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The 760,770,780 have been arguably the best performing htibs for the last 3 years. They are the standard. No mystery. Yamaha is very close, the receiver and subs aren't as nice or powerful, but the speakers a bit better.
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Most of the big CE mfgs. don't advertise here. They don't have to, their retail and dealer channels are established. Mostly internet direct brands advertise on the forums. The big component and CE brands have offerings in almost all product niches and get discussed on the other forums. Their marketing dollars are spent in print, tradeshows and ads.
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Not true, but many of the recommendations are cheaper online.
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True large retailers have professional buyers, but they are driven by different criteria than consumer satisfaction. Their job and compensation is based on velocity and margin. When they award floor space to a vendor, that vendor has been qualified to deliver goods based on the retailers model. All retailers compete by discounting and packaged offerings. Many "great deals" are implemented to attract traffic, introduce a product or to reduce inventory. What you see in any given chain isn't the best quality or even product mix. It's what they think will move in their market. Sometimes the buyers are right, sometimes not.
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Hey bud, just because I don't have a life...It's fun, I've met online and in person a bunch of great people. 
There might be some shills, definitely some trolls and some very helpful sponsers that post from time to time. It's been discussed numerous times and fairly easy to spot. I highly doubt if there are any in HTIB.
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Don't know why that is. They get mentioned in Speakers, mostly the high end Klipsch not the Synergys.
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Yeah, JohnRinLA keeps a list of a bunch of members that did the deed. Alternatives are all over the place on here and on Speakers. Ask specific questions on Speakers, give your budget and you'll probably get a few more options than here. Not many for a couple of hundred.
The reason I took the time to answer at length, was you asked some well thought out questions and brought up food for thought. Welcome to AVS. I hope you have a good time.
| 2) The systems that everyone seems to use as a base for comparison is the Onkyo 780. |
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| 3) Look at who sponsors this forum. See Onkyo or an Onkyo dealer? No. |
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| 5) What is recommended? Things that you won't find at the local BB, CC, RC Willey, etc. |
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| 6) Consider for a moment the position of the retailers. The have a dedicated 'buying' staff for home audio. These are pros. Their livelihoods and the profitability of their companies depend on them being able to present a product offering at price points that make them competative. If they could blow the competition away by offering a 'special package' (amp x, speakers y, etc.) that offered significantly better performance for comparable or lower price they would be all over it. These guys do only that everday, all year. And now knowing that, what systems do you see most commonly? |
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| 7) Mos of you are probably like me - 1st timer looking for others opinions and experiences with various products. But how much variety is there? Not a lot. And once you've made a decision, why stick around? 8) What motivation does a poster have to be on the forums all day, everyday, for months? I have a suspicion that one or two may be paid.....(Again, notice the sponsors.) |
There might be some shills, definitely some trolls and some very helpful sponsers that post from time to time. It's been discussed numerous times and fairly easy to spot. I highly doubt if there are any in HTIB.
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| 9) BB seems to be brought up quite often. BB's high end speaker offering is almost exclusively Klipch. With the regularity that BB is mentioned I would expect more mention of Klipsh speakers; but I have yet to see mention of them as a part of a HT system. |
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| 10) Having said all that, does anyone have any experience upgrading the Onkyo 780? I like the system as is, but at $350, I could afford to plunk down an extra couple hundred on some extra speakers. Anyone done this? Any thoughts? |
The reason I took the time to answer at length, was you asked some well thought out questions and brought up food for thought. Welcome to AVS. I hope you have a good time.
