I have been looking to buy a HT and have been looking at the 870 and the 770. I have read a review that these units are virtually the same except the 870 is THX certified. Does anyone happen to have any knowledge or experience with the 870? Thanks
Hi! Did you make any headway on your decision? Am grappling with the same 2 systems and would love to know what decision you made. The differences as I know them are - 1) Different speakers 820s vs the 520s. The former have a wood cabinet as opposed to the plasticy cabinet for the latter 2) The THX certification 3) Ability to hook up with an HDTV Thanks RG
Usman_Denver
Unregistered guest
Posted on
There is also the 220w sub with the 770 and a 150w with 780. Plus, 770 has 130w speakers vs. 110w for the 780.
I chose 770 and ordered it. To me, one extra channel isn't worth sacrificing the wattages, plus no DVDs are encoded with 7.1 sound yet.
Anonymous
Posted on
Actually if your talking about the 780, the sub is 230w, not 150w.
The 870 is the same as 770, sub are 220w.
Anonymous
Posted on
No Usman is correct about the sub on the 780 Onkyo Home Theater System (HT-S780)
7.1-channel surround sound: Fill your living room with sound with eight speakers and the powered 150-watt subwoofer
Anonymous
Posted on
I saw the box for the 780 at Circuit City and it says 230 watt powered subwoofer. If people are saying it as 150w, am I missing something?
Some website has it as 230w (JandR, bhphotovideo) and others has it as 150w (Circuit City, Crutchfield). Why the difference? Just a mistake?
Also, isn't 7.1 a 7 speaker system with a subwoofer?
Anonymous
Posted on
The HT-S780 has a 230W Subwoofer which has a 150W 120V Power Supply (150W is the 120V power consumption)
please can someone tell how this system works, i try to find a complete review but there is no one. I want to buy onkyo 870 or 780 is there any big difference between them thanks
I think this pretty much highlights the differences. Also, I think the speakers on the HT-S870 look much nicer than the HT-S780. I'd go with the 870 over the 780 if you can pay the extra cash.
BumperScooter
Unregistered guest
Posted on
One key point everyone seems to have missed - the HT-780 is a 7.1 system while the HT-870 is a 6.1 system. There are those differences in speaker sizes but in terms of printed specs (sensitivity?) the HT-870 specs better. I don't recall the HT-780 but all of the speaker connections for the HT-870 (speakers and receiver)are the type which will take banana plugs. Setting up the HT-870 is reasonably easy but it does take time to make all of the electrical connections. Since the HT-870 is a THX Select certified unit, there is no subwoofer crossover selection built into the receiver - THX specs call for an 80 Hz crossover. This shouldn't be a problem as the supplied subwoofer is quite capable and there is no reason to upgrade it. The wood veneer looks great. Make sure you have the room for these speakers as they may be larger than you may think based on their dimensions. The only provision for mounting the speakers is a bracket with one slotted hole in the back.
I have the HT-870 and I like it. It sounds great. It, like all high current Onkyo's, runs hot so if you put it in an enclosed cabinet check to see if you need to add a cooling fan. Make sure you wire it with 16 ga or better wire as this thing can push some amps to those speakers.
Quite frankly, the HT-870 is a great sounding HTIB and I recommend it highly. I think the only reason to consider another unit is if you need the receiver to upconvert composite or other low def signals to HD but then you'll have to buy the receiver and speakers as separate components.
Upconverting signals is not all it's cracked up to be. Another useless feature that takes up space. But people seem to think it is a plus.
Think about that...how can you improve a source that is crappy to begin with? You extrapolate from missing information and make a best reconstruction from a guess. crap=improved crap
I tried that upconversion deal, I got an improved version of fuzzy...lol!
bumperscooter
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Berny
You miss the point of the upconversion. It allows the receiver to have one HD connection to the TV and switch between all the sources connected to the receiver so you don't have to string the extra cables. Of course, in most cases, junk begets junk so an upconverted viewing of a VHS tape will still look like the same junk as it would coming from a composite input but the upconversion did make it easier to switch - right? Isn't that why you paid for that feature?
What equipment did you have doing the up conversion - one of the Yamaha receivers or something else? Was it upconverting for output as analog (component video) or digital (HDMI)? I'm wondering if the digital processing to convert to HDMI makes a difference in quality?
Is that what upconversion is? Allowing the receiver to have one HD connection to the TV and switch between all the sources?
That is not upconverting, that is called switching. You are basically using the receiver as a convenient switch. And in doing so, brings me back to the same point which you also pointed out...the VHS example. An upconverted signal of VHS quality is just well defined junk, still useless (video quality wise)but more conveniently accessed by switching, via the receiver.
