Onkyo ht-s650 vs. Denon dht-682xp vs. kenwood htb-505 (Page 3)
Anonymous
Posted on
I must say i sort of agree and disagree with Ken and Mr Young. Sure, you can spend 2x, 3x more to get a "better" sound (or a matter of fact 100x). However, where do you draw the line? Personally, i have a ~$4000 HT system (just the audio components) in the main living room. I auditioned the Onkyo 650 (for my spare room) and personally liked it very much (compared to entry level Sony, JVC, Kenwood, etc). Is this system better than mine main system - i personally do not think so. However, the 650 system does produce a good sound for HT applications.
I have friends who have HT systems in excess of $50,000 - and this is just the audio components("ill-gotten" gain during the .com boom :o) ). If they can afford that - more power to them (and incidentally they probably think my current system is junk). Everybody needs to operate within their budget.
The bottom line is, for mere $470, you are making a huge upgrade from those stinking TV speakers to some decent sound. Is that so bad? More power to us oi polloi - right? ("Need" can be satiated but "want" is infinite.)
Ben Miner
Posted on
Hello all. I just purchased a HT-S650, thanks to all the great reviews here and other places online. I had bought a Sony "Dream System" DAV-C900 and I was NOT impressed with it, especially with bass performance. It also didn't work. About an hour after you started a movie the TV screen would get fuzzy lines on it, then shut itself off. Thankfully I purchased it from Crutchfield and they are taking it back for a full refund. (free return shipping to). I was able to get the HT-S650 plus a pioneer 5-DVD progressive scan changer plus 4 speaker stands for $100 less then I spent on the Sony.
My question is about upgrading the speaker/sub wires. What brands would you all recommend? Does it matter much? I've heard lots of people say monster cable is a ripoff but maybe it really is worth the extra money.
Thanks!
Ben
po
Posted on
Get Monster if you believe the hype. Go to radio shack and get their 14guage wire if you don't. Personally I believe for the speakers that come with the Onkyo, the radio shack 14g wire will be fine. It's definitely a big step up from the cruddy wires supplied with the system. Anything more expensive is probably not worth it as the speakers are not audiophile quality enough to notice a difference.
My $0.02
po
Posted on
ken, I'm not sure how loud you like it but, man, when I turn my Onkyo 650 up to about 75, my windows are shaking and my shirt vibrates with the bass from the sub. At 85, it would be impossible for me to talk to anyone else in the room without screaming. This is in a medium sized living room (maybe 20x25 or so with 20 foot ceiling).
I'm not sure I could ever actually watch a movie at a level higher than 75. Most of the time, my wife wants me to keep it below 70.
While your proposition of better speakers making the package sound better is obviously true, I don't think anyone would debate you on this. The point of this system is that it gets one in the door to home theater at an incredible price.
What you're trying to say is analogous to someone telling me not to buy the Toyota, but to save for the Lexus. I'm sure the Lexus drives better but I'm happy with the Toyota.
Tom Elkins
Posted on
One early poster mentioned the Yamaha YHT-300 HTIB...anyone have any comments on that receiver (HTR-5540) or the speakers that come with it?...This reciever has virtual 6.1...that's pretty cool. Any input would be appreciated. I'm mostly leaning towards the Onkyo at this time.
Ken
Posted on
Hey PO, sometimes I like the music kind and audio from the movies kind of loud and the dimensions of my room are similar to yours, 20+ by 20+ by 25+ ft ceilings. I originally intended on buying the hts650 sight unseen from the reviews on this website as well cnet.com. But at the stores they were disappointingly soft. Then I got into the specs and found out why, the speakers are pretty inefficient. I would have to say that Onkyo is offering a mismatched system, that is why I said above to buy the reciever but get different speakers. I wish they would measure stuff in db not watts, my stereo has fewer watts but a whole lot more volume. To power that size room for what I like, there is no way the hts650 was going to cut it. It is so easy to spend $5,000 on this stuff and so hard to spend $500. I ended up opting for the inbetween as I was going to be mounting this stuff on the walls. I just do not think that for my needs the hts650 would have worked, however for my office it would be perfect as it is 1/3 the cube size of my main room. I just wish you could hear what I have put together for under $2000, it is awesome. I just hate to see people spend $250 on a truly wonderful receiver that the hts650 comes with, but get stuck with such lousy speakers especially when they get mounted on the walls. Onkyo are you listening, maybe offer a $200 speaker upgrade package and call it the htsXLTURBO650.
