Onkyo TX-8260 2 Channel Network Stereo Receiver,black

This replaced an Onkyo receiver from the early 2000s. I like this product because it's a traditional 2-channel (2 sets of wired stereo speakers) receiver with FM/AM tuner. You can connect phono & CD player to it. I have a very simple setup. CD Player, 2 sets of stereo speakers. That's it. What I wanted was the ability to also stream directly to the receiver without having to plug in my phone. This receiver does an excellent job. Spotify Connect is fantastic. My phone acts as the remote, but the music streams directly to the receiver. Great! It also supports Airplay, Pandora, Sonos Connect, and a host of other streaming services. Also has Chromecast built-in for my Android friends. It seems very future proof. Setup guide was straightforward. The hardest part is connecting to a wireless network and typing in a password. But if you have an iOS device the setup is automatic. Nice! The firmware update process worked flawlessly over wifi (I had to update twice OOTB, to get current, but no problem). Wifi performance improved dramatically after the firmware updates.My only complaint is the Speaker A/B toggle is a single switch that cycles thru A, B, A&B. My old Onkyo has two toggles, one for each set of Speakers A and B. Since my speakers are indoor and outdoor, this means sometimes I must cycle from B to A&B, and then to A. This is a minor inconvenience, but kinda dumb. I can live with it. I have not used Firecast, so cannot comment on other negative reviews of that service/protocol. For my needs this device is almost perfect.Many Years later update: Yeah, still got it. Still works. Unfortunately Spotify Connect reliability has gotten worse. Who knows of it's Onkyo or Spotify to blame. Or both. But Spotify Connect is far less reliable than it used to be. And my kids don't even pout up with it. They go straight to Bluetooth because it's more reliable despite the inherent distance limit. I get their point. But I stay with the new, they stay with the old. How amusing is that?The only thing I wish was simpler is scanning FM/AM band. But maybe I'm the last person who uses that. To be clear the tuner does scan, but it's a PoS to figure out how cause I don't do it all that often.

Very happy to find this to replace my 2011 ONKYO TX 8050. Great sound, an easy setup, and a good enough smartphone app. There's an ONK controller download for Windows if you search for it and it runs on your PC. Excellent interface with all apps via the Chromecast Built-in EXCEPT for Sirius XM which takes forever to load and then sound skips. (SXM through my smart TV via a Chromecast dongle has casting issues too) It is a SXM issue, NOT an ONKYO issue but be aware that there is a definite compatibility issue with Sirius XM running on this receiver via the native Chromecast app. Very happy with the unit overall.

I was looking for something to power a couple of compact tower speakers in my office. At least, that was initially all I thought I wanted. But then open the door to today's technology in hi-fi gear and, WOW, things have changed. I quickly realized I didn't have to buy an AVR. I just wanted the A (audio) in the AVR. I haven't piped video through an AVR in over 10 years. So, I was pleased to see that, holy cow, they are still making 2 channel stereo receivers. And if it wasn't for the radio they still come with, they would simply be called an amplifier, since that's all you are left with at the end of the day. Except in today's world, even most amps aren't just amps anymore. They have magically been transformed into "streaming hi-res music" technology wonders. So, if I picked the right unit, not only could I hook 2 speakers up, plug in my digital cable from my computer and begin playing high quality digital music, but I could also get an app on my phone that controls the wifi connection the stereo can connect to, not to mention bluetooth, which opens up a whole new world of digital music option wonders. And this is my long winded way of explaing why I bought the Onkyo TX-8260. It has all of today's digital music options, puts out a beefy 80 watts x 2 of RMS power, double that to 160 watts for speakers running at 6 ohms. Not that I need that much juice in my little office. And for the price, you would be hard to find a competitor that comes close to all the features this little beauty has. I have owned Onkyo stereos/AVRs for over 30 years and I have never been dissapointed. In fact, I am so happy with this unit I bought a 2nd one for the bedroom to run my Martin Logan 20i speakers. Life is good with awesome music. Go get you some.

This has decent sound, as does every other $300 receiver for sale these days. But the 'networked' part of the equipment is a disaster. Bluetooth never works. I think Onkyo is back at version 1.0 and does not recognize any higher version. There's a sort of control panel on the front, but you need a flashlight to see the lettering that identifies what the buttons do. The speaker connections are beyond awkward. The unit offers you connections that don't do anything. There's a painful little screen where you're supposed to put in credentials (network name, network PW, streaming user name and password, Chromecast (never worked) user name and PW etc. etc. in the slowest way possible. And then there's the firmware upgrades. There aren't any. My firmware version ends in 011, and has never changed. I once phoned the U.S. support line to ask about this. I got a bunch of grumpy guys who told me the unit would never go farther than 011. Overall, just a really stupid piece of equipment. Go for the Yamaha.