New Home Cinema build advice

asakura797 · 17 Oct 2010 at 17:36

I'm in the process of getting my home cinema set up and completed. Have got all my connections ready and everything's nearing completion. The last thing on my list to buy is a home cinema system. I want to buy a decent one and money isn't too big an issue, as long as it's not BOSE price.

Any suggestions?

I've heard a little bit about Onkyo and their range.

What are they like are they good or quite pants in general?

Never used them or seen them in store so not too sure what to make of them.

All opinions welcome peeps!

Cheers!

lucid · 17 Oct 2010 at 18:51

You're pretty safe with all the big brands - Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Sony, Onkyo.

The thing with Onkyo is they have been the first to market or the first to set a new price point with products offering a good range of HD audio features. They had a killer AV amp with HD audio decoding for £599 when the rest of the market was either £200 - £300 more expensive or didn't have a product ready.

The other brands have caught up a lot now, but there's still a strong fan base for Onkyo products.

^TANK^ · 17 Oct 2010 at 20:15

I'm a Onkyo fan a long with many others here. I can recommend you have a demo with an Onkyo AV receiver and some B&W speakers, they really pair well together for music and films in my opinion!

asakura797 · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:51

^TANK^ said:
I'm a Onkyo fan a long with many others here. I can recommend you have a demo with an Onkyo AV receiver and some B&W speakers, they really pair well together for music and films in my opinion!

How much would that set up come to? Onkyo don't seem to do sound packages like a surround system. do they do DVD/Blu-ray players?

TheVoice · 18 Oct 2010 at 13:39

asakura797 said:
How much would that set up come to? Onkyo don't seem to do sound packages like a surround system. do they do DVD/Blu-ray players?

They do:
http://www.eu.onkyo.com/indices/Packages_5917402.html

I have the HT-S3305, paid £300 for it a few months ago after my £220 Samsung system stopped working properly. It's a brilliant bit of kit, sound quality is fantastic, it's got masses of settings and options so you can get it to work exactly how you want it. Only minor complaint is that the remote is a bit cheap compared to the quality of the rest of the system; not a deal-breaker really.

sibeer · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:02

The HT-S3305 is the bottom end of the Onkyo range. It is a good step up from the likes of Samsung and Sony 5.1 Packages, but a step down from a component approach. Some stores will put together packages with a bit of a saving for you if your budget goes high enough:

http://www.creative-audio.co.uk/HOTDEALS.php?HD=HOMECINEMA

davenjac · 19 Oct 2010 at 04:20

I've just ordered an Onkyo TXSR308 and a set of Tannoy speakers. Went into Richers and had a sound test, sounded awesome compared to my old Sony unit. Just waiting for them to get delivered now, always a problem in Cyprus.