alan
Posted on
Ken, i dono about the speakers are soft on hts650. I went to Fry's electronics today and turned it up and just just like PO said, turning it to 70 is sufficient and beyond that my ears start to hurt. Maybe the setup of the system is wrong at the store you went. I honestly think that this system is able to knock your socks off while watching dvd movies.
mike reinke
Posted on
i just want something to watch dvd movies on, something like star wars with the complete 'movie theater' surround effect. im sure i will be listening to cd's and watching normal tv, etc. with it also, but really want something for the movies......any idea what is best for that?
I ordered my Onyko HT-S650 and it's on it's way but I would like to buy some upgraded speaker wire before it gets here. I'm a little new to all this. Would somebody be kind enough to make a shopping list of what I will want to get? I'm not looking to spend a ton of money, just upgrade what it comes with.
I know I need to replace the speaker wire with 14 gauge. What else will I need? A new RCA cable for the sub? Banana clips? If so, how many?
Thanks a lot for your help.
Ben
po
Posted on
Hi Ken, Believe me, I'd love to hear your $2000 system. What speakers did you eventually get? The Athena's? I hemmed and hawed over the Onkyo for some time and what eventually clinched it for me was one simple fact (actually two little ones). I have a 2 yr old and 5 month old that like to get very touchy-feely. What I get with the Onkyo is precisely the following: Home theater that sounds pretty good that I just don't mind my 2 yr old whacking with her toys.
I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry about sticky, curious fingers and when that day comes, I'm going to upgrade everything. For now, Shrek, Snow White and Winnie the Pooh (and very occasionally a movie *I* want to watch) sound pretty darn good.
I still think that if one is hell-bent on getting a full home theater system for $500, the Onkyo is one of only a few systems to consider.
-po
po
Posted on
Ben, if you want to get all that you need for the best price, I would go to Radio Shack to get everything. You don't need the expensive Monster brand to get decent sound from the Onkyo speakers. If you had a $1500 set of speakers, I'd say get good monster cable but you don't need such high grade cable for these speakers. You just need decent cable and Radio Shack has speaker cable that is 10 times better than what comes in the Onkyo box.
Get pin connectors for the speaker side. Pin connectors will keep the speaker cable from pulling out of the spring clip connectors on the speakers. Get banana plugs for the receiver side if you want to. Bare wire works fine though, you don't need to worry so much about stuff getting pulled out of the receiver. Get a subwoofer cable. Done.
Since you will have 5 speakers and sub, you'll want:
10 pin connectors 10 banana plugs 1 sub cable
Again, don't bother with the banana plugs unless you think you'll be plugging/unplugging the receiver speaker connections much.
Anonymous
Posted on
Home Depot has speaker cable by the foot. Excellent prices and you only get what you need. I also got an Acoustic Resource Sub cable from Best Buy - $16.00, as opposed to the Monster $40.00 sub cable. It works well.
Anonymous
Posted on
What's wrong with the Kenwood HTB-505? Why has everyone written it off?
Anonymous
Posted on
I'm not sure the Kenwood has been "written off." I continue to recommend people listen to it as well as the Onkyo, they may believe it sounds better. I did not. BTW, there is a new Pioneer HTIB out that has excellent specs, but I haven't listened to it.
Anonymous
Posted on
So, what's the best way to try out these systems in the stores? If I went to CC to try the Onkyo and BB to try the Kenwood, what should I do in order to see which one I like the best. It's been my experience that radio reception is usually poor to non-existant in a store like that, and there's usually nothing else hooked up to it. Do you bring a CD player or something?
