Onkyo AV receiver maintains audio fidelity at all times

The Onkyo TX-NR5007 is certainly expensive, but it competes with other companies’ products that cost much more.

Incredibly powerful, it retains its audio fidelity no matter how hard you drive it.

It’s ideally suited to people with dedicated home-cinema rooms, plenty of space and a video projector, but it’s also wonderful in smaller rooms — just don’t turn the volume up too high, as we suspect it can demolish walls.

We’ve spent plenty of time with the Onkyo TX-NR5007 AV receiver —so much, in fact, that the company has now announced its replacement, the TX-NR5008, which adds reasonably minor updates.

But the TX-NR5007 is still available, and, as new models filter in, it’s likely that good deals will start to emerge.

Currently, the high-end TX-NR5007 isn’t cheap. At around £2,000, it’s a considerable investment, costing about twice what most people spend on a TV.

Add in a good set of speakers, and you’re going to be spending quite a sack of cash on this bad boy. Allow us to explain why we think it’s a good idea to do so.

Big, black and beautiful ...Our TX-NR5007 had a black colour scheme, which we adored.

It’s also available in silver, which we aren’t so keen on. It’s a personal choice, though, and your decision may depend on what the rest of your AV equipment looks like.

Although it’s huge, and weighs about as much as a yacht, the TX-NR5007 is surprisingly lovely to look at.

The buttons on the front are concealed beneath a drop-down flap that keeps the receiver’s face free from clutter.

All you’ll see are a range of input buttons, a volume control and the chunky power switch.

Onkyo’s TX-NR5007 offers more types of port than Oliver Reed’s drinks cabinet.

The back is a different story—there’s no way to conceal the huge selection of inputs and outputs found here.

There are 11 speaker binding posts, nine HDMI sockets —two outputs and seven inputs— and more composite and stereo audio RCA jacks than it’s healthy to count.