I was thinking about buying this:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5200-7-1-Channel-Entertainment-Receiver/dp/B001VEI2OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1270234975&sr=1-1-spell
Quote
The Onkyo HT-5200 7.1-Channel Home Entertainment Receiver/Speaker - Package Stacked with Options and Versatility If you want an idea of where Onkyo's home theater packages are heading, the HT-S5200 is well worth checking out. Like previous Onkyo 7.1-channel receiver/speaker packages, the HT-S5200 delivers reassuringly hefty amounts of power and all-round performance. And in line with other recent offerings, it's also perfectly suited for high-definition entertainment in the home. (https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fg-ecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FG%2F01%2Felectronics%2Fdetail-page%2F5200back.jpg&hash=5dcdb5854c367ad9c703f1c8f74a5d740fd09b82)
Includes four HDMI video inputs |
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The 1080p video takes center stage from sources such as Blu-ray Disc, DVD, HD broadcasting, and gaming. The emphasis is still on Onkyo's audio prowess, so the HT-S5200 is equipped with three groundbreaking Audyssey technologies that will give you the edge in terms of surround sound.
Well reviewed, and CNET seemed to like it as well.
I like the idea of a home theater in a box, because I don't know all that much about home audio, and don't want to spend audiophile-type money.
$477 from Amazon.
However, there is this review:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R9Q5Y3KBS0OSP/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001VEI2OA&nodeID=172282#wasThisHelpful
What does it mean that the receiver does not receive HDMI sound imput? Is that as odd as it sounds? Does this mean that if I hook up the Wii to this, I cannot just run a HDMI cable to it, I have to run some other audio cable in? Same with a Blu-ray player?
The reviews on this have been mostly glowing, with just a few complaints about the lack of HDMI audio in.
Should I consider buying a receiver and speakers seperately?
I am also in the market for a blu-ray player - anyone have any recommendations? Some of the stories about how long blu-rays take to load on crappy players makes me a but skittish about buying one without a recommendation.
Joanie's our resident audiophile, so he can probably provide some better insight, but anyway...
That seems pretty good to me for a home theater in a box setup. I prefer to buy the receiver & speakers separately, but to each his own. Buying separately isn't that difficult, but you will probably end up spending a little more when it's all said & done.
When I was shopping for a receiver last year, I had to do a fair bit of research to narrow my search down to receivers that handled audio via HDMI. It does seem retarded that not all receivers on the market do this. Cable clutter was a big enough problem for me as it things were, and I absolutely did not want to run separate audio cables for my Xbox 360, Blu-ray player, TivoHD, and home theater PC.
To answer your question directly, if this Onkyo does not support audio via HDMI, you'll have to run separate audio cables (looks like there are two optical and two coax digital inputs so at least that's one input per supported HDMI device).
Re: blu-ray load times, AFAIK, load times are still somewhat high on recent, higher end players. It's something I more or less adjusted to. Some discs are better than others. I can't really suggest any specific players, so I say think of a price range, then figure out what features you want, then research the reviews. I'm happy with my Samsung lower-end player, but my brother swears by his more expensive Oppo (which, come to think of it, does seem to load a bit faster).
You buy the expensive cables, and I'll drive to NY and punch you in the nuts.
derspiess pretty much summed it all up, one clarification: the Wii does not have an HDMI cable output, you must plug it to the receiver via a component cable.
And about the blu-ray player: the best on the market is still the PS3. Excellent reader, upgradable, large hard disk, can stream your PC content: what's more to want?
L.
While we are talking home audio, what do the audiophiles think is the most cost-effective 7.1 amp/reciever in a standalone (no speakers - I have those) purchase? I don't want to spend more than about $600, but need to replace my current HK 225, which cuts out at higher volumes now. I'd like to get 100w per channel, but could do with a bit less, since my Klipsch speakers seem to do just fine on my current 70w per channel (though these are HK watts, not the standard). I'd like to have three HDMI inputs with audio.