Ben Miner
Posted on
The Best Buys and CC in my area only sell monster cables. I think they have an exclusive contract in some stores. Either that or the management gets the highest profit margin on monster so that's all they sell. ;-(
Anonymous
Posted on
I went to Circuit City and Best Buy today to check out these units. CC had the Onkyo 650 and the closest Kenwood they had was the 705DV, which I think is the HTB-405 with a DVD player. In this instance, the Onkyo blew the Kenwood away. I had to turn the Kenwood unit's volume to max in order to get a somewhat loud result from the test music I brought. I can't imagine it being sufficient for my living room. On the other hand, the Onkyo was hurting my ears at 65% and clear as a bell.
I figured the HTB-505 was different so I trekked to BB in order to try it out. Unfortunately they had the unit in a box but did not have one on display. No way to try it out. It's a smaller-format Best Buy so I may try the larger one in the next city over. What puzzled me was that the side of the 505 box showed specs and a picture of the receiver, which is NOT the one pictured in Best Buy's online listing or Kenwoods website. It said it was the VR-606, but I've been unable to locate that model on the website (They do have a VR-6060). Whichever model it is, the picture on the box features a front S-video hookup which the pictures on the websites certainly do not.
Does anyone know if they've changed receivers in this unit, or is the box simply a misprint? Or are all of the pictures of the unit wrong?
Alan
Posted on
I just bought my first HTIB at SoundCity.com. I got the Onkyo HTS650 for the price of $413.00 w/ no tax and free shipping. I think this is an unbelievable deal because local CC sells it for 499 and i have to pay tax. Although the price listed on soundcity's website is 499, i called them and they honored the price of 413 because that was the old price i saw on the web before they raised it to 499. The guy i spoke to was very nice and i want to give him credit. If you guys want to buy it, ask for Peter at 800 888 5343 ext 701.
Peter Klose
Posted on
I just emailed Pete and told him I saw the HT-s650 for $413 also. He responded promptly and said they had a 13% off sale and he could do it for $434 including shipping. Good enough. Still the best price out there. I am ordering now. Satelite getting installed on Monday. Schwing! Thanks for all the advise. I'l let you know how it sounds once everything is hooked up.
Anonymous
Posted on
Well, I finally got a chance to listen to the Kenwood 505... and the Onkyo still was better. I've made my decision. BTW, that receiver picture on the side of the 505 box IS a misprint. The VR-606 is just a slightly better 605. No front inputs and poor rear input layout. False advertising, I say.
HT-s650, here I come.
PS- I've asked this on several other boards, and always there's one or two guys that beg me to spend $X00.00 more to buy a separate receiver and speakers. "You'll be so much better off!" they always say. "Those HTiBs all SUCK!" they fume. Problem is, I only asked for opionions on the Kenwood and Onkyo. Why do these people always butt in with their high-end suggestions like they're spreading the gospel of Christ? I don't want to spend $100 more, I've tried out the Onkyo and it sounds great. I guess I'm just a know-nothing fool.
Anonymous
Posted on
I'm planning on moving into a house within the next 6 months and I know I want an Onkyo S650. A home theater would be impractical in our small apartment. Is it likely that the price could go up on this system? If so, I would probably buy it now and not use it to it's potential. Does anyone know if any better systems are slated to come out soon for around the same price?
Joe Canuck
Posted on
Does Anybody know it the Denon HTIB's (like the DHT683XP and DHT483XP) are available in Canada?
Anonymous
Posted on
Does anybody know any online shops that sells the Onkyo HTS650 that will ship internationally say Australia??
Beaverman
Posted on
Does anyone know where I can get the Onkyo HTS650 in Canada, specifically Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal?
Joe Canuck
Posted on
I'm not sure about eastern Canada but Visions will be coming out with the Onkyo Speaker/woofer package sans receiver any week now. HT500?
