Wait...Onkyo recievers have issues?

Are you talking about the HTS3400 or the HTS3500? The HTS3400 is $350 and the 3500 is the one that's $250.

Anyway, I recently bought a Yamaha HTiB and before I did I read a lot and looked at the Yamaha and comparable Onkyos. The HTS3500 was one of them. Out of the brands and models I looked at, every single one had reported issues of one type or another but overall most people seemed very happy with all of them. The Onkyo also looks like it's more popular than the one I bought. For me I preferred some of the features of the Yamaha but I would have been happy with the Onkyo too. Based on the reviews, I think you'll be fine unless you have the bad luck of being one of the few that has some kind of problem. But most people aren't reporting any problems. Fortunately Amazon has a very good return policy so I'd say give it a try, hook it up, and make sure it doesn't have any of the reported problems you read about.

There were quite a few reports last year on the 3400 concerning overheating (to the point that you almost couldn't touch it). Any receiver that gets that hot will have component issues and that may be what affected the HDMI controllers before it even got too hot to touch. Onkyo does make fine receivers so it could have been limited to a production run of the 3400s (there were some issues with the 3500 as well). If it's going to have issues, it should certainly happen within the warranty period, especially if you run yours like I do my Yamaha which is at least 4 hrs/day, everyday. Run your speakers at 8 ohms which should take some of the load off of the receiver and keep it a tad bit cooler.

The bigger problem for me is that Onkyo 3500 system does not have a powered subwoofer. It uses speaker level outputs for the sub. If you ever upgrade your receiver you'll have a problem connecting that sub.

The speakers are full range single driver, with a very low sensitivity of 81db. No separate woofer and tweeter.

plus the known Onkyo overheating and HDMI issues I'd go for something else. Though if your budget is only $250 you don't have a lot of options.

If you could spend $350 this would be a better purchase.


Yamaha RX-V373
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882115373

Definitive Technology Pro Cinema 60 5.1 system.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882325104

^^^^ that would be a nice system.

afrogt - I'm still looking at upgrading my speakers for my Yamaha and am leaning towards the MLT-2s. What do you think? I need to stay with the bookshelf sized speakers.

Quite simply, a powered sub has its own amplifier and needs to be plugged into an outlet. That means that it uses its own power to drive the lower frequencies so that the receiver doesn't have to. This gives you a richer and fuller bass response. The connection is usually a single RCA cable and more versatile receivers use that type of connection so that you can add any sub-woofer to your system when you upgrade
later on. The receiver should also have binding post-style connectors for the speakers as well because you and upgrade to any style of speaker. You would be better off to get a HTiB system that has a powered sub-woofer and binding post speaker connectors because most people keep their receivers longer than their speakers.

What is the largest speaker you can fit in your set up??

Hey! Long time no video I need to keep the size relatively small (so that they will fit on my existing speaker stands and pass the WAF) so the physical dimensions of the MLT-2s seems to be the biggest I can go and still have a good sized set of drivers. Pricing around $300 or so is another factor. I probably won't get them till late summer/early fall cause we're starting a major remodeling job. However, part of the remodeling is to bring ethernet into the family room where the HTS is so no more WiFi