Onkyo 5.1-Channel Home Theater System HTS-670
Final Review and Impressions after 3+ mo's of ownership
After owning this system for a few months, I can say for sure this is a wonderfull Home Theatre System. The purpose for which it was intended was for Home Theatre specifically (movies), and not for Home Audio. Never the less, it is quite nice for music applications, depending upon the recording, as it is a digital system. With older recordings, and those not surround enabled, the bass may be quite inaccurate, sometimes almost non existant. It is a tremendous help if the recording is surround enabled, even when in stero mode. I recently had a chance to audition the highly touted ht-s760. That system had larger woofer cones on the front speakers, and did have more bass kick, but the speaker cabinets were of a much lower quality. Thinner, lighter, more resonant, producing a tone less dense and detailed than the ht-s670, so the tradeoff is not worth it. The ht-s770 has the larger 5.25\\" woofers on the fronts, but I have not heard it, and it is more expensive. The best solution is of course to add good floor standing speakers to the alternate B speaker set on the receiver. That is why there is an alternate B setting. Because this is not specifically an Audio system. This is why I feel some of the more critical reviews of this system are a little disingenuous. For it's intended purpose, it is tremendous, and can be easily added to for better, more accurate audio reproduction without a large cost. This I feel would be necessary even if you purchased the ht-s770, from what I have heard from owners. The subwoofer stands in a pedestal configuration on both systems, with the LFE bass being pumped down to the bottom platform for dispersion. The effect with movies if unbelievable. Rolling thunder so real you'll look outside. Explosins, shudders, suspense builds, incredible. It is not meant to kick and punch as with audio applications. If you add speakers, make sure the sub is not active on the B setting. I have not added yet, but if it remains active, just shut it off. I assure you, audio will sound better and more accurate without it. To summerize, this is a great buy for around $300. I paid exactly $337 shipped from 6th ave, and they have superb sustomer service. Much better than Onkyo itself. I know, I talked to both of them. Almost all the 6th ave guys are recording engineers in trade, and musicians. They answered piles of questions I had kindly, in steep contrast to the tone and attitude I received from Onkyos level 1 support people. That's as far as I had the patience to go after the initial rigamarol, so I can't speak for there higher level support. They'll also beat any online price. Additionally, I wouldn't worry to much about the debate of 5.1 as opposed to 6.1 surround. The Sats are up high so that the ear will be fooled, and will not be able to pinpoint the exact location of sounds withing the crossing soundfield. This is also true with 6.1, and my feeling is the difference is not so signifigant unless you are spending a lot of money on a THX certified system. At this price range, it's just not a big deal. One final additional note. If you are looking for a DVD/CD player for this or any other system, I would highly recommend the Philips DVP642. I spent many hours researching players. There is a site titled DVD player compatability list. It has just about every player ever made, past and present, with worldwide product reviews and comments. I looked at just about everything ever made, no kidding. Literally thousands of makes and models from over the last two decades, and of all highly rated and currently available, this was the one. 8.4 out of 10 rating out of 250 reviews wordwide. Extremely high, as almost no products reach a 9 rating, particularly with so many reviews. I just bought 2 more as Christmass presents, in addition to the one I own. I spent $64 per unit with shipping. Plays more formats than any player on the market, including Divx. Component, S Video, composite video out with progressive scan. Digital Coaxial, toslink fiber optic and analog audio outs. Super slim. Weighs almost nothing and can fit anywhere. My older TV only has composite input, and the picture is beautifull. One owner commented that Component Video with progressive scan caused him some problems with picture artifacts, so he kept it in interlace mode, but he still gave it a high rating given it's cost, and a high picture quality rating as well. I can not comment on this, because I don't have the component option at this time. Given the cost, it's a hell of a deal either way. Also, I have heard it has been upgraded several times since the date of that gentlemans purchase, and can be Bios upgraded easily at home, though I would never do that myself. I'm just not that savy. I'm a techno moron, but maybe you are savy like that. This player is made to be easily set to region free so you can buy DVD's for it anywhere in the world if you do a lot of traveling. I don't, but maybe you do. If you're wondering what would be a good match, trust me. Get it. There are a bunch of sites that carry it. I have bought from 2 different sites. Both were good, but shippments go in and out fast, so you might have to try a couple to see if it's currently in like I did. Again, hope this helped you. Ge