Anonymous
Posted on
I purchased an Onkyo HTS650 a couple of months ago after reading all of the good reviews on this site. I purchased it from Vanns.com for $450 with free shipping. This system is excellent for the price I paid. Movies are a totally new experience with this system. For those of you trying to figure out how to mount the rear surrounds I used B-TECH BT7 speaker mounts. I drilled right into the wall stud. These are very sturdy and I would recommend them. Thanks again for the great information.
tim
Posted on
Beaverman,
soundcity.com delivers all over Canada. I live in Toronto and they charged me 590$ US (399$ for the HTB 650 and 190$ for delivery, customs & duties). Came in 3 days and cost 920$ cdn delivered to my door with all the duties paid by them. Call them to this price. They told me that they will honor this price on all canadian orders. The only drawback is that the warranty is not cvalid in Canada. But you can go to Buffalo, or Plattsburgh to service the unit should a problem arise. FYI the Kenwood 505 is 940$ tax in at Futureshop so the Onkyo is a better buy.
I purchased an Onkyo HTS650 about a week ago. Haven't been able to try the DTS as yet 'cause my DVD is getting an "upgrade". I feel this is a great system for the price.
I have a question on the subwoofer setup. When I use the "test tone" the speakers all seem to be the same except for the Subwoofer. It's barely audible compared to the other speakers. Is this "normal" (I have the crossover set at 80 and the volume is around "7" and the level at +2. and using a Monster Sub cable)??
I can hear it when playing but am not sure if I am configuring it to it's "optimal" setting.
I also have the "surrounds" at +4 'cause I felt they sounded low.
Has anyone found good "settings" to get the most from these speakers? I don't want to "overdrive" the sub for fear of damaging something.
Thanks...
tslugmo
Posted on
Joe, get a radio shack sound meter for cheap and sit in your usual listening position in the room, adjusting all speakers so the register at the same db level. The subwoofer is harder to hear than the other speakers because the frequency level is lower than our hearing range. This is the ideal way to set up the system to make sure the speakers are set correctly for your room size and conditions.
-tslugmo
box
Posted on
Joe,
Please adjust your crossover to 120 instead of 80. This will give the system a more full sound. The sub will reproduce more of the lower midrange. Also adjust your treble and bass to your liking. I have my treble and bass at +12. Sub mode 1 seems to be the best setting. On the subwoofer, I have the volume at max.
In addition to adjusting your surround level, try adjusting the surround delay. The formula in the manual didn't seem to produce the best sound for me. According to the formula, a setting of 7 was best for my setup, but I've found that a lower setting of 4 sounds better to me. My center delay is set to 1.
Rick
Posted on
Tim:
Thanks for the lead on the Onkyo ht-s650. Here in southern Ontario an audio dealer has this unit "Santa Priced" at $1,299 (Can). That was forcing me to seriously consider the Kenwood HTB-505 at Futureshop (now owned by Best Buy)at $800(Can). My other choice, which I am still considering was a component system at a local shop ($1178 Can). It was a Panasonic SAHE-70 receiver and Energy Take 5.2/8.2 speaker system. Does anyone have any experience with this type of system? In comparison to the Onkyo?
Anonymous
Posted on
I'm giving the HTS-650 one last chance.
Got mine last month and after only a couple hours of use the HR-500 receiver shut down and wouldn't turn back on (the auto-protection circuitry had been enabled). Took it to a local Onkyo service center and took 3+ weeks to order and replace a few parts. Got it back yesterday.
Last night went to do setup, etc. Everything worked fine except the center channel way too quiet. Then I tried Dolby Pro Logic II mode so I could watch my digital cable TV in surround sound ... The Dolby PLII movie mode was half the volume of all other modes ... (I only need 25-35 volume level for all other modes, but PLII movie at 50 was barely audible). So when I took it up to a minimum acceptable volume (i.e. 63-64), the receiver shut itself off again. I went to check it out and it was extremely, unusually hot. I waited 30 minutes or so, turned it back on, and again tried to configure Dolby PLII. It shut down again, and this time I smelled burnt circuitry coming from the receiver.
Called circuit city and they will exchange it for another one ... but what makes me nervous is I've heard others on this board talk about the center channel being too quiet and the receiver getting way too hot ... I'll try the new one but if a similar thing happens I'm going with a different manufacturer's system...