Quick thoughts:
1) Lack of HDMI audio in is a bit of an annoyance but not the biggest deal. How many input devices do you plan to hook up - the more you hook up, the more the extra cablage. The fact is that until a few years ago, every receiver required this kind of hook-up, so it isn't the end of the world.
2) The one concern I would have about an all-in-one package is speaker quality. I would not buy until trying out the speakers and comparing them against other inexpensive alternatives.
3) Grumbler -- I generally don't get very hung up on wattage ratings which I have found not to be that reliable. Its easy to make a cheap crappy amp with a high wattage rating and tons of distortion. OTOH there are companies like NAD that are notorious for underrating their power output. I once had a NAD amp rated at 50W powering full-size floor speakers; I couldn't turn the knob past 1/3 without it getting uncomfortably loud.
These days, there are tons of good options at $600 and under. Klipsch speakers are pretty common - your best bet is to go to an audio store and see if you can demo a few receivers while pairing them with Klipsches. Though truthfully, all the major manufacturers like Yamaha/Onkyo/Denon/etc make quality products and when you look under the hood, a lot of them are using the same or very similar components; so mostly you are choosing on branding, styling and distinctive features.
Note if space is a major consideration, one item to consider is the new Marantz slimline, which retails at exactly 600. Very compact and runs cool.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on April 02, 2010, 04:53:40 PM
These days, there are tons of good options at $600 and under. Klipsch speakers are pretty common - your best bet is to go to an audio store and see if you can demo a few receivers while pairing them with Klipsches. Though truthfully, all the major manufacturers like Yamaha/Onkyo/Denon/etc make quality products and when you look under the hood, a lot of them are using the same or very similar components; so mostly you are choosing on branding, styling and distinctive features.
Thanks. I was hoping someone had already done this and could report on it, though. Getting to a decent audio store is a major expedition from the boonies. :lol:
What do you (or any other audiophiles) think about http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882120135 the ONKYO TX-SR707 at 570? Reviews on Newegg are good (even the four star ratings are niggles that don't apply to me). Denon receivers seem out of my price range, but their listings are so confusing that maybe there is a bargain that I just cannot find?.
BTW, Berkut, keep an eye on Woot.com. They have some pretty sweet speaker deals every now and again. Took me six months, but I assembled a very nice speaker set for less than half what the discount places were selling them for. They are discontinued models (like the Klipsch Reference series) but great stuff nonetheless, and fully warranteed.
I got the RF-82 speakers for $260, and the MSRP was $1100.
Onkyo has a good rep for making quality value components and the 707 has a Burr Brown DAC. So probably a safe choice. Just check what the restock fee is in case you hook it up and don't like it.
Quote from: grumbler on April 02, 2010, 05:44:09 PM
Denon receivers seem out of my price range, but their listings are so confusing that maybe there is a bargain that I just cannot find?.
If you think the listings are confusing, try reading through their manuals :bleeding: I bought my Denon AVR-788 a little over a year ago when Circuit City was going out of business & am very happy with it. I think I paid around $300 for it. Anyway, it has more features than I'll ever need, handles Dolby Digital & DTS audio quite well, and it has a separate amp built-in that will drive 2 speakers in another room (which limits you to 5.1, which is no issue for me). Only thing I'm not crazy about is that it only has 2 HDMI inputs, which means I have to run my Xbox, HTPC, & Blu-ray player through an HDMI switch (the TivoHD gets an input all its own). That's not a huge issue since my universal remote toggles the switch for me each time I select a different activity, but it would be nice to have 4 HDMI inputs directly on the receiver.
Overall I'm happy with it.
Quote from: derspiess on April 02, 2010, 03:42:08 PM
Joanie's our resident audiophile, so he can probably provide some better insight, but anyway...
That seems pretty good to me for a home theater in a box setup. I prefer to buy the receiver & speakers separately, but to each his own. Buying separately isn't that difficult, but you will probably end up spending a little more when it's all said & done.
