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My SP908 Review

post #1 of 37
11/7/07 at 2:43pm
Thread Starter 
Because it's been asked several times. Here's an SP908 review from a non-audiophile.

I bought the SP908 package for watching movies & TV. I am using the unit with DirecTV HR21-700 and Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player.

I got everything out of the box. WARNING. This box is heavy. Be sure to have a dolly ready for the delivery guy (UPS/FedEx/DHL usually do NOT have one) as this can't be easily carried by one person for any length.

Wow! It was a lot of packing material in that box. The speakers are HUGE. This was a big problem for me as most stands I have seen won't fit a speaker this size. (vertically).

The system comes with these cables: 4x 30 ft cables, 3x 15ft cables, 1x Subwoof Cable, 1x HDMI Cable, 1x FM Antenna Adapter, 1x AM Antenna.

Not bad, the stock cables worked for me. The receiver gives you the ability to use banana connectors if you want.

As far as the performance goes. My normal listening volume has to be set to 76. That seems kind of high to me but others have reported the same thing.

The speakers sound great. Clear and excellent sound. We watched Blood Diamond with TrueHD sound and it was excellent. I must say, I do wish there was an SR705 upgrade option as I dislike only getting 5.1 sound since all current HD DVDs are 5.1 sound (Pans Labryanth will be the first HD DVD 7.1 in December.)

So, aside from the lack of 5.1->7.1 matrixing I love this unit. I also noted that when watching some TV (Journeyman in HD) shows that featured digital sound, the surround and surround back speakers didn't work.

For me, for $700 I think this is an EXCELENT system. For $800-$1000 I think you could build your own system with the SR705 instead.

I haven't used the DVD player and am going to sell mine since I already have an HD DVD player.

The IPOD dock is a pretty cool feature and one that my wife is excited about.
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post #2 of 37
11/7/07 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gshocky View Post

Because it's been asked several times. Here's an SP908 review from a non-audiophile.

I bought the SP908 package for watching movies & TV. I am using the unit with DirecTV HR21-700 and Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player.

I got everything out of the box. WARNING. This box is heavy. Be sure to have a dolly ready for the delivery guy (UPS/FedEx/DHL usually do NOT have one) as this can't be easily carried by one person for any length.

Wow! It was a lot of packing material in that box. The speakers are HUGE. This was a big problem for me as most stands I have seen won't fit a speaker this size. (vertically).

The system comes with these cables: 4x 30 ft cables, 3x 15ft cables, 1x Subwoof Cable, 1x HDMI Cable, 1x FM Antenna Adapter, 1x AM Antenna.

Not bad, the stock cables worked for me. The receiver gives you the ability to use banana connectors if you want.

As far as the performance goes. My normal listening volume has to be set to 76. That seems kind of high to me but others have reported the same thing.

The speakers sound great. Clear and excellent sound. We watched Blood Diamond with TrueHD sound and it was excellent. I must say, I do wish there was an SR705 upgrade option as I dislike only getting 5.1 sound since all current HD DVDs are 5.1 sound (Pans Labryanth will be the first HD DVD 7.1 in December.)

So, aside from the lack of 5.1->7.1 matrixing I love this unit. I also noted that when watching some TV (Journeyman in HD) shows that featured digital sound, the surround and surround back speakers didn't work.

For me, for $700 I think this is an EXCELENT system. For $800-$1000 I think you could build your own system with the SR705 instead.

I haven't used the DVD player and am going to sell mine since I already have an HD DVD player.

The IPOD dock is a pretty cool feature and one that my wife is excited about.

I see you built your own speaker stands...that's great. Are you sure your A2 isn't crippling this system? It doesn't have HDMI 1.3 which means it can't take advantage of the HD track from what I've read.

Link
Did the front of your receiver display "multi channel pcm" for Blood Diamond?
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post #3 of 37
11/7/07 at 2:58pm
Hey Gshocky, thanks for the review. Please continue to keep us updated, I say this because I know that there are movies with better soundtracks than Blood Diamond. My HD DVD player is the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, so while the picture will be nearly identical (not surprising since the drive is made by Toshiba), the Xbox 360 is unable to extract the Dolby Digital Plus or the Dolby True HD soundtrack from the discs. The PS3, on the other had, can extract and send PCM uncompressed and Dolby True HD soundtracks as Linear PCM to the Onkyo SR605, so I'm looking to test that out.


