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small living room budget system recommendation please

1K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  Dustin McClelland 
#1 ·
Hi all
I'm a student so my budget is somewhat limited and I've been eyeing the onkyo atmos HTIB for 799.99 or 499.99 refurbished, but I've heard mixed review on atmos. I understand HTIB will never be as good as customized setup but I am no audiophile. I am just looking for a set up that will give me "wow" whenever I play games or watch movie by myself or with a group of friends. I would like to use this setup for music as well. I guess I'm looking for a setup that is decent enough to wow me in all its usage (movies, games, music)

1. Is onkyo's atmos HTIB receiver good for future speaker upgrade? I understand it's a 5.1.2 receiver but I don't know if it can be upgraded to 7.1. At this moment I don't think 7.1 means anything to me in the near future

2. What kind of decent (not great, not even good, just decent) set up can I get with $800.

3. My living room will be 14x11 and I am using an old crappy sony HTIB

Sorry if this is too amateurish that hurts your professional eyes ha
 
#2 ·
7.1 is only truly effective if you can place speakers behind the sitting area. So if you've got the space, or plan on having it in the future, I'd get a 7.1 capable system. You don't have to use the speakers behind you if you can't and just configure the system for 5.1. Some love Atmos, some can take it or leave it. I think it's more hype than anything else for entry level systems but I'm sure there are those that disagree. For the most part, great speakers can make a mediocre receiver sound great but bad speakers can make a great receiver sound bad. Most speakers that come with HTiB systems are ok for what they are. Usually when you purchase an HTiB you're purchasing the receiver and not necessarily the speakers. I think the tendency is to keep the receiver longer than the original speakers. What is the model of Onkyo you are looking at?
 
#3 ·
Hi Otto
Thanks for the reply

Currently I live in an apt by school so there won't be space for 7.1. Maybe after I start working and buy a house I could provide a better living room arrangement that allows 7.1 but that is way too far down the road. I was looking at the HTS-7700 from onkyo which is atmos ready (including 2 atmos ready speakers). I was wondering if the receiver for that kit is good on its own if I decide to upgrade the speakers later
 
#4 ·
The speakers are what one would expect but the receiver seems very capable with HDMI 2.0 (doesn't list the supported protocols though) and HDCP 2.2 for future use. The speaker connectors look like 5-way binding posts which is good. That means that you can add any style of quality speakers without having to worry about special connectors or proprietary connectors. As far as upconverting video, I'm sure it will do a great job but for me I'd rather have my tv to the conversions than the receiver, but that's up to you. Receiver appears to be very solid.
 
#5 ·
The onkyo system looks pretty good for starting. Many people will say to spend differently, focus on a good receiver or good 5.1 speakers, and plan to upgrade as money and time allow. As pointed out, the receiver in this set is ok, you may be able to find better for the same, or a little less, and start with maybe a LCR set up of speakers. When I was in college 15 or so years ago, I started with a middle of the road, $250 Sony DVD player, and $500 HTIB from sony to go with my 27 inch Panasonic CRT. I though it was great, and incredibly expensive. When I left school 2 years later and got my own place I spent a great deal of time listening to gear at two different electronics stores, and spent what I thought was an absurd amount on a Denon/DefTech 5.1 system. I have switched out several TVs, few receivers and added several other components over the years, so be careful, this all started from a HTIB. It really is a love and a sickness. Understand that this is not a final purchase, and you, like most of us here, will constantly be looking to upgrade.
 
#6 ·
Hah wallfly. Thank you for your input. As of now I don't want to get too technical because I'm afraid I'll be spending my student loans on speakers and such. Right now I'm just looking at HTS7700 and HTS5800

7700 was released last year and 5800 was released in june 2015. I don't know how different they are (too many jargons) but 5800 is $699 whereas 7700 is $799 (refurb is 499.99)

What are some of your thoughts on 7700 and 5800 in terms of receiver? I believe the speaker set is the same for both kits

I can't post links yet so if you guys will goto amazon and search for HTS7700 and HTS5800 please.

Thank you!
 
#8 ·
Thans Otto

One thing I didn't understand from comparing the spec sheet for both is that 5800 has Atmos decoder, TrueHD, DDPlus whereas 7700 only has TrueHD and DDPlus. Both system are "Atmos ready". Am I missing something here?

Should I be considering refurb of 7700 for 499.99 or only go for a brand new unit?
 
#9 ·
Those are confusing marketing terms which is done on purpose. "Atmos ready" could almost mean anything. Is it the speaker addition ability, or is it a firmware upgrade, or is it ready when Blu-ray discs are encoded that way? Personally, I don't care about Atmos so I have no experience there.

I like new units only because of the warranty, but that's me. There is nothing wrong with a refurb depending on what kind of warranty the seller offers (which you should read carefully).
 
#10 ·
Thank you Otto. That makes sense. The refurb I found is actually directly from Onkyo and is backed with 1 year (rather than 2 years with a new unit). I think I'm set on 7700 for a beginner kit and I'll keep looking out on amazon for the price to drop a little bit so I can do 12-month financing on it. Thank you for all your help :)
 
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