Onkyo rolls out new 7.1-channel home cinema pre-amp/processor

If you read the headline for this story and frankly had no idea what on earth we were talking about, then Onkyo's new PR-SC886 probably isn't for you.

For as well as costing a rather serious £1500, the PR-SC886 is that most fanatical of things, a home cinema pre-amp/processor designed to decode multi-channel audio (up to 7.1 channels) and even video to an exceptionally high standard before then passing it on to separate amplification and video production stages. In other words, it's not for the technically faint of heart.

If you do happen to know a thing or two about pre-amp/processors, though, then the PR-SC886 certainly seems to have plenty to shout about.

For starters, it supports ISF Video Calibration, so that you can optimise its pictures for your particular room environment.

It also has balanced audio outputs and onboard decoding of all HD audio formats, can upscale standard definition to 1080p via its HDMIs thanks to acclaimed HQV Reon-VX video processing, and has been granted THX Ultra2 Plus certification as a guarantee of quality.

Onkyo also talks about stuff like Toroidal transformers and TI (Aureus) 32-Bit DSP chips in its info on the PR-SC886, but as it's Friday afternoon we reserve the right to glaze - sorry, gloss - over this sort of high-tech stuff and just go for the time-honoured 'it appears to have been built to an uncompromisingly high specification'. I thank you.