Using a 7.1 receiver with only 2 speakers

Originally Posted by Papa Bear
I have the opportunity to get an Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 receiver for a great price but I want to use only 2 speakers on it - will it work satisfactorily with speakers hooked to LF & RF only?

Absolutely.

It actually has the capability to bi-amp the front speakers, if your speakers have that feature as well.
 
I have that exact receiver. Had to replace some caps on it but it still doesn't display the volume visually. Other than that, it works great.
 
Thanks !!
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It will certainly work with only two speakers.

What speakers do you have?

Is the receiver used? If so, and if the previous owner used it with a powered sub, you may want to go into the settings and tell it that you don't have a sub anymore. This should reclassify your main L/R speakers as "large" so they can receive full frequency spectrum. Otherwise, you may not be getting any bass into your L/R speakers. Then again, if your L/R speakers are fairly small, then you may not want to send low end bass to them anyway.
 
Yes, it will work with just (2) speakers fine. It should have a setup menu where it asks you about your speakers - front speaker size, rear size, center size, subwoofer size, distance from seating area, height, and so on. You should be able to tell it "none" or similar for the speakers you don't have. Also play with the "surround" settings to find which sounds best with a 2-speaker setup.
 
Got an Onkyo TX-DS474 (5.1) with 2 speakers at work. It's been running ~22 hours a day for at least the last 5 years. It'll be just fine!
 
I hope it is really cheap because the design is over 10 years old, meaning that that more modern surround standards are not supported and it is 1080p only.
Onkyo is not know for reliability either. They usually sound good. If you are just using it for music it will be fine, but you will miss some niceties like Airplay, and you'll have to hook up an external device to stream music.
 
I hope it is really cheap because the design is over 10 years old, meaning that that more modern surround standards are not supported and it is 1080p only.
Onkyo is not know for reliability either. They usually sound good. If you are just using it for locally connected music it will be fine (like FM you described), but you will miss some niceties like Airplay, and you'll have to hook up an external device to stream music

FM over the air is going to sound pretty bad compared to streaming, even FM station streaming. I don't think this unit has HD radio.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
What speakers do you have?


I'm borrowing a pair of Alesis Monitor 1 speakers from my son.
I won't get an owner's manual or set-up microphone etc the tuner seems quite sensitive and the power amp has good clean sound.
It'll likely be just the ticket for my 75 yr old ears.....
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Originally Posted by Papa Bear
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
What speakers do you have?


I'm borrowing a pair of Alesis Monitor 1 speakers from my son.
I won't get an owner's manual or set-up microphone etc

Nice! According to specs, these are rated down to 45 Hz, so you do want to make sure the sub crossover network on the receiver is disabled, or else you'll be missing out on some bass frequencies.

Link to owner's manual:
https://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/tx-sr606_manual_e.pdf
 
I would just get a stereo receiver for 2 speakers unless u plan on using more in the future. Just for FM radio, no need for anything fancy or a 7.1 receiver. Just my 2 cents
 
You should be perfectly fine. I have an Onkyo from 2008 and only use two speakers most of the time in my apartment. I do have Elac's and an Elac center channel also, but it doesn't care as long as you set it to how you like it.
 
The more I think about it, I would just do a full reset to factory settings:

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* To reset the AV receiver to its factory defaults, turn it on and, while holding down the [VCR/DVR] button, press the [ON/STANDBY] button (see page 96).
 
Originally Posted by Papa Bear
Originally Posted by NO2
I hope it is really cheap because the design is over 10 years old


$10.00
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It's certainly worth that much. Most "advances" in receivers are things like network connectivity, Bluetooth streaming, and audio "codecs" (the Dolby Digital stuff, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, etc). I guess HD Radio would be included too and I've only heard it in a rental car and it does sound better but "you can't miss what you've never had".
 
I would not purchase any new receiver without Airplay2 or DLNA. Most people stream their music, radio, etc. these days. Bluetooth still doesn't sound very good, and the codecs are for movies.
 
Originally Posted by NO2
I would not purchase any new receiver without Airplay2 or DLNA. Most people stream their music, radio, etc. these days.

OP is not buying a new receiver.

OP wants to listen to FM radio. Streaming is not needed for this.

If streaming is required, a $20 Chromecast Audio (used) can be added to any receiver that does not have built-in streaming.

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Bluetooth still doesn't sound very good,

Bigger detriment to sound quality is the fairly low bit rates used by most audio streaming services, unless you pay for something like TIDAL that streams lossless.
 
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