Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Hi all, I plan to buy the Onkyo HT–SR600 (HT-R 340 receiver). I wanted some advise if it is a wise decision, as this will be my first investment in a home-theater setup. If I go wrong on this one I will be hugely disappointed.
I am a little apprehensive coz I heard the system at a showroom but sound out of the speaker was not impressive and it needed to be increased to create an impact. Woofer also seemed to lack the Thud. Could it be due to receiver setting ? or is the system like that only.

I wonder if this is because the frequencey response of the front and center speaker is 100 Hz–22 kHz.
I played the ENIGMA CD, the overall sound of the various intruments was jumbled up and not too distinct as, I guess, it should be in such a system.

Could somebody who is using Onkyo HT–SR600 or not using one advise as to why the sound was not impressive. It true that I don't have any other choice in my budget but then if it is not worth the money I can wait for some years to buy a JAMO or some other good brand.

I am in India and HT–SR600 is sold here by the name of Master Blaster HT–SR600. just in case somebody wants to check the specifications of the system.

Highly appreciate response.
Thanks for your time.
Aryan

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Mediocre speakers? Can''t you listen to other speakers and find some that sing to you?

IIRC, you can upgrade the speakers later on.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

It's one of Onkyo's HTiB (they have a 'HT' prefix), so the speakers and sub are included.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

IIRC, you can buy the htib, live with the speakers for a while, and then upgrade to a better set of speakers (non onkyo) later on. It depends on whether the included speakers are middling, or genuinely awful.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Hi Jeremy, appreciate your response and advise of buying different speakers at a later time.

Thanks,
Aryan

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Or you could get the receiver alone, and a stereo pair that you really like-- adding a subwoofer, a voiced matched centre, and surrounds when you can afford them.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

True, Onkyo usually bundles a pretty good receiver with the HTiB. Matter of fact, the HT-SP908 actually has the equivalent of the 605 receiver, complete with HD audio decoding over HDMI 1.3. At $773.61 at Amazon it's significantly more expensive, but it has 7.1 and is futureproof to the max for any expansion into HD DVD or Blu-ray. Might be worth considering, even for the money difference.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Agree with u on this, but then it is too much of a hassle to go looking for seperate speakers whereas with the HTIB its the whole package.

Jeffs' given a good idea about another reciever set, which I am researching on right now.

Thanks,
Aryan

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Hey thanks Jeff, I would be looking into the HT-SP908 and see if I can stretch my budget for that one.

Thanks,
Aryan.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Aryan,

I would advise against the SR600, but I would recommend the SR800. It's about $200 more than the SR600, but you get full 7.1 sound from ten 5" speakers and a 220W sub (as opposed to 5.1 sound from eight 5" speakers and a 125W sub with the SR600).

I recently bought the SR800 for my apartment and I love it. Obviously, it doesn't output the biggest sound in the world. But those speakers can crank out volume higher than what is comfortable for my neighbors with no audible distortion. I would describe the clarity of the sound (after tuning) to be above average, and the auto-calibration system does a good job of setting the equalizer for you. All you have to do is spend about an hour playing with the speaker levels and listening modes, and you've got yourself a pretty nice audio system.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Hi Brian, thanks for sharing your experience and advising to go for SR800. I did actually listen to the system in the onkyo showroom but then it was off-budget by a huge margin., though the sound was far better than SR600.
I think I will go to onkyo again to see what options i have if I slightly increase my budget.
Congrats on buying the SR800 and good luck to your neighbours.

Thanks,
Aryan

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Check into getting a "factory refurbished" system directly from Onkyo's website. IIRC I got my 6.1 system from them for $225 - and they eat the shipping. That's hardly more than what the receiver would sell for.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

The front three speakers of the sr800 have 1 inch tweeters and 2 5 inch midrange drivers.

The back four speakers each have a single full range 3.25 inch driver.

In the sr600, each speaker has a single 3.25 inch driver. The front three speakers have .75 inch tweeters, the surrounds are full range.

Needless to say, the efficiency of these full-range speakers is laughable.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Ah, thanks for the correction.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Aryan: Maybe THIS would help.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

My recomendation is to stay away from the Onkyo home theater in the box. My room mate owns an Onkyo htib and not only does the amplifier run hot even at low volumes. But the video section on the Onkyo is nothing to brag about. After hooking it up and living with it for awhile I have not been impressed and I wished the roomate would have purchased something else. Even taking in consideration of the price point I honestly do not think it was worth it. My room mate purchased the HT-R530 and I am not to sure the 800 would be any different. I keep hearing about Onkyo's dedicated receivers that are not part of a htib running really hot and having problems degrading the picture. This is just my personal opinion and my recomendation.

I would recomend getting a Denon or Yamaha htib before the Onkyo. Is this a temperary set up until you can purchase a better setup? Or does the htib fit what you want to do at that price point? I suggest saving up more for better speakers and a nicer receiver.

Denon
Pioneer Elite
Yamaha
Harman Kardon

Hope this helps?

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Thanks Mike, this was a good link, unfortunately the services are only available in USA. But thanks for sharing it.
Take care,
Aryan.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Hi Dave, this was a lot of good information u shared here. To be honest with you Dave I really don't have much of choice but to go for Onkyo as it is less expensive than Denon, yamaha or Harman kardon, plus the after sale service might not be all that good for these brands as they don't have a good network here.
This will be my first HTIB and would be for a few years to come and I really don;t want to wait long now to deprive myself of hometheater setup, though I am more of music buff than a movie buff.
I know it would be wise to go for a slightly higher HTIB but the price differece between SR 600 and anything above that it huge.
But now going by the suggestions given on this site I will look for other options.
take care,
Thanks,
Aryan.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Aryan: You are most welcome. Sorry it wasn't more helpful. Good luck with your purchase.

You are doing well to do so much research. It is the only way to shop in today's complicated marketplace.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

fx audio is an indian dealer for Denon and H/K. Not sure if there's a shop anywhere near you, but it might be worth a visit.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Hey Geremy, Jeff, Brain, Dave and Mike thank you all for the valuable advise you all gave.
I researched the market to find out what options I have besides the obvious sr-600 and there weren't any, I am not exaggerating there was no option but to raise the budget by almost $200 if I needed anything better than 600.
Jeremy Advised to live with the HTIB for a while and then upgrade the speakers. Jeff advised that Onkyo usually bundles good reciever with HTIB. Brian is happy with his SR-800. Mike and Dennis helped with info. on refurbished Onkyo products. Dave advised against the sr-600 and understandably so coz his friend had a bad experince with onkyo, but he did bring to notice one shortcomming of onkyo recievers that they get heated up. all in all, guys, thanks to you all.

So people I have bought the sr-600 finally, with the thought that it has good reciever and that I will upgrade the speakers later on especially the sub coz the sub seems to be underperforming.

Well to share the experience, movie wise it is not bad at all, not exceptionally good but o.k. music cds' or dvds' don't seem to impress , its as if playing an ordinary music system.
I will share my experience as i explore this HITB more, not that you guys would be intreasted but for future buyers, plus i would need advise to better the performance of this HTIB. See you all later.

Take care
Cheers,
Aryan.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Aryan: Congratulations on making your purchase. I will very much look forward to hearing your experiences...and I think it's kind of you to consider future buyers.

And, I know there will be many here who will be glad to give you advice on how to upgrade when you think the time is right.

Re: Is Onkyo HT–SR600 worth buying.

Hello Aryan, congratulations on the purchase and enjoy.