Need help with Budget HT setup

[kellyk75]

Hi,

I am having a dilema with trying to put together a decent sounding first home theater package that will be economical & upgradable in the future.

I have pretty well decided that I want to go with the Onkyo TX-503 (or Onkyo TX-530 in the HT-S780 package) Receiver. My dilema is the speakers. I have listened to the Onkyo HT-S780 HTIB system and am really impressed with the power & features of the Receiver, but the front speakers sound "muddy" and don't deliver high frequencies very well. The sattelites are more tollerable but are big & harder to adjust without them standing out in the room. The HT-S780 is a 7.1 system and the receiver (TX-530) is rated at 110W/ch at 1KHz. It is supposedly the same as the TX-503 rated at 75W/ch at 20Hz-20KHz. Anyone know why this would be if it was the same Receiver? Is it just the way it was tested/rated? I have read many reviews that the HT-s780 receiver gets very warm and 1 review about the TX-503 (stand alone receiver) getting warm. My concern is that Onkyo took the same unit and upped the power, but should have installed a internal cooling fan. I don't want the receiver to give out after a few years.

My speaker choices are (if I don't go with the Onkyo HT-S780 HTIB) the Infinity TSS-450 which is a 5.1 sound system, Athena Micra 6 (which I know people here are fans of), and a few other choices. I am considering this because I can always upgrade the centre & front speakers later for 7.1 upgrade. The Infinity speakers are on sale for 50% off at a local stereo dealer until Thursday of this week. This makes the Onkyo HTIB & the Onkyo receiver + Infinity package roughly the same price. The Infinity system comes complete with mounts & decent speaker wire for more cost savings. I am having a great deal of trouble making a decision since nobody in town has these systems set up for product demonstrations. The most I have listened to them is centre channel & sub. Sound quality (accuracy of reproduction through all of the freq. ranges) is important, but at this point in time money is also a factor.

I know this is long winded, but I could really use some advice so I am not going to regret my decision. The more research I do, the more confused I get......... any opinions are welcome.

Thanks in advance

Onkyo HT-S780 HTIB
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S780&class=Systems&p=i

Onkyo TX-503
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?class=Receiver&m=TX-SR503&p=i

Infinity TSS-450
http://www.infinitysystems.com/homeaudio/product_detail.aspx?prod=TSS-450CHR

Athena Micra 6
http://www.athenaspeakers.com/micra6SystemSpeakers.htm

 

[jcPanny]

Budget system

The Onkyo system will perform better than most HTIBs because it has larger drivers than the satellites that come with most HTIBs.
If you can only spend $300, then the Athena Micra or Athen point 5 are good budget options with the Onkyo 503/2 or Yamaha HTR-5840 receiver.
If you want a little better system and are willing to gradually upgrade, consider the Athena Audition series or Bic Venturi bookshelf speakers. They run about $100 a pair. Expect to spend at least $100 on an entry level sub.

On the onkyo receiver, you might be able to save some money by getting a refurbished model from e-cost or other sites. They come with a 90 day warranty.

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=609976

 

[kellyk75]

Thanks JcPanny, I noticed in the specs of the HT-S780 that the sattelite speakers are 82dB where the fronts are 86dB. I think I have decided against the 780 because of the reasons above. So really it comes down to the Athena Micra 6 ($499 on sale) or the Infinity TSS-450 ($350 on sale). Does anyone have experience with one (or both) of these speaker packages? I have heard lots on the Athena's, but could use some opinions on the Infinity's. I know and trust infinity more than I know Athena...... but I trust audiohaulics. I listened to the Infinity centre channel & sub and it sounded a little crisper than the Athena's. I would also be listening to music (not nearly as much as tv/movies), but I am looking at sound quality more than $150 difference.

 

[johsti]

$499 for the micras?

check out amazon.com, I'm sure you can do much better than $499.

Also consider the athena point 5 and a dayton 10" or 12". This combo is very close in price to the micras.

 

[kellyk75]

Hey guys,

I think I have settled on a receiver. The Yamaha rx-657, now it is just speakers.

It is between the Athena Micra 6 ($499) CAN which comes with everything (wiring, brackets, etc) or a speaker set from a Company called "Sinclair Audio". They have a nice 5.1 speaker package for $700 CAN (50% off, but they are considering all components separately... $299 for satelites, $199 for centre, $599 sub) with nothing but the speakers. For the sinclairs, I will need speaker stands & wire (another $200+).

http://www.sinclairaudio.com/products/brighton_sb540x.html
http://www.sinclairaudio.com/products/brighton_sb800w.html

I have taken a close look at the speakers, they seem to be really well made and are decent sound & build quality.

I guess I should have specified that the room I will be putting them in is 11' by 26', with speaker locations designed to fill 11' by 12'. I will want to upgrade front speakers & centre channel first and move everything back a notch to 7.1 system. I will then upgrade the sub, then the surrounds (all upgrades after I upgrade TV in a few years). For now I am looking for the best bang for the buck so I can save some play money down the road.

I have also thought of johsti's idea of the athena point 5's, but I can't find anywhere that has them set up. The cheapest I can find is $649 CAN + a Sub.

Any ideas or adivse is still welcome. The more I look, the more confused I get.

 

[markw]

Athena Micra 6's for $300US and, I believe, free shipping

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=ATHMICRA6&product_name=MICRA 6 Home Theater System

...and a reputable vendor to boot. Dunno about the canada part, but I don't there's a $200 US difference in exchange rates and I doubt free shipping works there

 

[Panjsheri]

sINCLAIR

I have the Sinclair Audio Sculptura Series 5.1 surround sound speakers and they consist of 3 SC4's for the (F,R,L) and 2 SC2"s for the rears and the LS210 sub woofer. I have them connected to my Onkyo TX-SR805B Receiver and these speakers rock!!! My room is about 18 feet by 25 feet and I haven't seen any lack of power and mine came with everything included, mounts, speakers, stands but no cables obviously.

 

[Davemcc]

Wow, this got pulled out of the deep end of the archive. Last prior post 12-19-2005.