Onkyo HT-S9300THX 7.1 Music vs Movies: Hello, Ive been doing a lot of reading on this system, and it sounds absolutely great as a theater system, but have not heard any one talking about how it sounds with just regular music listening?
1390686
So so at audessy setting. You have to manually boost the treble and the bass to get a feeling of "using a relatively expensive" receiver. And if you manually increase the treble and base, it is changed for all inputs. A headache - that you have to change it back to normal for watching movies.
2052113
No I don't have this system but I was gonna buy it soon. This would be primarily for playing my 360 so any potential problems with that gets me concerned about it. Are all your cables hdmi 1.4? Even though I don't think that is the problem I always wondered if I ran my PS3 or 360 with hdmi 1.4 to the receiver and the one to the t.v is 1.3 or 1.2 if it would cause problems with the picture. I have always opted for a whole theater in a box but am recently building a surround sound and am trying to learn the system a little bit first.
810534
I owned the playbar about 9 months before buying the sub. Stand alone playbar sounds good with the lows but very good with higher frequencies. IMO, adding a sub brings the low frequency to a very good level as well. Surprisingly I notice the improved lows more with movies / TV than music.
426355
Hi there, if you have your tv and movies also attached via digital or optical audio, you will get 5.1 surround on your system if it is broadcast in 5.1. If you want equal sound from all speakers, as 7.1 and 5.1 are quite discrete and are only truly noticeable when movement or something like a loud explosion occurs, then cycle through the audio options of the receiver until you find the mode that gives the sound you are looking for. I usually set my receiver to DVD direct and it will send sound as recorded on the DVD. If you want other modes, look in the manual under the different audio modes and pick the one you like best. I hope that helps a bit and doesn't add to the confusion. True HD, I believe is only sent over HDMI that carries both video and audio. I may be wrong, and digital or audio will do this also. I have had the pleasure of DTS experience through 7.1 and it is incredible. Haven't played with True HD yet. you may want to check out AVS forums for more understanding of HT.
1496209
Unfortunately I don't have much information to help because I'm considering the purchase of the same system. Has your impression changed much from the original post? I enjoy classical music but don't know much about different audio outputs and quality differentiators. Is there a better system at a similar price that you know of? Thanks for any additional thoughts.
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Just got my system. Hate to argue with folks but, I am getting DTS-HD ok via HDMI and no other cable from my Sony BDP-BX1 player. After playing around with the settings I discover DTS scrolls across display window when I switch between different DTS sources and change tracks of DTS audio recordings and movies. Plus DTS is lit in the window. I am happy with that. Just set BD player's audio output priority for HDMI, DTS set for DTS, BD audio set for direct (mix reverts system back to pcm/48); HT-SS2300 video menu: "audio for HDMI" set for AMP. We watched Mamma Mia! (blu ray/dts-hd) and was amazed at wonderful audio clarity. I had to reduce center channel volume to -5 to suit us. But, we are hearing subtle things we never heard before all around us. Then I cranked volume to 30 and tried a couple of DTS audio cd's and again was amazed as a 2-8-4 steam locomotive passed though the living room. And again with a SR-71 fly by.
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I have the same issue with the DG710 (only difference is one less HDMI and 10watt less per channel, otherwise, same unit) and the only solution was to set all outputs to "Bitstream" I spent an hour with Sony on the phone and could not get the receiver to play 5.1 PCM from any source but a PS3 game, why, I don't know, I tried 4 different Blu-Ray disk. I am exchanging mine through Amazon for a new one, I don't know what I'll do if the new one doesn't work. Some people have claimed the Lossless audio works great (lossless is PCM only) yet CNet reviewed and claimed it mixed all PCM to 2.1, which is what both of our units have done. Apparently it's a hit or miss issue, some work, some don't. I hope I get a good one next time.
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When I do the comparison on Onkyo's site, it looks like it has all the features of some of the bigger systems that the average guy really wants. HDMI Switching, rather than pass thru as well as a couple component-ins for legacy gaming systems. Latest HDMI and good speakers. The price is right as well. What is everyone hearing for a date? I have heard late March to early April? I may pre-order as well.
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The sound is fine for watching TV programs, but when I pop a concert DVD in I really miss my old system with the subwoofer and the stereo speakers. So I guess my answer is it depends on what you like to watch. But the volume is fine, it's just for music I'm thinking of upgrading here.
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My last reciever,10yr old sony str825 w 5.1 dolby ,I think,, had more power , but did not have the surround effect as the onkyo .We just love it for movies.. No issues yet with functions.
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I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the audio output is not controlled by the volume setting on the TV. I use the volume on the external receiver/amplifier. I have big speakers, so I set the sound on the TV to Mute and just use the big sound. I should add, I do this for Movies, I do not watch regular TV. It is pretty awesome for movies. I have 4 12" and 4 10" woofers, then mids, tweeters, and horns. So it is quite engulfing. Car races and airplanes have the sound going across the room. Makes one feel like they are in the middle of it. On another note, another person has color setting up on the comments, and I went in and set mine to these values, and wow, what a beautiful picture.
1638549
Hi Tom,I've done everything you said and that I can think of and still no dice. So I'm done trying to figure it out. I used to get pretty good surround from the the TV programs that are broadcast HD 5.1 but it seems to be gone also. I have to say that the despite all this, it does sound pretty good if stereo is what I was going for. Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.Take care,Dennis
737893
I was also wondering, as I got my tv yesterday and hi def time warner cable today. I also put it on 120hz. So, can anyone tell me when and how to benefit from this feature? Also would appeciate any recs on sound system- not too expensive to add to tv, and what to go with blue-ray or other high def DVD player..thanks.
1107771
I recently bought Onkyo 5300 and today noticed that S6300 has come down in price. I think spending little extra to acquire HT-S6300 is well worth it. I absolutely love Ht-5300 but the speakers are huge! I like sleeker look of Ht-s6300, plus up conversion, aux mic features are worth spending little extra money. But if you don't care about that, HT-S5300 is very good system with excellent sound.Haven't checked out Yamaha, so can't comment on it.
1474866
Yes the sound is great... whatever your listening to movies, games, or Pandora radio. You will hear sounds that would have missed listening from your TV speakers. You will get great sound for the money. I recommend this product!
1220265
I'm sorry, I haven't had a chance to calibrate my speaker system yet. I cannot provide anything of substance at this time. I have only watched one DVD "Eagles Melbourne Tour" Sound was great and the picture on my Panny 50 in HDTV was very good. Sorry I cannot offer anything else.
1981283
As stated by the other responses, the sound is typical of TV's with built in speakers. No problems with the sound, but if you want surround or theater quality you'll have to add something for that. Ours is not used as our primary TV, so the speakers and sound are perfectly good.