Onkyo HTS7800 + SKF 4800

[Joel González]

I haven't heard any Onkyo speakers, so I can't comment on them, but I wouldn't even look at them either.

I haven't heard these speakers, but I have seen them highly recommended for low budgets quite frequently:

Philharmonica Affordable Accuracy

I'd suggest sending them an email to see if they can ship to Mexico and then saving up for a quality subwoofer.

SVS and Hsu make great subs, again I would reach out to them and see if either can ship to Mexico.

Ok, thanks for the info, about the web site I will check it, perhaps you can recommend a SW? I may as well look for it in other places here in Mexico

 

[NINaudio]

It would be better to ask for advice on a specific subwoofer when you have the funds to purchase one and you know the brands available to you.

 

[Joel González]

In my opinion, you don't absolutely need a center channel. If it helps direct a few more dollars for L&R front speakers and a sub it's worth it. You can pick up a center channel later. Your 2 main speakers in the front and sub(s) are where you want to put the bulk of the money, with a center channel as a close second, but you can do without using phantom mode for now.

Correct me if I´m wrong but aint the center channel the one who has almost all the load for voices and the coming from the screen sounds effect? I see your point to invest more on the L/R/SW but I use it mostly for movies than music. Do you have any model of L/R/C/SW in mind that I can look up?

 

[Joel González]

It would be better to ask for advice on a specific subwoofer when you have the funds to purchase one and you know the brands available to you.

Maybe, but how do I know, what to save for?

 

[Joel González]

Ive been searching, and I saw some Yamaha NSF 51, another ANSF150, some pionner SP FS52, some klipsch rf 42-II, some dayton t652, some Boston acoustics a250gb, and some others way beyond what I could afford right now, which of those could help my HT? Will they outperform the onkyo's? I ordered the onkyo's but I can change them if some of those are better. I Will test them. Also would like to hear a good option for a sub for the money.

 

[NINaudio]

The Yamaha's and Pioneer's should have better sound than the Onkyo's without a doubt. I'm not familiar with the Klipsch or Dayton units. I love my Boston's. With that being said, I haven't listened to the A250's but I'd be willing to bet they are better than Onkyo speakers.

If you're mainly looking on Amazon, buy an SVS sub from them.

Edit: It seems like you may have a medium sized room, so I'd recommend one of the 2000 series subs, such as the pb-2000 from SVS.

 

[yepimonfire]

Ive been searching, and I saw some Yamaha NSF 51, another ANSF150, some pionner SP FS52, some klipsch rf 42-II, some dayton t652, some Boston acoustics a250gb, and some others way beyond what I could afford right now, which of those could help my HT? Will they outperform the onkyo's? I ordered the onkyo's but I can change them if some of those are better. I Will test them. Also would like to hear a good option for a sub for the money.

The t652 should only be used as a garage speaker. There are better options. Try looking at some of the Polk monitor series II, they're a great bang for your buck. The cheap klipsch reference are good as well. Both Polk audio and klipsch have decent sensitivity ratings, a klipsch R-24f or R-25f will easily get loud enough to blow your eardrums with a mere 50w. You could also look at an inexpensive receiver upgrade. If you need a bare bones no bells and whistles receiver, the Sony str series performs quite well. I have one powering my bedroom system and have no complaints. Onkyo also offers decent options in the budget range, I bought an onkyo tx-nr656 open box for about $300 from crutchfield and am very satisfied with it. EBay often has open box klipsch speakers for a steep discount. I paid $279 for a pair of RP-150m speakers.

A pair of klipsch R-15m speakers and a Dayton sub will be inexpensive and perform well, even in bigger rooms. If you go that route I'm selling the center channel for $120, vs the $250 msrp.

Regardless, there are lots of good budget options, but ask here first.

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[yepimonfire]

The Yamaha's and Pioneer's should have better sound than the Onkyo's without a doubt. I'm not familiar with the Klipsch or Dayton units. I love my Boston's. With that being said, I haven't listened to the A250's but I'd be willing to bet they are better than Onkyo speakers.

If you're mainly looking on Amazon, buy an SVS sub from them.

Edit: It seems like you may have a medium sized room, so I'd recommend one of the 2000 series subs, such as the pb-2000 from SVS.

New klipsch reference series are a fantastic bang for your buck. They're reasonably accurate, and can be driven to high SPL levels with very little power. 75w will easily reach reference levels into a medium sized room. If you mostly use them for movies, you need decent dynamics, Klipsch offers this with little power. I have played movies back at reference levels with them and they don't strain one bit. The bookshelves also have good bass response, I get -3dB at 50hz in room and 45hz -6dB.

Dayton sub's are excellent for the price, the speakers... Not so much.

The sub 1500 reaches 105dB at a distance of 3m in my 20x12 room without corner loading, and should do nicely if you can deal with the size. You should get a flat response down to 25hz with the 1500. The sub 1000 stops at about 30hz.