When I was shopping for a receiver last year, I had to do a fair bit of research to narrow my search down to receivers that handled audio via HDMI. It does seem retarded that not all receivers on the market do this. Cable clutter was a big enough problem for me as it things were, and I absolutely did not want to run separate audio cables for my Xbox 360, Blu-ray player, TivoHD, and home theater PC.
To answer your question directly, if this Onkyo does not support audio via HDMI, you'll have to run separate audio cables (looks like there are two optical and two coax digital inputs so at least that's one input per supported HDMI device).
Re: blu-ray load times, AFAIK, load times are still somewhat high on recent, higher end players. It's something I more or less adjusted to. Some discs are better than others. I can't really suggest any specific players, so I say think of a price range, then figure out what features you want, then research the reviews. I'm happy with my Samsung lower-end player, but my brother swears by his more expensive Oppo (which, come to think of it, does seem to load a bit faster).
I think if you have a new Blu ray player, it's more about the disc than the player. some load really fast, some slow for me. Both newer and older discs. It seems random.
Ended up ordering this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882120167
Decided I did not really need 7.1, 5.1 is more than enough. And Onkyo has a new product for this year that adresses teh HDMI pass through issue. And the price was a lot less than I planned on spending, only $319 for the system.
Quote from: Berkut on April 12, 2010, 10:11:19 PM
Decided I did not really need 7.1, 5.1 is more than enough.
a mistake.
I thought I didn't need it, but I still bought a Denon 7.1. No regret.
I need a simple receiver for 100-200 dollar range. My piece of crap died and I've been using even crappier USB cable speakers in my living room and they cut out alot.
Quote from: viper37 on April 12, 2010, 11:46:44 PM
Quote from: Berkut on April 12, 2010, 10:11:19 PM
Decided I did not really need 7.1, 5.1 is more than enough.
a mistake.
I thought I didn't need it, but I still bought a Denon 7.1. No regret.
So what is the mistake though?
Not needing it does not preclude not regretting buying it anyway.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on April 13, 2010, 07:47:27 AM
I need a simple receiver for 100-200 dollar range. My piece of crap died and I've been using even crappier USB cable speakers in my living room and they cut out alot.
Do you actually need a receiver, or will an amp do? Are you looking at stereo, 2.1, 5.1, or what for output?
I don't use 7.1.
Once you get beyond two channel, you get into the world of surround sound processing, and that almost always means some level of distortion. (exception - surround audio recordings on SACD or DVD-A which are all 5.1 only). The more channels one piles on, the more work the surround processor has to do, the more the power needs are, and greater the risk of distortion or "clipping". The problem is compounded because for any given speaker budget, you are going to be able to get 5 higher quality speakers for the price it takes to buy seven. (Other points favoring 5.1: Fewer wires. Proper placement and calibration is easier with 5.1. The "weight" of the sound is more in the front where is should be. Dolby Digital 5.1 is the most commonly encoded format).
My 2c is that the extra two channels don't really add much in immersiveness to justify the disadvantages. For some movies, 7.1 can be kind of fun for the scenes where sound richochets around, but outside of the occasional gimmick clip, I don't really see the need for extra speakers.
On a budget like Berkut is talking about, IMO 5.1 is a new brainer.
Quote from: Berkut on April 13, 2010, 08:19:35 AM
So what is the mistake though?
Not needing it does not preclude not regretting buying it anyway.
a movie in 6.1 or 7.1 will sound better in a 7.1 system than a 5.1 one.
and my speaker setup is 5.1.
And if in the future you want to add 2 other speakers/satellites, you can.
And also, usually, the 7.1 systems are little more high end, so they include nice features the other systems don't.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on April 13, 2010, 09:32:43 AM
Once you get beyond two channel, you get into the world of surround sound processing, and that almost always means some level of distortion. (exception - surround audio recordings on SACD or DVD-A which are all 5.1 only). The more channels one piles on, the more work the surround processor has to do, the more the power needs are, and greater the risk of distortion or "clipping".