Here's something weird: I just received an e-mail from 6ave.com, and they say my system has been shipped, and that I may check the status at any time. However, when I log into their website, it says my system was partially shipped. What does that mean? My first guess tells me that their site just hasn't been updated, since it's only a single box.
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post #4 of 37
11/7/07 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KidPanama View Post

Hey Gshocky, thanks for the review. Please continue to keep us updated, I say this because I know that there are movies with better soundtracks than Blood Diamond. My HD DVD player is the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, so while the picture will be nearly identical (not surprising since the drive is made by Toshiba), the Xbox 360 is unable to extract the Dolby Digital Plus or the Dolby True HD soundtrack from the discs. The PS3, on the other had, can extract and send PCM uncompressed and Dolby True HD soundtracks as Linear PCM to the Onkyo SR605, so I'm looking to test that out.


Here's something weird: I just received an e-mail from 6ave.com, and they say my system has been shipped, and that I may check the status at any time. However, when I log into their website, it says my system was partially shipped. What does that mean? My first guess tells me that their site just hasn't been updated, since it's only a single box.

They probably haven't updated their website...As you can see from Gshocky pictures, there's no way that they can ship this thing in pieces.

BTW, I have tried the Blood Diamond movie with this receiver and my PS3 and the highest I could turn the volume up was 65 and that was pushing it. I truly believer Gshocky will enjoy this setup more (even 5.1 surround) with a better player.
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post #5 of 37
11/7/07 at 3:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by benso37 View Post

Are you sure your A2 isn't crippling this system? It doesn't have HDMI 1.3 which means it can't take advantage of the HD track from what I've read.

"Crippling??" LOL. If you mean that the A2 can't send high def bitstreams to the 605, who cares? The lossless PCM stream from the A2 will result in the identical audio.
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post #6 of 37
11/7/07 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by samsurd2 View Post

"Crippling??" LOL. If you mean that the A2 can't send high def bitstreams to the 605, who cares? The lossless PCM stream from the A2 will result in the identical audio.


I don't have the A2 so I can't comment on what it can do but this is what I've read from users who own both the A2 and 605. I provided a link above as proof and another guy from the surround music format thread was complaining about weak sound from the A2 on his 605. I just don't know enough about the player to argue about this.


Correction...the guy from the surround music forum thread has the 805.
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post #7 of 37
11/7/07 at 3:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by benso37 View Post

I see you built your own speaker stands...that's great. Are you sure your A2 isn't crippling this system? It doesn't have HDMI 1.3 which means it can't take advantage of the HD track from what I've read.

Link
Did the front of your receiver display "multi channel pcm" for Blood Diamond?

Yes, it stated multi channel PCM and perform 5.1 audio without a hitch.. Just no 7.1 matrixing.. It sounded excellent as well.
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post #8 of 37
11/7/07 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KidPanama View Post

Hey Gshocky, thanks for the review. Please continue to keep us updated, I say this because I know that there are movies with better soundtracks than Blood Diamond. My HD DVD player is the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, so while the picture will be nearly identical (not surprising since the drive is made by Toshiba), the Xbox 360 is unable to extract the Dolby Digital Plus or the Dolby True HD soundtrack from the discs. The PS3, on the other had, can extract and send PCM uncompressed and Dolby True HD soundtracks as Linear PCM to the Onkyo SR605, so I'm looking to test that out.


Here's something weird: I just received an e-mail from 6ave.com, and they say my system has been shipped, and that I may check the status at any time. However, when I log into their website, it says my system was partially shipped. What does that mean? My first guess tells me that their site just hasn't been updated, since it's only a single box.

hey the reason for that is alot of times when you order 2 different items
they sometimes ship separetly but you should recieve th email trackin number
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post #9 of 37
11/7/07 at 5:10pm
I see that you have issues with your volume, this is because you have not adjusted your volume setting.

Click on the Reciever's menu; Choose #4 (Source Setup); Then choose "Intellivolume"; Raise it from '0' to #8, and you will hear the greatest sound that you have ever heard.

You can repeat this setup for every audio channel, enjoy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gshocky View Post

Because it's been asked several times. Here's an SP908 review from a non-audiophile.

I bought the SP908 package for watching movies & TV. I am using the unit with DirecTV HR21-700 and Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player.

I got everything out of the box. WARNING. This box is heavy. Be sure to have a dolly ready for the delivery guy (UPS/FedEx/DHL usually do NOT have one) as this can't be easily carried by one person for any length.

Wow! It was a lot of packing material in that box. The speakers are HUGE. This was a big problem for me as most stands I have seen won't fit a speaker this size. (vertically).

The system comes with these cables: 4x 30 ft cables, 3x 15ft cables, 1x Subwoof Cable, 1x HDMI Cable, 1x FM Antenna Adapter, 1x AM Antenna.

