|
Before I did that though, I did a little experiment and hooked up one rear with the thin wire and one rear with the 14 gauge and I really couldnt tell the difference but I used 14 gauge anyway and it helps me to sleep at night. I was worried that the subwoofer might not be strong enough but I was totally wrong. The speakers showed up on my door and were quite heavy. One guy made a comment in a review that the center speakers (voice) were lacking but I dont really find that and I can adjust the center speaker volume separately on my receiver. These speakers sound great with movies, video games, and music which was a must for me. I use amazon alot but I paid $350 on ebay for them on 3/2/09 which was the best deal I could find. I already had a solid yamaha receiver so I just needed to replace my old JBL stereo speakers with surround.
I left the original wire in the front and center speakers and hooked up the rears with 14 gauge because I didnt want to lose power with the distance of the wire. Someone said that they had trouble hanging the speakers because there were no clips that would fit them but all you have to do is put a screw in the wall and hang them on the screw. Pretty simple.I hooked these speakers up as 5.1 instead of 6.1 and I found them to be excellent for the price. I dont think I would consider myself an audiophile but I'm pretty close. It has plenty of kick to it and I usually dont turn the dial up past the halfway point. Sure, but not in this price range. It took me a while to play with all of the different options on the reciever to come up with the best sound but that has nothing to do with the speakers and overall I am impressed.
I hooked everything up and noticed that the wires they gave me were pretty thin and not nearly long enough for the rear speakers.
I would say my living room is small to average size and I have the speakers paired up with the Yamaha receiver, a 46 inch Samsung 750, a PS3, and a Wii (all of which I highly recommend).
Once I opened the box I noticed that the speakers were somewhat larger than I anticipated and the subwoofer was huge.
I ordered some 14 gauge wire from amazon because BestBuy wanted to rip my face off.
I'll say that if you have a good receiver these speakers will not let you down.
I think its hard to get a good idea on speakers because people cant separate the speakers from their receivers and which one does what.
I did alot of research on an affordable set of surround speakers and came up with the Onkyo SKS-HT240's as one of the best by reading reviews and looking at top 10 lists.
They are nice and heavy and look great.
Are there better speakers out there.
That also makes Paradigm Cinema-90 series one of the cheapest amongst Paradigm's other well known speakers and almost 3 times more expensive than these Onkyo speakers. Be prepared to spend more money on wall mounts / stands & decent cables to get the best out of these speakers.Paradigm Cinema-90s, 70s, Mirage Omnisat V2s, Nanosats and Mordaunt Short Alumnis are other speakers also worth considering in the compact HT speaker category. Onkyo is no exception. It's got an 8 inches down firing woofer with a built-in 77 - 150 watts (peak) r.m.s. On the other hand, if you like to bring your house down along with your neighbour's then you need to look elsewhere, such as Paradigm's Signature Servo, which goes all the way down to 9hz. Unfortunately, these satellite speakers are rear ported, making wall mounting option a bit tricky. Yeah right.
They are definitely an upgrade to most H.T.I.B. So this speaker system can only be used with a/v receivers that have an in-built bass management. They sound good if set up properly in a small / medium sized room with adequately powered a/v receiver. As per the specifications given, it does not go below 30hz. It should be well suited for most living rooms / apartments. There is no line level-in facility for front speakers and there is no crossover selector knob either.
Phew. They will not disappoint you for the money you pay. I still give them 4 stars because no one can give you speakers with such aesthetics, performance & value for money for under US$300. The Paradigms have a level of clarity, efficiency, mid-range & smoothness that these speakers find hard to match up with. On the negative side, this subwoofer only has a single LFE RCA line-in jack & a volume knob on the back panel. Similar design goals are found on Polk Audio DSW PRO series subwoofers, which I like better. Acoustic suspension or front ported speaker designs would have made it better. Do you really need your subwoofer to go that low when our hearing range is limited to 25hz - 25khz at best.
I know, I have just compared apples to oranges and it's still at the very bottom of high end audio. I like this arrangement because subwoofer speaker grills have no sonic benefits, & they mostly attract dust and dirt.The subwoofer sounds powerful and may get boomy at times if pushed really hard. That being said, they are not the last word in compact HT speaker category. The front ported and down firing design eliminates the use of a speaker grill in front of the subwoofer. The woofer for the satellite speaker is barely 3 inches in diameter and it claims to go as low as 65hz. The upgrade bug eventually bit me and I've moved on to a Paradigm cinema - 90/110C system for Zone 1 & Mordaunt Short - MS902i for Zone 2.I would recommend these speakers to anyone who is on a very tight budget and is building their first home theater system in a small / medium sized room.
Cost cutting measures such as spring loaded clips, instead of binding posts and fixed cloth speaker grills in front of the satellite speakers, may also be seen as negative points but not as a deal breaker.Most speaker manufacturers seem to play with specification. As we get past 30years of age, it's further limited to 30hz - 20khz. They are not as good as something almost small and comparable in size such as Paradigm Cinema 90s. I don't think it may even be going below 40hz. I had these speakers paired with an Onkyo TX-SR604 and Pioneer DV-610AV universal DVD player. It's now available at Amazon for an amazing price of less than US$300.I had them wall mounted with B-Tech (BT33) wall-mounts.
Yawn.
systems.For $300 it's really hard to find speakers better than these.
Lol.The unique selling point of this speaker system is the well designed subwoofer.
I really doubt that claim.
You will definitely need wall-mounts to avoid close proximity to the wall.
It has a front port so placement near walls in smaller rooms is less complicated, compared to rear ported designs.
I bought these speakers for US$900, back in Feb 2006.
amplifier.
Think about it.Most people who buy these speakers would buy it for it's low profile and wall mounting capabilities.
Overall, sound is good and the sub is really pretty good. Speaker system is pretty good, but the speakers are actually much bigger than the picture would lead you to believe. Nice buy for the price.
I powered the speakers with Onkyo TX-SR606 Home Theater receiver. Also make sure to keep the original packageing because that is the only way they would accept the return. If not for the failure of the sufwoofer would have rated 5 stars. I was totally happy with the sound and look of this home theater system until the sufwoofer quit 2 weeks after I hooked it up. The vender was real cooperative about replacing it, but had to return the whole system, not just the subwoofer. Hook up is almoost to easy, all wires and connectors are labeled and color coded.
If your room is designed for Hi-End sound (sound absorbers, special geometry etc) you probably will be disappointed. Otherwise you will find this item very good.
|
