Home System

[scottb]

Several years back I bought an Onkyo 6 disc changer and have been satisfied with it. My plan was to get an Onkyo surround sound receiver next. Both were rated fairly high in their price range in some audio mag I read at the time.

Several years later, and I still haven't upgraded the system. Is Onkyo still a good move? There's a 750watt home theater system in the Sunday Circuit City paper insert for $500, which is about what I 'd like to spend.

There are simialr Yamaha systems available but to be honest, I've never been overly impressed with the Yamahas I've heard.

[scottb]

OK, Nobody with any comments? What's the deal...?

1. Never had any experience with Onkyo

2. Have experience with Onkyo but Momma said "If you can't say anything nice..."

3. Have experience with Onkyo but are afraid to admit it because I'm a self professed audiophile and have gold cables and don't buy any equiptment under $1000

4. I know all about Onkyo but I don't care to share my knowledge because I don't like you very much

5. other

[Dan Gould]

Other.

But depending on any Political Forum encounters I'm not recalling at the moment, maybe its a little bit of #4, too.

[jazzbo]

Hey, I haven't heard any Onkyo components in 10 years, so I can't be of too much help. I liked what I heard from Onkyo about 15 years ago well enough, but my interests and needs have changed, and I wouldn't go for their stuff now. . . .

I'm not listening in a home theater set up, and I've had a dedicated listening room for two channel stereo and mono for seven years and I have been seduced by low powered single-ended tube amplifiers . . . I built my system around those!

There are a world of options out there. If you want my personal recommendation, unless you just have to have gobs and gobs of power, I'd recommend The Integrated or the Torii at www.decware.com I'm sold on those products, have been using them for seven years or more and I can't imagine not using them into the future.

[Z-Man]

#3 is my excuse.

My cables aren't gold, though.

[DrJ]

I still have an Onkyo 6 disk changer myself and like it just fine for what it is - undeniably nice to be able to flip through a variety of discs without getting my butt out of the chair, even though it's not an "audiophile" player. It has one of the most solid drawer mechanisms I've ever seen on a CD player - funny that the person below has had problems with it, I had an older 6-disk Onkyo that I traded in because it didn't have a digital out, and it never once locked up, and I've had the new one for several years and it also has never faltered. Rock solid.

Don't know about recent Onkyo receivers, my first decent home theater receiver was an Onkyo though (a good 10 yrs ago now - it had only ProLogic, to give you an idea!). I liked that for what it was too. I think for mass-produced, reasonably priced stuff Onkyo is darn good - maybe not the truest sound reproduction but appealing, generally quite warmly colored which turns some people off but I don't mind it.

For a little truer sound (at least at more of the $1000 range, not sure about $500 range but probably) I would suggest you give Denon a close look. I have the AVR 3300 now in our home theater set up; they have newer 5.1 receivers that are WAY cheaper than the $1000 I paid for this a few years ago (now everyone wants 6.1 and 7.1 for some reason). Very fine stuff is Denon - I find the sound less colored but crystal clear and for a company that focuses on home theater they definitely incorporate features with music buffs in mind too - like my AVR 3300 had external ins for 6 channel audio (like SACD) well before it hit mainstream, plus an analog bypass to allow you to use a turntable without the signal getting sent through the D/A converters. So if I had to recommend a single brand I'd say "look close at," it would be Denon. In scanning their stuff, the AVR 3803 lists for a bit more than you're looking to pay ($799) but it looks like a great unit. I like Denon.

Harmon Kardon also is nice, again more like Onkyo though in that there is a definite coloration of the sound to make it "warmer." I just helped my wife's mom upgrade her system, she's on a tight budget and the AVR 130 was what we went for (paid about $300, lists for $399). It's got a lower power rating per channel than competitors but don't let that put you off, Harmon Kardon is noted for having "true" ratings, rather than the usual inflated ones. You'll not have any power problems is my guess (in fact the whole watts per channel thing is really overrated, particularly at lower end audio - any of these units, you'll be fine). It's kind of cool looking too with a blue backlit volume knob that is striking.

This is all solid state - Lon has a nice suggestion for tube route.

Edited April 28, 2004 by DrJ

[doubleM]

I have an Onkyo 6-cd changer (R1) which I have in my basement for occassional use. It has 2 problems: 1. The carousel will hardly ever close- it gets close, but then opens back up .2. It will also cut out once in a while, where there is like a .5 second power interruption. This is after a few good years of solid use, so I'd say that they make a pretty decent cd changer.

[mgraham333]

The Onkyo receiver I used as my main system (but have since replaced with the same Denon model to which DrJ refers) is doing a fine job now in my bedroom. It's partnered with an Onkyo 6 disc changer.

Both components performed well in their role as my main system and continue to do so in their current role as secondary system.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

For nearly 10 years, I only bought Onkyo receivers. The last one I bought was back in the early 90's and it still worked when I stuffed it into the attic when I switched to multi-channel. By the time multi-channel audio (read: home theater) entered my life, the word on the street was that Onkyo, like Yamaha, and to a lesser extent, Nakamichi, had decided to lower their quality to get the costs down so they could enter the mass maket. I don't know what their reputation is now.

I now have a Denon receiver. Before this, I had a Pioneer. Now Pioneer is interesting. They have always been "low budget" and available at all the big chains. Sometime in the mid-90's they began making some pretty decent stuff. I was very happy with that Pioneer receiver. It too is up in the attic just waiting for one of my daughters to ask for it. I have no idea if they are still making good stuff. I do have a Pioneer Elite DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio player and it's been great but it is in the Elite series so I can't say for sure that their regular line is as good.

BTW, I have heard/read more complaints about Onkyo's CD players than praise.

Later,

Kevin

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Is this discussion about the Onkyo home theater system you are looking at?

If so, many of the posters seem impressed with the "bang for the buck".

It sounds like if you can, spend the extra dough and get the HTS-760 because it has 5.1 analog inputs... you never know, you may decide to go multi-channel high rez (SACD & DVD-A) audio.

Later,

Kevin

[scottb]

Thanks, Kevin that was a very helpful link. Seems like everybody is more than pleased with this system and sound like you can get a refurb from Onkyo for about $100 less as well.

Will that unit not support SACD? I'm not planning to go that route but you never know a few years down the road what will be required.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Thanks, Kevin that was a very helpful link. Seems like everybody is more than pleased with this system and sound like you can get a refurb from Onkyo for about $100 less as well.

Will that unit not support SACD? I'm not planning to go that route but you never know a few years down the road what will be required.

If you buy the HTS-760 package, the receiver has 2 digital audio inputs but it also has separate 5.1 analog inputs (that will go unused at this time) that are a requirement for both DVD-Audio and SACD players. These 2 high rez standards disable the coax and optical digital outputs during playback. If you don't have these inputs, you won't be able to play the multi-channel audio. Of course, you could still play back analog stereo using standard analog connectors but I figure you might want to take advantage of multi-channel. If you buy an SACD or DVD-Audio player in the future and you have the HTS-760, you could use those 5 analog inputs and get high rez multi-channel playback out of the HTS-760.

BTW, the Pioneer 563A goes for about $150 at Best Buy. It plays DVD, CD, multi-channel SACD and DVD-Audio, mp3, CD-R, CD-RW, jpeg pictures, DVD+R, DVD-R and DVD-RAM. Everything under the sun for $150.

Later,

Kevin

[DrJ]

Definitely get a receiver that has the separate analog inputs to support SACD and DVD-A, I'm pretty sure eventually the format will grow and take off and you'll have that flexibility to expand.