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[yepimonfire]

In my opinion, you don't absolutely need a center channel. If it helps direct a few more dollars for L&R front speakers and a sub it's worth it. You can pick up a center channel later. Your 2 main speakers in the front and sub(s) are where you want to put the bulk of the money, with a center channel as a close second, but you can do without using phantom mode for now.

I'd have to disagree. Look up the Harman white papers, Toole talks about how stereo is flawed. You can never get a proper center image from stereo. Secondly, 60-80% of the soundtrack, including effects, is mixed into the center channel. Official cinema specifications call for all speakers to handle full bandwidth sound with the dynamic range capability to reach 105dB. Most don't listen that loud at home, so we don't necessarily need that much headroom, but a good majority of wimpy speakers, as are most often employed as surrounds, simply cannot cleanly reproduce even 90dB (-15dbfs) at the listening position.

Discrete multichannel sound has made surrounds just as active as the fronts, with full range, and full dynamic range effects frequently sent to them, even with dialogue heavy movies, surrounds are utilized extensively for the music soundtrack.

Always buy the best you can afford, and do not skimp on any channel. Its fine to start with just the L/R speakers, but do not fool yourself into thinking you can cheap out on the center and surrounds. If your center and surrounds cannot cleanly reproduce the same SPL level with the same dynamic range as the lr then you have a compromised system and you most definitely will miss out. I would definitely buy a center before surrounds. You just can't get proper imaging with stereo, even in the sweet spot.

Onkyos theater dimensional DSP actually does a good job at giving you the illusion of surrounds with only 3 channels. Might use that until you can add in surrounds.

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[Joel González]

The Yamaha's and Pioneer's should have better sound than the Onkyo's without a doubt. I'm not familiar with the Klipsch or Dayton units. I love my Boston's. With that being said, I haven't listened to the A250's but I'd be willing to bet they are better than Onkyo speakers.

If you're mainly looking on Amazon, buy an SVS sub from them.

Edit: It seems like you may have a medium sized room, so I'd recommend one of the 2000 series subs, such as the pb-2000 from SVS.

Thanks fo the reply, I will search the SW you mentioned, about the Yamaha´s speakers and the Pioneer´s have tried any of them ? also the Onkyo SKF 4800?

 

[Joel González]

The t652 should only be used as a garage speaker. There are better options. Try looking at some of the Polk monitor series II, they're a great bang for your buck. The cheap klipsch reference are good as well. Both Polk audio and klipsch have decent sensitivity ratings, a klipsch R-24f or R-25f will easily get loud enough to blow your eardrums with a mere 50w. You could also look at an inexpensive receiver upgrade. If you need a bare bones no bells and whistles receiver, the Sony str series performs quite well. I have one powering my bedroom system and have no complaints. Onkyo also offers decent options in the budget range, I bought an onkyo tx-nr656 open box for about $300 from crutchfield and am very satisfied with it. EBay often has open box klipsch speakers for a steep discount. I paid $279 for a pair of RP-150m speakers.

A pair of klipsch R-15m speakers and a Dayton sub will be inexpensive and perform well, even in bigger rooms. If you go that route I'm selling the center channel for $120, vs the $250 msrp.

Regardless, there are lots of good budget options, but ask here first.

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Thanks for tthe reply, I tried looking for those with no success, about the receiver I´m not planning to change it right now, since it is brand new, but thanks for the advice. Thanks for the offer on the center channel, but I see it would be a logistic nightmare to send it over here, I´m in Mexico but thanks anyway. About the Dayton SW, is there any special model?

 

[Joel González]

New klipsch reference series are a fantastic bang for your buck. They're reasonably accurate, and can be driven to high SPL levels with very little power. 75w will easily reach reference levels into a medium sized room. If you mostly use them for movies, you need decent dynamics, Klipsch offers this with little power. I have played movies back at reference levels with them and they don't strain one bit. The bookshelves also have good bass response, I get -3dB at 50hz in room and 45hz -6dB.

Dayton sub's are excellent for the price, the speakers... Not so much.

The sub 1500 reaches 105dB at a distance of 3m in my 20x12 room without corner loading, and should do nicely if you can deal with the size. You should get a flat response down to 25hz with the 1500. The sub 1000 stops at about 30hz.

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Thanks for the reply, I tried to find the Klipsch without success. About the Dayton subs, I have a question, are they able to perform well without distortion at it´s high level?

 

[Joel González]

I'd have to disagree. Look up the Harman white papers, Toole talks about how stereo is flawed. You can never get a proper center image from stereo. Secondly, 60-80% of the soundtrack, including effects, is mixed into the center channel. Official cinema specifications call for all speakers to handle full bandwidth sound with the dynamic range capability to reach 105dB. Most don't listen that loud at home, so we don't necessarily need that much headroom, but a good majority of wimpy speakers, as are most often employed as surrounds, simply cannot cleanly reproduce even 90dB (-15dbfs) at the listening position.

