Home theater for Father - Help Needed (1 Viewer)

[Jeff16]

Hello,

Ten months ago I received a lot of great advice on this forum that helped me choose my home theater setup, which I love. I am seeking your helpful advice again, this time for a gift for my parents. They recently bought a 50" Panny G10 and blu ray and I'd like to get them a good sound system to complete their setup for around $500. I know in that price range the options are somewhat limited, but I ask for your informed opinions.

The room setup is rectangular, approx 12x20, if you picture the room as a north-south box, the tv will be set up in the northeast corner. It is important to note that the South (back) wall is non-existent as it leads to their breakfast room. Prime seating locations are couch on West wall, SW corner recliner, and SE love seat. Don't think they'll wall mount surrounds, and 5.1 is doable with the seating layout, but not ideal. My questions are:

1) Am I wrong in thinking that a soundbar setup (i.e. Sony CT-500) would be a big waste in this type of room due to the lack of rear wall to help bounce around the sound creating the surround effect?

2) I'm aware of HTIB limitations, but at this price range is the Onkyo 3200 or 5200 (or any other recommended HTIB) my best bet? Are HTIB usually better than a soundbar of a similar price?

3) Ideally, I would like to get them a decent to good receiver (lossless audio a big plus, but since Panny BD-60 has lossless ability is it a necessary component of my receiver), a decent sub, and decent-good 5 surround sound speakers. There is a *seemingly* good deal on Energy Take 5 speakers that i could couple with the Energy ESW-8 sub and a receiver...is that my best bet? Please recommend a receiver if so.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Jeff

 

[Ed Moxley]

An HTIB, especially an Onkyo HTIB, is WAY better than a soundbar. With an HTIB, you get real surround. With a soundbar, you don't. There's no possible way to get real surround sound from one speaker, even though there may be several drivers in the box.

While the 3200 & 5200 are decent HTIBs, they are HDMI "pass through". It's for easy switching of video only. No audio over their HDMI connections. So, you'd need to use a different connection for audio, such as optical or digital coax. The HD audio from blu ray movies isn't possible over optical or digital coax. You can step up to the next model HTS-6200, and it can handle the HD audio formats. It also has plenty of inputs and has Audyssey auto speaker calibration, which works very well. You can usually get it from here for a decent price:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S6200-7-1-Channel-Entertainment-Receiver/dp/B002C73WS6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260595159&sr=1-1
Good look with whatever you do.

 

[Jeff16]

Ed, thank you for your quick reply. That was my suspicion with soundbars - thanks for confirming it. Do you know how the receiver compares in the Onkyo 6200 vs getting a receiver in the $300 range? Just trying to decide whether HTIB would be better than say getting the Energy Take 5 for $130, sub for $100, and receiver for around $300.

 

[gene c]

IMO the Energy Take-5/sub and an Onkyo 507 would be a little bit better than the 6200. Speakers are always the weak link in Onkyo systems. The very early Onkyo htib's actually had decent sounding speakers. I had the very first one, the HT-500, and it really was a complete package, for the price. But as more and more features are added to the receivers Onkyo had to start saving money somewhere and it was the speakers.

Here's a link to a factory refurbished Onkyo-507 for $249 (+ shipping) from ac4l.com an Onkyo authorized dealer so it come with an Onkyo warranty.

 

[Jeff16]

Thanks Gene - I don't know how I missed the 507 in my searches. It looks like it has everything I am looking for. I'm trying to find out if if has HDMI "pass through" or if it will pass the audio over HDMI...do you know?

I think I may be set with the 507, the Energy sub and speakers, unless anyone can recommend a better set of 5.0/5.1 speaker set for ~$250?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Jeff16]

I'm seeing that I can get the Onkyo HT-RC160 for a mere $30 more than the Onkyo 507...I've read up on the two receivers and it seems the only con for the RC160 compared to the 507 is that it gets hotter. Can anyone comment as to whether this is significant? Does the performance of the 160 make it worth it?

 

[Ed Moxley]

They both decode the HD audio formats. You can go here, to compare them both for features and specs: http://www.us.onkyo.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Receiver

Some people complain that all Onkyos run hot. Just don't close it in, in an entertainment center, and you should be ok. Mine is supposed to be one of the worst for getting hot, but it's not closed in, and it barely gets warm, after being used for almost 18 hrs. a day. Onkyos are very easy to setup and use. Also, if you want to make life much easier, for everyone, get a Harmony remote. Very user friendly. To program it, you go to their site, type in the brand and model numbers of your equipment, and download the info to the remote via usb connection. Work everything from one remote. Very easy for non-technical people to operate (Mom, wife, Dad, etc.).
Good luck!

 

[gene c]

I'm trying to find out if it (507) has HDMI "pass through" or if it will pass the audio over HDMI...do you know?

Just to clarify, it will pass audio over hdmi.

I'm seeing that I can get the Onkyo HT-RC160 for a mere $30 more than the Onkyo 507...

Does the performance of the 160 make it worth it?

The 160 is nearly identicle to the 607 so $30 is certainly worth it.