Not bad, the stock cables worked for me. The receiver gives you the ability to use banana connectors if you want.

As far as the performance goes. My normal listening volume has to be set to 76. That seems kind of high to me but others have reported the same thing.

The speakers sound great. Clear and excellent sound. We watched Blood Diamond with TrueHD sound and it was excellent. I must say, I do wish there was an SR705 upgrade option as I dislike only getting 5.1 sound since all current HD DVDs are 5.1 sound (Pans Labryanth will be the first HD DVD 7.1 in December.)

So, aside from the lack of 5.1->7.1 matrixing I love this unit. I also noted that when watching some TV (Journeyman in HD) shows that featured digital sound, the surround and surround back speakers didn't work.
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post #10 of 37
11/7/07 at 7:08pm
Thread Starter 
After more researching this is what I found out.

HD Audio is mixed to PCM and passed at 1.5m/s over HDMI to the receiver. Then the receiver plays it. For HD DVD it looks like you can't pass TrueHD directly to the receiver for decoding.. Which kinda sucks considering Onkyo's decoder is better than the players (typically).

I heard the Onkyo HD DVD player COULD do this.
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post #11 of 37
11/7/07 at 7:32pm
nice review. the speakers and sub look awfully similar to those in the HTS-800 package...i wonder if they are packaging the same speakers with a better receiver? can anyone confirm or deny this?
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post #12 of 37
11/7/07 at 7:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gshocky View Post

After more researching this is what I found out.

HD Audio is mixed to PCM and passed at 1.5m/s over HDMI to the receiver. Then the receiver plays it. For HD DVD it looks like you can't pass TrueHD directly to the receiver for decoding.. Which kinda sucks considering Onkyo's decoder is better than the players (typically).

I heard the Onkyo HD DVD player COULD do this.

So, are you confirming that the problem is with the A2? I was hoping to steal one if they run another crazy deal like that. I wouldn't mind adding HD player to my setup.

My previous setup had the optical out and blu-ray audio sounded ok but my new setup via HDMI blows the previous SQ out of the water. Maybe legacy DD sounds the same with both optical and HDMI. Do you plan on buying into the HD audio formats?
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post #13 of 37
11/7/07 at 7:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by G-star View Post

nice review. the speakers and sub look awfully similar to those in the HTS-800 package...i wonder if they are packaging the same speakers with a better receiver? can anyone confirm or deny this?

No, the 800 uses the older model speakers.
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post #14 of 37
11/7/07 at 10:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by David6ave View Post

hey the reason for that is alot of times when you order 2 different items
they sometimes ship separetly but you should recieve th email trackin number


Hello David,

I spoke with customer service and the man explained that because I used an e-coupon, the system treats the coupon as an item, so even though the actual system was shipped, because the coupon is treated as an item, and because it is intangible, the system reports a partial shipment.
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post #15 of 37
11/8/07 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by G-star View Post

nice review. the speakers and sub look awfully similar to those in the HTS-800 package...i wonder if they are packaging the same speakers with a better receiver? can anyone confirm or deny this?

Actually the speakers are the: Onkyo SKS-HT750 - 7.1-Channel Home Theater Speaker System.
They are phenomenal.
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post #16 of 37
11/8/07 at 8:27am
What exactly is the difference between the Onkyo 904 and the 908 HTiB's? Just the number of speakers, or are the speakers themselves different?
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post #17 of 37
11/8/07 at 8:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rattor View Post

What exactly is the difference between the Onkyo 904 and the 908 HTiB's? Just the number of speakers, or are the speakers themselves different?

Speakers and receivers are different.
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post #18 of 37
11/8/07 at 8:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by benso37 View Post

Speakers and receivers are different.

I was under the impression that the receiver in both is the 605. Is that incorrect?
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post #19 of 37
11/8/07 at 9:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rattor View Post

I was under the impression that the receiver in both is the 605. Is that incorrect?

They use the same speakers but 7.1 and 5.1 configurations (two less for the 904). The receivers are not the same but I'm not exactly sure which model the 904 uses. I'll try and dig it up for you.
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post #20 of 37
11/8/07 at 9:23am
Okay...the 904 uses the HT-R557 receiver...I don't know much about it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=12130515
http://www.audioholics.com/news/pres...b-systems-hdmi
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post #21 of 37
11/8/07 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gshocky View Post

Which kinda sucks considering Onkyo's decoder is better than the players (typically).

