After 20 years with the same old Techniques reciever and two Sony SS660U tower speakers. I decided to buy something new. As you can see. I'm no audiophile and I'm cheap. After seeing ads for HTIB anywhere from $299.00 to $1000.00 I decided to go for it. I was really interested in the Onkyo systems. The HT-S650 thru the HT-S755DVC looked like great deals to me. I went to a local A/V shop and listened. To say the least I wasn't impressed. I found the sound to be flat and the bass seemed to be lacking. I decided to put some research into this decision. I have watched the conversations here and read many reviews. It's enough to give you a headache. So here's what I did. First I picked up two Wharfedale Diamond 8.4's for $177.00 each. Someone gave me two Boston Acoustics bookshelf speakers. Then I got a JVC RX8020VBK for $269.00 at Costco.com. One thing I thought was a great feature of the JVC was it's ability to switch from 4-6 ohms to 8-16 ohms on the front speakers. I really don't know if this is something common or not. The Wharfedales are rated at 6 ohms. Also, the JVC allows 120w per channel when you use only the front speakers. I have to say that I am please with the results. It probably has more to do with what I was used to, but I feel like started on a better foundation than going with the HTIB. I have seen a lot of dumping on the JVC stuff, but this unit has many features for the price and it sounds good to me and thats what matters the most.
Anonymous
Posted on
HTS 650 is a great system. The Onkyo receiver in this system is much better quality than JVC receivers. When they pack in a lot of features into a receiver, they compromise on the overall construction and sound quality in order to keep the price reasonable.
You have to realize that the stores usually don't have the systems properly set up (speaker placement, crossover settings, level adjustments, delay, etc.) so it's not going to sound good.
You're probably not going to get a good result with a bunch of cobbled together mismatched speakers.
Anonymous
Posted on
I have to disagree with you with regards to the Onkyo. The Wharfedales alone will blow away the Onkyo system by themselves. Not to mention the Boston Acoustics he got from a friend. I wish I had a friend like that. I don't know much about the JVC receiver, but the one that comes with the HT-S650 is the low end of the Onkyo line. In the price range we are talking about I can't see were you can go wrong either way.
Bob
Posted on
Looks like all you folks are comparing systems in very different price ranges. The Onkyo system is around 400 to 500 bucks. The system the guy got is already close to 1000 bucks (receiver and 4 speakers). And looks like he still has to buy a center channel and subwoofer (additional 500 to 700 bucks maybe unless he gets those from a friend too).
I guess it's a matter of how much you can afford to spend, and then you get the best thing you can find at that range. If you can get stuff for free, that's great, because then you can probably add that money you saved to get better stuff for the rest of the items you'd need in your system.
Sirus M.
Posted on
I suggest getting a Polk audio center channel and a JBL subwoofer. This should complete the patchwork quilt.
Okay, as long as all speakers in the system are voice-matched and have the same tonal balance, I guess it's okay.
Anonymous
Posted on
Anything has got to be better than HTIB. Give me Floorstanders and a decent sub anyday.
