Onkyo HT-S580 Home theater audio system

Great Deal Onkyo HT-S580 Home theater audio system
	Rating : 3.5/5.0 Availability : N/A Best Deal @ Amazon Order Now !
Onkyo HT-S580 Home theater audio system Overviews With a deficit of receiver/speaker packages that blend into your home both spatially and audibly - and deliver with the power and accuracy when it's needed most - Onkyo continues to provide with the release of the HT-S580 home entertainment 5.1-channel receiver/speaker package. With the HT-S580 supplying 100 watts per channel into its six channels, most would be satisfied. Look a little deeper and you will find that time-proven technologies, like WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology) and Optimum Gain Volume Circuitry, show that the real power benefit lies in power that can be harnessed without distortion. Also, an H.C.P.S. (High Current Power Supply) transformer ensures there is power on hand for audio peaks and 192 kHz/24-bit DACs preserve the quality of the incoming signal. The 5.1-channel speakers have been designed to complement the receiver's drive power. Once again, quality, affordability and performance win. Customer Review Best Customer Review : I bought the system a grade above this, the Onkyo HT-S780 (9 vs. 9) system. But the spirit of my comments apply to the HT-S580 as well, and it looks like a decent option if you want to spend less money, so I'm posting for this system also. The HT-S580 components are somewhat less potent than the components described below, but there's enough to do the job. The HT-S580 is a 5.1 system instead of 7.1, but your program material probably doesn't require more than 5.1 anyway. And there's also an HT-S680 6.1 system if you want something between the two. Anyway, remember that the following comments are about the S780, not the S580: I'll let others comment on their subjective reactions to this system versus other systems. Those comments are extremely important; however I don't feel qualified to offer contrasts, because I haven't carefully compared the systems. Instead I'm going to offer some broad observations, and you can get other insights elsewhere. With multi-channel sound becoming common, I became interested a sound system that could render it, but I wanted a flexible system that was neither expensive nor junk. After surveying the turf, I gravitated towards the Onkyo boxed systems. Here's why: First of all, I did not want a system that included a DVD player. It struck me as a bad idea to tie the sound system to a specific DVD player. I figure a DVD player, being mechanical, will have a shorter lifespan than a receiver. And I'd like to be able to upgrade my DVD player with a recordable unit or BluRay or whatever. So it's best to buy a separate DVD player, rather than a boxed system with an integrated DVD player. Let's focus here on decent audio rather than extras. It would also be preferable to have a theater system where the individual components are not tied together. That is, I'd have the freedom to use different speakers or the like. It makes the system more flexible if the components can stand on their own. By way of contrast, I had looked at some of the Panasonic systems, such as the HT-15 or HT-17. I rather liked the look and convenience of these systems (e.g., integrated speaker stands); however I noticed that the speaker amplifiers resided in the subwoofer enclosure. There's nothing wrong with this, and in fact you might even prefer it: Your controlling pre-amp box is smaller and generates less heat, while the clunky amplifiers are set off in the corner. But this means you don't have the option of upgrading your subwoofer unless you're replacing the sound system entirely. (Of course, the logical extension of this idea is to buy separate components in the first place; however being a newbie to the theater idea, I was tempted by the all-in-a-box package.) I'm amazed to see how cheap some of the low end home theaters are. For under 0, you can have 5 speakers, a subwoofer, and a receiver or maybe even a DVD player. Wow! Of course, these cheapest systems look sort of like toys. The speakers are tiny and have only a single driver, and the power isn't high. They probably won't produce great audio. But the price is very appealing. My worst concern is the cheapest units have cut so many corners that they'll fail soon, and the entire system will be trash. So my eye was drawn to the Onkyo systems, which offered separate components that appear respectable. Note that the receiver included as part of this package can be had as an individual component, the Onkyo TX-SR503 (retail 9). I liked this receiver; it felt solid and its control scheme and buttons struck me as relatively intuitive. And the 7.1 speaker combination is also sold as a package, SKS-HT530, for retail 9. The subwoofer is a solid unit, with 230 watts and a 10-inch down-firing woofer (when buying a subwoofer, size matters). The front and center speakers are 2-ways, each with 2 midrange drivers and 1 tweeter; the rear and surround speakers are also 2-ways with a single midrange and tweeter. The speakers and subwoofer are in wood cabinets, larger and heavier than the plastic that's more typical. This perhaps makes them more "real" but less stylish. The whole package (made in Malaysia, by the way) seems a good deal, by price per pound if nothing else. Onkyo includes a 2-year warrantee, which is encouraging; nobody else offers more than a year. I agree with others who note that upgrading to heavier speaker wires is a good idea. No point in paying for the Monster brand name; wire is wire as far as I'm concerned. Bottom line is you end up with a respectable small audio system that should give you decent surround sound, and you can later upgrade or replace the individual components if you choose to. Customer Review 1 : HuH? - Michael L. Rowan - After 2 years and hundreds of attempts, still can not get anything to happen with this unit except to play TV through 'TAPE'. Offers tons of settings, none work. Period. Is it possible it's not connected right? NO.