Audio Video News

It might be time to dust off your old turntable. Good old two-channel stereo is the focus of Onkyo’s latest receiver, the $199 TX-8020. The 2 x 50-watt model recalls the simplicity audio’s heyday with an all-metal front-panel and chassis, five analog inputs, an AM/FM tuner, a moving-magnet phono stage for playing vinyl records, and controls for bass, treble and balance. You won’t find any video switching on this puppy.

Left-and right-channel power devices are fully discrete—as opposed to being integrated on a printed circuit board—and based on Onkyo’s high-current Wide Range Amp Technology (WRAT), which is designed to handle impedance fluctuations and signal spikes.

The refreshingly sparse rear panel has two sets of banana plug-compatible A/B speaker terminals for driving one or two pairs of speakers and a line-level subwoofer output.