Denon HEOS AVR vs Onkyo TX-8260 review

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It makes sense comparing Denon HEOS AVR vs Onkyo TX-8260 because they both are able to give some premium features.

Amplifier

A significant difference between the receivers in the number of channels, Denon HEOS AVR has 5.1 versus 2.0 for Onkyo TX-8260. Regarding power, then HEOS AVR has such a W/Ohm ratio - 50/8, 65/6 when TX-8260 has a power of 80/8, 160/6. The THD is 0.05% for the HEOS AVR but 0.09% for the TX-8260. None of the models support Bi-amping. The Denon HEOS AVR can transmit an audio signal directly to the amplifier and bypasses any DSP processing. None of the competitors supports Auto speaker calibration.

Connectivity

Both models have the ability to connect to the Internet via WI-FI. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. Spotify can be used on each receiver. The HEOS AVR can work with the audio stream from Deezer, TIDAL, Pandora, Napster, SiriusXM, TuneIn Radio, iHeart Radio, Sound Cloud, and the TX-8260 can receive a content from TIDAL, Pandora, TuneIn Radio.

Video features

HDR is not available on each model. Only the HEOS AVR provides HDMI signal transmission in standby mode. Both competitors are not able to scale the HDMI signal. The HDR standard - Dolby Vision is not supported by these receivers. Only the HEOS AVR supports HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC). Unfortunately, HDMI eARC is not available on monitored devices. Of the two receivers in our comparison, HDMI CEC is present in only the HEOS AVR. The TX-8260 has a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player. An ECO mode is not present in each of the AV receivers. Unfortunately, the setup assistant is not available in each of the models.

Multichannel surround

None of the rivals equipped with Dolby Atmos multichannel audio decoder. The receivers do not support the surround sound technology DTS:X.