Revolution 9

'I was struck by the power and weight delivered by the TXNR787.'

IT’S EASY to get overlooked when you’re in the middle. A middle child misses out on both the attention that’s lavished on the first born and the doting care parents give to the baby of the family. The same thing can happen with an audio company’s product lineup. Onkyo makes more than a dozen A/V receiver models at varying price points, but most of the acclaim inevitably goes to the flagship with its flashy bells and whistles, while models at the entry level get lots of love for providing good value.

Often, however, the real value sweet spot lies somewhere between the two extremes, where you get something like 80 percent or more of the flagship’s performance and features for a small fraction of its price. For Onkyo, that means the TX-NR787, a model at the top of its consumer-oriented NR receiver line, but below the more advanced RZ models aimed at the custom installation crowd.

When it comes to features, the sweet spot here means a 9