[13 of 13 customers found this review helpful]

Onkyo Black 7.1 Channel Home Theater System Review

Solid Choice for the Money

"If you're looking at this product because you like the Onkyo 606 receiver but don't have thousands to spend on speakers, then I can wholeheartedly recommend this product to you. The speakers sound awesome with movies and games and pretty solid with music. The included ipod dock is a nice touch, though you should check which generation your ipod is and see if it's compatible. Also, the included dock does not have a video out so no video playback from your ipod is possible.



I wanted a setup that would be great for now and which I could upgrade the speakers later if I ever have the money for it. This set does the trick. I'm quite impressed with music clarity at higher volumes, though when the volume is in the medium and low ranges, the sound is not as impressive. The ipod dock is nice, but as expected, you get a lot better sound coming from a cd player via an optical input. I haven't tried more expensive rca cables for the ipod than it came with, that might make a bit of difference, but it'll still be an mp3, not cd quality.



I'm including a list of things I wanted to know before I purchased this. These may or may not be useful to you. 1) The 4 HDMI inputs pass video and audio; 2) The on-screen display to setup the receiver and speakers only displays through the hdmi out. I have a tv with only component ins, but using the receiver's display worked well for me. The ipod display also works only via the hdmi out but you can navigate your ipod with all functions--I've read some mistaken reviews that you can only skip, pause, and play within a given playlist; 3) the included speaker stands can be used with any of the included speakers excluding the center channel (6 of the satellites are the same size, though the front right and left channels are heavier and have better drivers than the surround satellites); 4) The component video inputs, the 2 optical audio inputs, and the 2 digital coax audio inputs are all assignable. 5) one difference between the receiver in the ht-s71000 speaker setup and the ht-s6100 setup is the 7100 receiver has powered zone 2 so you can set up a 5.1 channel set, put 2 satellites in another room and run one audio signal on the 5.1 (e.g. a movie) and another on the other 2 (e.g. a cd). Kind of a cool feature.



The only other random notes were that the included speaker wire is terrible (too thin) and likely not long enough to use for your rear channels anyway.



I seriously debated getting the 606 receiver and the onkyo 240 speakers separate. if you can afford the extra price and like the silver speakers I might point you in that direction. If you're like me and like the ipod dock and the 2 speakers stands and want something the wife won't think is hideous, I'd recommend this one. Hope this helps."