Yamaha has a long standing clipping problem. Onkyo has HDMI problems.
But in the mid-range AVR, I've never heard of any Denon issues.
Besides, with Blu Ray and HD-DVD, lossless sound codecs are more usual, and many movies get 7.1 soundtrack.
Quote
The problem is compounded because for any given speaker budget, you are going to be able to get 5 higher quality speakers for the price it takes to buy seven. (Other points favoring 5.1: Fewer wires. Proper placement and calibration is easier with 5.1. The "weight" of the sound is more in the front where is should be. Dolby Digital 5.1 is the most commonly encoded format).
Modern AVRs do a good job of simulating the extra channels even when you don't have the 2 other speakers.
Quote from: viper37 on April 12, 2010, 11:46:44 PM
Quote from: Berkut on April 12, 2010, 10:11:19 PM
Decided I did not really need 7.1, 5.1 is more than enough.
a mistake.
I thought I didn't need it, but I still bought a Denon 7.1. No regret.
The least expensive Denon 7.1 is the AVR -1910. Retails for $550, lets say you can get it for $450. Now you need decent speakers. Even say budget Infinitys will set you back $400 or more for a 7.1 set up. But you still need input devices and cords. There is no possible way to do this within Berkut's budget.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on April 13, 2010, 09:58:59 AM
Quote from: viper37 on April 12, 2010, 11:46:44 PM
Quote from: Berkut on April 12, 2010, 10:11:19 PM
Decided I did not really need 7.1, 5.1 is more than enough.
a mistake.
I thought I didn't need it, but I still bought a Denon 7.1. No regret.
The least expensive Denon 7.1 is the AVR -1910. Retails for $550, lets say you can get it for $450. Now you need decent speakers. Even say budget Infinitys will set you back $400 or more for a 7.1 set up. But you still need input devices and cords. There is no possible way to do this within Berkut's budget.
Oh yeah - that is way beyond what I
want am allowed to spend.
Quote from: viper37 on April 13, 2010, 09:46:23 AM
Yamaha has a long standing clipping problem. Onkyo has HDMI problems.
But in the mid-range AVR, I've never heard of any Denon issues.
But that is well outside Berkut's budget.
Second, can't really talk about issues with respect to a receiver without first knowing what speakers it is going to be driving. Yes, you can get good results using quality high efficiency speaker (like grumbler's favorite Klipsch). But that costs money.
QuoteBesides, with Blu Ray and HD-DVD, lossless sound codecs are more usual, and many movies get 7.1 soundtrack.
Cable output is almost all 5.1, not 7.1. DVDs - which most people have much larger legacy libraries of, are also mostly 5.1 encoded.
I just went to blue-ray.com and looked at their top sellers. Of the top 20, only one has been encoded in 7.1 (two others had TBA).
Quote from: viper37 on April 12, 2010, 11:46:44 PM
Quote from: Berkut on April 12, 2010, 10:11:19 PM
Decided I did not really need 7.1, 5.1 is more than enough.
a mistake.
I thought I didn't need it, but I still bought a Denon 7.1. No regret.
I borrowed some speakers from my brother to try out 7.1 on my Denon, and didn't think it was worth having to buy two more speakers. So I bought some ultra-cheap outdoor speakers & mounted them outside on my deck to use for the Zone 2 feature, which is awesome except that you can only use an analog source for them :huh:
I meant to put all that in my post.
I have 2 speakers, don't need anymore and will not add more. I'd like stereo. I would be connecting a media PC and a CD player to it. I'd like it to have the radio built in.
Quote from: grumbler on April 13, 2010, 09:14:26 AM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on April 13, 2010, 07:47:27 AM
I need a simple receiver for 100-200 dollar range. My piece of crap died and I've been using even crappier USB cable speakers in my living room and they cut out alot.
Do you actually need a receiver, or will an amp do? Are you looking at stereo, 2.1, 5.1, or what for output?