Total, unadulterated BS.
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post #22 of 37
11/8/07 at 10:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by benso37 View Post

Okay...the 904 uses the HT-R557 receiver...I don't know much about it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=12130515
http://www.audioholics.com/news/pres...b-systems-hdmi

Cool. Thanks a bunch for the quick replies.
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post #23 of 37
11/8/07 at 11:00am
Thread Starter 
So far it's working great. After configuring the 'gain' via the intellivolume option I don't have to crank the sound all the way up to the 80's to heard it.

I have Pans Labrynth preordered which will feature 7.1 TrueHD Audio. That will be a good test. The HD DVD wont' be out until Dec 26th so it is a wait.

I'm loving the speakers, they sound excellent. I'm going to modify my stands to build the bottom part into a box so that they can be used for storage etc. (And am also going to put feet on the bottom and my wife is going to skin it with leather (or I might sand them and paint them with a primer + 2 coats of a black latex).
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post #24 of 37
11/9/07 at 6:31am
So, I watched cars on my PS3 last night and WOW! At 6.9mbps the pcm track was great. I was a little upset though, because Disney was advertising this movie as 7.1 surround. I could have sworn about hearing that on the rat and cars commercial they've been running for weeks now.
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post #25 of 37
11/9/07 at 6:02pm
I just received my Onkyo SP908 yesterday, and all I can say is that it was a pleasure dealing with 6Ave.com. I ordered the set on Monday night, and it was at my door on Thursday. This was via that free shipping option too! I really haven't had a chance to fully connect it yet, simply because I have to buy some speaker stands, and at this point, I don't know what speaker stands will work with Onkyo's speakers. So what I plan on doing tomorrow, is take one of the speakers with me to Best Buy and Circuit City, so that I can check which stands support the speakers well.

At this point I have only connected the three front speakers, but my early impression is that this is an awesome system. I tried out the uncompressed tracks of a couple of Blu Ray movies through my PS3, and they sounded awesome. My favorite was Replacement Killers. All I have to do now is change the speaker wires, since they're pretty cheap, and connect the rest of the speakers, and I'll be in surround sound heaven. I also have to find the best setting for the sub, because while it sounds awesome, it shaking too much in certain scenes. The goal would be to maintain tight bass, while eliminating all of the rattling.

By the way, not only do the speakers sound great, but they are a lot prettier in person, match the PS3 perfectly, and are very high quality. So far so good.
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post #26 of 37
11/9/07 at 9:58pm
Awesome to hear KidPanama; I to ordered from 6thAve last Saturday and was scheduled for delivery today; unfortunately no one was here to sign so I am stuck waiting til Monday to pick it up. I seriously can't wait to get it and set it up. If you happen to find some speaker stands that work please post as I know I'm gonna need to pick up a few pair.
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post #27 of 37
11/10/07 at 8:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KidPanama View Post

By the way, not only do the speakers sound great, but they are a lot prettier in person, match the PS3 perfectly, and are very high quality. So far so good.

They really are aren't they?
They are a lot bigger in person as well, especially the 230W powered sub...WOW!
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post #28 of 37
11/17/07 at 1:01pm
Bought this two weeks ago from 6ave.com when it was down to $688 - ordered on a Monday with the 10-14 day shipping, and it literally arrived at my doorstep within 24 hours. I was shocked!

They really sound quite good for Onkyo speakers and I love the 605. Waiting to do TrueHD until my TV arrives - hopefully in the next few hours.

For those with a PS3 and the latest firmware...what's are the best options to choose when playing back Blu-Ray's vs. gaming vs. upconverted DVDs? Really confused with all of the settings between the two. I'm gettingthe Sony XBR4, so I'll have support for deep color, HDMI 1.3 and 24fps.
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post #29 of 37
11/19/07 at 12:02pm
Hi all, i am new to this forum, after reading all your comments i decided to buy the system and ordered it yesterday via amazon and they also gave the speaker stands(a pair) for free so waiting for the system, just one query to all where can i buy the additional speaker wires and any particular brand to go for??
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post #30 of 37
11/19/07 at 12:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by natesht View Post

Hi all, i am new to this forum, after reading all your comments i decided to buy the system and ordered it yesterday via amazon and they also gave the speaker stands(a pair) for free so waiting for the system, just one query to all where can i buy the additional speaker wires and any particular brand to go for??

I did an inwall installation, so I used the 12awg white wires from BlueJeans Cable:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

Many also buy cables from Monoprice - I got my 35 foot HDMI cable, 35 foot RCA subwoofer cable, and tv wall mount from them and I was very pleased with the quality and price
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