesn't this one have it?

QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION: Think "Master padlocks". Approaches bulletproof. That is something of an Onkyo trademark, too. The overall value-per-dollar is right on the money for this receiver.

If you wanted an excellent, powerful, "audio only" receiver WITH PHONO INPUT, and this one didn't please you, you'd be awwwwully fussy, friend! Highly recommended.

awesome receiver

Reviewer: J M Fitz-Gerald from Toronto Ontario 03/16/05
I Bought a TX-8511 to replace my 17 year old Onkyo Integra 8170 which was driving 12 twoway speakers since new with ease and clear sound, it finally cooked (my own folly). After throughly researching my options including the best Yamaha, NAD,& Harmon Kardon had to offer, I concluded Onkyo offerred the best value once again. Once set up on just two AR twoway speakers it was like wearing headphones in my livingroom, the sound stage is large & complex and gave the sound of a multispeaker set-up, who needs seven channel. It seems to produce clear dymanic sound well up to half volume and I'm sure as I bring the remaining speakers on line there will be more pleasant surprizes, you wont regret this investment and if the past is any indication of the quality you will get 15-20+ years of amazing sound from this unit, Keep up the awesome work Onkyo nothing comes close in value for money.

tx-8511

Reviewer: Jermaine from Louisiana 01/06/05
My brother uses this in his pool room. The unit lacks in features I would like, but is a great buy with great sound for the price.

Love this box

Reviewer: JP Tarkus from San Jose 12/12/04
I've had this for 4 years and plug video/cd/internet radio thru it.

I love it!

Only issue: Where is the online manual?

Replacing 34 year old Sherwood!

Reviewer: EVA from MA 11/20/04
After 30 years of superb and reliable service, I have given my old reliable Sherwood to my son to start his first component system. Adhering to the old adadage, 'they don't make them like they use to', I set out to research and purchase a new amp/receiver. The task of finding a quality 2 channel that provided a Phono preamp was in itself a challenge. The TX8511 fit the bill and has proven to be an excellent receiver with full functionality and all of the options and more that one could want and expect. The product delivers excellent sound quality with intuitive ease of set up and use. It powers my Bose speakers without trouble or distortsion and is a great compliment to my Numark turntable and those old 'Albums' that my kid marvel at when I play them. So happy with this and other Onkyo products that I own I have just ordered a new Onkyo 6 Disc CD changer. Yes, we do have CDs along with the old Albums and tapes!

perfect stereo receiver

Reviewer: ciber eiyt from Denver 11/20/04
Good depth to the sound produced, Not as warm as the vintage marantz my dad uses in his house. It has a much better sound than my pioneer VSX-D412K home theater system. I bought this because I wanted pure a pure stereo setup to play all of the music on my cds and computer. I couldnt be more pleased, I just wish however they had used something better than spring clips for the speakers even though it doesnt seem to have any real effect.

great stereo receiver, good job

Reviewer: ciber eiyt from Denver 11/20/04
After having used bookshelf systems and several other receivers Ive really started to love music. I wanted something that would provide me with good power and a clean sound. I found this on a saturday trip to circuit city and was completely impressed. I went home did my research, went back the next weekend and bought it. I really suggest this unit to anyone that wants great sound without the big pricetag. Especially if you are building a first component system or wanting a pure stereo setup.

An awesome receiver

Reviewer: Harvey from Wahpeton, ND 10/29/04
The tx-8511 receiver arrived just today from Onkyo online. Even though I haven't had much time to "put it through it's paces", I can tell already that this is going to be the perfect fit for me. I wanted just a stereo receiver, and there aren't too many of those around.

But this is no ordinary stereo receiver. From a brief listen, the sound is as good as anything I've heard from my previous receivers - a very old Sherwood Quad, and a somwhat old NAD.

It looks like I will be able to hook up just about any piece of equipment imaginable. I do still have a turntable and some vinyl that I want to listen to, so this is also a nice little addition that some manufacturers don't include nowadays.

All in all, I am very pleased with what I got.

TX-8511 Excellent performance

Reviewer: Bill Ger from Fullerton, CA 08/06/04
I needed to replace a blown Kenwood stereo to drive Bose 911 reflecting speakers. The TX-8511 offered the tape a/b dubbing feature that is required for use of the Bose equalizer. Well for the money this is a great machine. I am getting excellent sound on all frequency ranges and really clear music even at high volume.

My only negative is that I don't get great reception on all FM stations but I probably need a better antennae.

Reviewer: tfeeser 08/03/04
Good depth to the sound produced, Not as warm as the vintage Marantz my dad uses in his house. It has a much better sound than my pioneer VSX-D412K home theater system. I bought this because I wanted pure a pure stereo setup to play all of the music on my cds and computer. I couldn’t be more pleased, I just wish however they had used something better than spring clips for the speakers even though it doesn’t seem to have any real effect.

Reviewer: R Pulson 08/03/04
This receiver produces a good neutral sound. I am very happy with the way it drove my c-3's. 12 gauge wire was a little tricky to get in the clips however I wouldn’t call the use of clips a real negative being that most receivers used to use clips, Marantz, Sansui, etc and it was considered a standard. If you pair this receiver with a simple Equalizer you can get some really amazing sound out of it. Well worth the money if you are into great strong sound, Lots of clean power, good amount of hookups, Very clean look. Stays cool compared to my Denon that died.

Reviewer: kidmichel 08/03/04
This receiver is really good for it´s price, it delivers very little coloration, you can hear in some good records the deepness of the music, although it has good image and soundstage at this level it isn´t the best, I think nad c350 is better in almost everything except power delivery. I used it to drive some B&W cm2 and a polk sub until I got a nad c370 which is great but at twice the price. But the onkyo is a great product, defeats almost all at this price range (sony, panasonic, technics, yamaha etc)

Reviewer: G. Reyna from Texas 08/03/04
My stereo rack lost it's receiver a Technics SU-G90 which I really never liked (excessive heat, dull bland sound & signal spikes that destroyed 2 sets of JBL speakers on the right channel). After reading reviews about the ONKYO TX8511, I bought it at Circuit City to try out with my home accoustics (JBL N38II Speakers): WOW!!! Night and Day difference. Finally found all the beautiful music I'd been missing out on. If you want a simple stereo receiver without the HT 7.1 mumbo jumbo but crisp clear sound buy this receiver. You won't regret it.

Reviewer: Aaron from NY 08/03/04
I got this receiver as a high school graduation present from my parents. i hafta say that this thing RULES!!!!! I'd never even heard of onkyo before i got this receiver. I have a pair of AR-4x's hooked up to them (40-some year old speakers..hehehe) and i have a GREAT setup. the receiver is awesome..iv'e never had it up past half volume, and actually, it blew the tweeter in my right speaker. I turned the bass up one day, turned the volume up, and almost blew the woofer too....oops! having this thing at half volume busts my ear drums...most of the time i dont have it up any louder than 1/4. i love the vents, man when this thing is cranked it makes HEAT!!!!!!! awesome receiver...go buy it.

Extremely happy!!!!!

Reviewer: Gregory Mueller MD from Beverly Hills, California 08/02/04
I have installed my new receiver and CD player in my office. I chose Bose speakers to use with your system. I am honest in saying that the Onkyo reconditioned components were superior to the new Bose speakers. Your company was efficient in the deliverry process and the components were flawless. Thank you