Anonymous
Posted on
Don't blame you. Mine works like a charm. Just watched Atlantis with my kids - amazing. Hope your replacement works well.
Anonymous
Posted on
I also picked up the HTS-650 recently and I am having problems with it. I am desparate for help because I don't know what to do and I don't want to return the system if I don't have to.
My system sounds fine for music, cable, games, etc. all analog sources. Whenever I watch DVD's that have DolbyDigital or DTS, there are problems. The system is plenty loud in all channels and at first it sounds great. As you watch the movie, however, you notice 2 annoying problems.
1. The center channel dialog is overly crisp and lacking in mid-low end. What's worse, is that certain loud peaks in voices or high-pitched peaks in voices causes scratchy bit of interference. It only lasts for a split-second but it's annoying.
2. Background music in films such as Jurassic Park is not as clear as I think it is supposed to be. Upon listening to a section where the score is prevalent (Dr. Grant first sees dinosaur) and listening closely to the L or R main speaker, it's obvious there is some distortion going on. I've tried optical and coax with both my Toshiba SD-2200 and my PS2 with the same result. I have monster speaker wire going from the receiver to the L,R, and Center channels.
I'm thoroughly disgusted and I'm not sure if I have a defective unit (something with the DD decoder) or if I am just expecting too much.
is everyone getting the 14-Gauge Flat, Flexible Megacable from radioshack for the Onkyo? Or is this at least good cable to replace the supplied cable? Monster cable looks pretty expensive...
Thanks!
Anonymous
Posted on
When watching DVDs, turn on the "Cinema Filter". Movie audio tracks are intentionally bright, to compensate for the acoustics of a movie theater (i.e. upholstered seats, movie screen, absorptive material in walls, etc.). The Cinema Filter will correct the movie audio track for home use.
Anonymous
Posted on
Mike, folks over on the Home Theater Forum recommend getting generic 12 or 14 gauge cable at Home Depot. I don't know about flat cable. Monster cable is expensive and not necessary.
Hey! Just bought the system (HTS-650) for my husband. We are NOT electronically gifted so we had a (very smart) friend come over & hook it up for us. We used fiber-optic wiring and the sound was great! Til the problem of shut down occured caz the sound was over 70 and the receiver got hot. Before it would shut down for a minute or so then turn back on, now it won't come on at all. Going to take it back to CC tomorrow, just concerned about this problem. Hooking it up was a pain in the butt for us to begin with. I'm going to draw a diagram & tape wires together to hook the new receiver up but I would PAY someone to help us out & show us all the shortcuts and limitations - ANY IDEAS!!!??? Scared about buying a system that SHUTS DOWN when not even turned up to max level!!!
Anonymous
Posted on
Carrie, did you place the receiver in any kind of cabinet or entertainment center? Does it have a door or glass cover? I removed the glass door from my entertainment center and made sure there was at least a foot of clearence between the receiver and the shelf above it, just to make sure it would get plenty of cool air.
I am still having problems with my 650 unit, unfortunately. It will ocassionally make short scratchy noises during DVD movies when there is a particularly loud or high-pitched noise occuring, almost as if something is being overloaded, and this is at relatively low volume (65). I know it's not the speakers, I've got good quality wiring, etc. I can only conclude that the receiver is defective or nobody but me notices this glaring problem. At least no-one has helped me with it.
Fortunately, CC said that I only had to bring the receiver back for a trade-in.
Jon
Posted on
hmmmm.....I'm glad I went with DENON. Sounds like the ONKYO 650 has it's share of problems.
Anonymous
Posted on
Jon,
What kind Denon system do you have? Is it an entire package or different speakers, amp and so forth?
Jon
Posted on
I have the DENON avr-1802. It is basically the same receiver as the avr-882 that is included in the DHT-682xp. My owners manual has both model numbers on the front. I bought it as a separate component, so I really can't say how well the DHT-682xp speakers perform. If you shop around you can probably find a really good deal on it since it was recently discontinued and replaced with the avr-1803 ( I believe the DHT-682xp has been upgraded as well). I just recently bought JBL ND-310's for my front channels and going to be upgrading my center and surround speakers to JBL Studio Series speakers right after Christmas. My original plan was to go with a "Home Theater Package" but after careful research I decided I would be happier choosing my own components to suit my tastes. My best advice is to do careful research (sound, price, problems, etc.) to decide what is right for you. Good luck!
