Onkyo SKS-HT870 user reviews

Pros Very clear sound. The blend between the sub and speakers is phenomenal. Decent look, aesthetics in person are better than the photos. key holes if you need them. Compliments my LG 50" plasma quite well.

Cons Spring clips barely left enough room to accommodate 14g wire.

Summary This is the system I've been waiting for. I've done tons of research and with having a budget of 1200. to spend on a new A/V receiver and speakers, naturally, I wanted the most for my money, the best bang for my buck. I believe I pulled it off, to accommodate my LG 50" plasma and LG BD390, we ended up with the ONKYO TX-NR807 ($722. thru 6th AVE electronics) and the ONKYO SKS-HT870 ($299. thru J&R music and computer world). Coming in under budget was a real bonus. Added to the fray is the Energy 200watt sub from the Take Classic set ($99. thru Costco).

After setting up the speakers and running the multi E Q, the blend with the two subs and the speakers is a real treat, I half hearted expected to be blown out of the room with dual subs, not the case, everything is working beautifully to bring the most out of my movies. The power of the subs is subtle but present.

I made this purchase primarily for blu ray, it doesn't disappoint. I couldn't be happier with this overall purchase.

Sure, there's better sounding equipment out there, but after all the research I've done, I'd have to spend upward towards a thousand dollars or more to improve on what I have, that's saying a lot for this system

Pros I used an onkyo sr707 receiver, and right out of the box I was impressed with the crisp clear highs and lows. the front speakers especially make good use of the extra space provided in the towers as reverb chambers. excelent tone matching

Cons sub is a little weaker than the receiver can drive it has good low end sound, but not the couch vibrating throb that a good stand alone will have, it tops out well before max volume on sub. though down fireing and front port make up somewhat for that

Summary overall, I highly recomend this speaker system, especially if you are looking for a 6ohm 7.1 system. I did a LOT of reearch and finding a matched set of 7.1 it extreemly difficult [as of 3/2010 when i was looking]. The boxy design is a little quaint, but the quality more than makes up for it, and black goes with anything. I did find the sub lacking overall, but it is an independantly powered sub ich i by far better than any passive system, and the price is excellent [I paid about $300 new] for the shear number of speakers you get.

I anded up adding a polk audio 12" free standing forward fireing sub, and that made all the difference in the world. I now run a 7.2 system, with the onkyo sub in the back, turned own significantly so it never topps out, and between that one and the bigger one in front, I now have a system that rivals any I have heard with a total price point of less than $1200 total for everything.

overall, I highly recomend this setup, but be prepaired to have the sub a little lower than you might otherwise like.

Pros Designed to work together and work well
Good sound

Cons Thin speaker wire
Spring clip connection
Sub can not pressurize large areas but does fine in smaller spaces.

Summary I have the Onkyo HT-S7200 but can no longer review it, I guess it's too old a system. However I will review the speakers and receiver separate. So, these speakers are driven by the Onkyo HT-RC160 which has 80wpc. The speakers are good speakers and originally I had this setup in my large living room 18'x17' with 10' ceiling and open to a 15'x15' dining room and open to the kitchen and study so there was a lot of air to pressurize and the system was lacking. There was not enough bass from the sub and while the volume could get loud I could tell it was starting to clip before reaching anywhere near THX's 85db. I have since upgraded my main home theater system an spent more money than I care to mention which makes my view of this system a little skewed, sure it doesn't sound as good as a multi-thousand dollar system and it shouldn't. I decided to relocate this system to my bedroom 13'x15' with 10' ceiling and WOW, this thing came to life! In the confined spaces of my bedroom the sub became a different animal being able to belt out clean, tight bass and plenty of it. The front sound stage consist of two way speakers with a D'Appolito configuration MTM and sound excellent. The surrounds are a single woofer with no tweeter. I have everything crossed over at the THX recommendation of 80hz. The system gets plenty loud inside the confined bedroom and I don't feel the need to mess with or upgrade anything. I've read the prior reviews and would agree that this speaker package lacks in a large, open room such as my living room but in a smaller bedroom or a dedicated media room this system can and does impress. For the price it's well worth a look and will blow away all the small cubed speakers from most HTiB's.