Discrete multichannel sound has made surrounds just as active as the fronts, with full range, and full dynamic range effects frequently sent to them, even with dialogue heavy movies, surrounds are utilized extensively for the music soundtrack.

Always buy the best you can afford, and do not skimp on any channel. Its fine to start with just the L/R speakers, but do not fool yourself into thinking you can cheap out on the center and surrounds. If your center and surrounds cannot cleanly reproduce the same SPL level with the same dynamic range as the lr then you have a compromised system and you most definitely will miss out. I would definitely buy a center before surrounds. You just can't get proper imaging with stereo, even in the sweet spot.

Onkyos theater dimensional DSP actually does a good job at giving you the illusion of surrounds with only 3 channels. Might use that until you can add in surrounds.

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Thanks for the reply, I actually have surrounds, I bought the bundle HTS 7800, have you heard the SKF 4800? if so can you recommend me another speaker better that could match my current setting? Thanks for the information on the front channels also

 

[Joel González]

I saw the Yamaha NSF 160 would it fit better than the Onkyo SKF 4800? i see the specs very similar, however the yamaha one seems to start at 30 Hz, will the sound really change from the Onkyo?

 

[Pogre]

I'd have to disagree. Look up the Harman white papers, Toole talks about how stereo is flawed. You can never get a proper center image from stereo. Secondly, 60-80% of the soundtrack, including effects, is mixed into the center channel. Official cinema specifications call for all speakers to handle full bandwidth sound with the dynamic range capability to reach 105dB. Most don't listen that loud at home, so we don't necessarily need that much headroom, but a good majority of wimpy speakers, as are most often employed as surrounds, simply cannot cleanly reproduce even 90dB (-15dbfs) at the listening position.

Discrete multichannel sound has made surrounds just as active as the fronts, with full range, and full dynamic range effects frequently sent to them, even with dialogue heavy movies, surrounds are utilized extensively for the music soundtrack.

Always buy the best you can afford, and do not skimp on any channel. Its fine to start with just the L/R speakers, but do not fool yourself into thinking you can cheap out on the center and surrounds. If your center and surrounds cannot cleanly reproduce the same SPL level with the same dynamic range as the lr then you have a compromised system and you most definitely will miss out. I would definitely buy a center before surrounds. You just can't get proper imaging with stereo, even in the sweet spot.

Onkyos theater dimensional DSP actually does a good job at giving you the illusion of surrounds with only 3 channels. Might use that until you can add in surrounds.

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I just stated that based on my personal experience. I went without a center channel for almost 20 years and still enjoyed tv and movies.

I do agree a center channel is ideal, but with phantom mode available and funds are tight I think my suggestion isn't bad if it nets the op better mains and a sub. The center can be bought later when more funds are available.

 

[Pogre]

I saw the Yamaha NSF 160 would it fit better than the Onkyo SKF 4800? i see the specs very similar, however the yamaha one seems to start at 30 Hz, will the sound really change from the Onkyo?

Like stated earlier, it would be best if you did a little research on your end and let us know what's available to you. Otherwise any suggestion is just a shot in the dark.

 

[yepimonfire]

Thanks for the reply, I tried to find the Klipsch without success. About the Dayton subs, I have a question, are they able to perform well without distortion at it´s high level?

That's 100% dependent on room size and listening level. I get no distortion up to 105dB at 3m from the sub 1500, I generally listen at -15dB, so this is plenty of headroom for me. If you were to place it in a corner, you would gain an additional 3dB (I probably gain 3dB from the wall behind).
If you have a bigger room, and like to listen very loud, two sub 1200's vs a single 1500 might be a better idea, and would only cost you about 3hz in extension.



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[yepimonfire]

I saw the Yamaha NSF 160 would it fit better than the Onkyo SKF 4800? i see the specs very similar, however the yamaha one seems to start at 30 Hz, will the sound really change from the Onkyo?

Don't concern yourself with the extension too much. So long as they are able to reach 80hz, you can let the sub do the rest.

If you want high volume output, Klipsch is what I'd go with, since they can output very high SPL levels with little power and no distortion due to horn loading.

This is what I have, bought from the same seller. http://m.ebay.com/itm/Klipsch-RP-150M-Ebony-Pr-Open-Box-Reference-Bookshelf-Speakers-/152448286377?hash=item237ea03ea9:g:a7IAAOSwMNxXWeLC&_trkparms=pageci%3A0ed18e44-6e9b-11e7-97ac-74dbd18068c6%7Cparentrq%3A68ad8cc415d0a9c166e1bbeafffb80cc%7Ciid%3A1


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[yepimonfire]

I just stated that based on my personal experience. I went without a center channel for almost 20 years and still enjoyed tv and movies.

I do agree a center channel is ideal, but with phantom mode available and funds are tight I think my suggestion isn't bad if it nets the op better mains and a sub. The center can be bought later when more funds are available.

Oh I agree. I thought you were implying the l/r speakers were the most important in a system. It's certainly a good idea to forego adding extra channels rather than skimping on any of them which was my point.

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