Anonymous
Posted on
Carrie,
I had exactly the same problem (I posted before about the hot receiver and 'shut down'). It appears some of them have a poor solder and the ProLogic can fry the circuitry, which sends the thing into permanent shut down, and you'll need some parts replaced.
I returned mine to Circuit City and got a replacement ... the new one works perfectly and sounds fantastic. Let us know if you have any problems/questions with connections ... it's really pretty straightforward ... there is a 'connections' sheet along with the manual to help you out.
clark
Posted on
A wiring question about the ONKYO 650. My I use component cables (red-blue-green) for my Cable and DVD, but hear the unit only has an S-video out. Would I need to run the video hook-ups directly (example- DVD video to TV and DVD sound to ONKYO)? Would this affect quality?
The 650 sounds great but this concerns me.
Thanks in advance.
po
Posted on
clark, That will not affect quality. In fact running the component video directly from DVD to TV will likely give you better quality than switching it through a receiver (1 less switching point). The only time I wouldn't run the component video directly to the TV is if you really need to switch different component video sources.
po
Anonymous
Posted on
Clark,
There isn't a problem with connecting component video directly to your tv from your DVD and audio directly to the receiver from your DVD. People do it all the time. In fact, this will probably give you a cleaner signal than routing through a receiver anyway.
It's a matter of convenience to have one's reciever used as a switch box; audio and video switch from one source to another by pressing one button.
Brian
Posted on
I bought the HTS650 after some careful research and it is my opinion that it is the best on the market considering price/quality/sound. I was originally looking at the Sony's and was comparing their 740 and 840 systems when the salesman at CC asked me if I had heard the Onkyo sytem yet. I strolled on over and it blew the Sony's away. The 650 was set up next to a much more expensive Bose system and all four systems were playing the same CD. The 650 sounded better than any of those systems including the much more expensive Bose. The 650 had such a clean, crisp sound and the bass packed a whallop!! I bought it for 499.00, but could have gotten it a tad bit cheaper on line. I didn't want my system being tossed around like a salad so I went locally, and had it up and running in no time. I have read all the suggestions about speaker wire connections, but decided to use the cheap wire that comes with the unit. I am very pleased with the sound!! I have some 18 gauge wire and maybe I'll slap some of that on, but for now it rocks just fine. A word of caution...and it is listed in the manual, but you may not thing the system is working when you turn it on and crank the volume up to 35..40 etc...you gotta really crank the volume up to 60 or higher to hear the surround sound, at least on mine that's the case. I love this system. I really enjoy listening to music now..and never really cared to do that before. It's amazing what clear, crisp sound will do. TV movie's never sounded so good!! I watched Top Gun and Abyss, and when the subwoofer kicks in, hold on to your collectibles . Buy this system and you will not be disappointed!! Now I need a decent DVD player. Anyone have any suggestions w/o breaking the budget..just want one to watch movies. Ciao ya'll
clark
Posted on
Thanks po and Anonymous (whomever you may be). I feel much more confident about my choice now.
Just ordered the the HT-S650 from www.soundcity.com for 436.08 delivered. I can't wait to get it! I would have rather of went to CC but they wouldnt pricematch so I thouth I would just save the 100$ after tax etc and go the online route.
I am considering buying the HT-655DVC which is basically the HT-650 with a onkyo dvd changer DV-CP500. I am not sure whether to get the HT-650 and add a sony dvd changer or stick to the 655DVC? Can u guys advise me on a dvd player that gives great performance with the HT-650 or if there are any issues with the CP500. The 655DVC costs 200 more than the HT-650 so i would like to spend a max of 250 on the dvd player?
. Buy this system and you will not be disappointed!! Now I need a decent DVD player. Anyone have any suggestions w/o breaking the budget..just want one to watch movies. Ciao ya'll