Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo HT-S870B Home Theater Sound System BLACK

Onkyo HT-S870

PSSSST!!! Over here! Quit clicking for a minute and stop and listen... for roughly $750.00 you can have a certified, yes that's right, THX C-E-R-T-I-F-I-E-D home theater Surround Sound Onkyo Top Of The Line System.

There are no other HTIB systems in this game yet. None, nada, zilch, it's a first; it's the only one.
No Bose, no Sony, no Polk, no Klipsch, no strange Japanese hybrid doohicky!

If the THX Certification and all the promise that means to your ever growing DVD collection does not thrill you (It does me, but I'm a pig.) then I promise the sound on these baby's will make you smile.
I would put my brand-new setup here up against any Sony, Bose and even Marantz $ystems, you know the ones, those over priced audiophile beasts which you will pay much much much more money for then spend another pile to get speakers for and maybe, just maybe, you will get a few more bells and whistles.
Think about it.

I got an all-in-one, over and out, one stop shop, package of a beautiful receiver, 6 surround sound speakers, they are sorta large but built solid to boom boom boom and a giant rumbling sub-woofer which is currently making my neighbors very upset.

The speaker wires provided just plain suck so purchase some Monster Cable or my personal favorite Acoustic Research cables. You can find great deals right here.

I can't say enough, I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I was when I turned this thing on and then when my other half would not leave the couch and insisted we watch every action DVD we had to listen to the new sound qualities this setup brought to our movies well all I can say is this is hands down the most BOOM for the buck I have ever spent.

Two cones on the sub-woofer alone, BOOM baby! 1000 watts of pure glorious balanced tones and for under $1000.00, come on! The music playback is even damn decent. You know you need this. You can't go wrong.

Oh and the receiver, dang it, this thing also has the ability of acting as a switch between two Video Component connections and your TV, something usually found on only the high end thousands-of-dollars systems, not to mention the 3 Fiber Optic Input connections on the back, one for my PS2, one for my DVD, and one for my stunning Sony KD-34XBR960 TV.

Good job Onkyo! Thank you! I say let the noobs with too much money blow it on Polk and Kilpsch and other esoteric mish mash brand names and even if they beat me on some minor point or virtue I would still be pointing to my price tag and laughing at them. I spent $750.00 with free shipping and will definitely tell it like it is, Onkyo you ROCK!

This is gonna be THE HOT PRODUCT this year when word gets out.


Quick Update

To the guy posting on the web claiming I am an Employee of Vanns or Onkyo...

1) I work for Wells Fargo so you, my boy, are wrong.

2) Show me any brand new (not refurbished) 1000 watt THX Select Certified Receiver combined with 6 quality surround sound speakers (We can even leave out the sub-woofer to make it easier for you.) that will add up to $750.00 period. Please? I am waiting. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

3) I think it's great your "friend" got an Onkyo HT-S770 and I looked at those too but then I did my research and I found a better deal with a THX Receiver that also switches between two Component Video Inputs (Something I feel adds considerable quality to the deal.) for just $300.00 more, which obviously you think sucks.

But... I do not think anyone went out of their way to lie to you, you simply failed to research what you were buying. I looked on the site and yes the information of what is in the box is all there.

Oh well...

I just got this thing hooked up yesterday and I am blown away. My neighbors are gonna be pissed.

I spent the last 3 weeks looking online and in stores (Fry's, Good Guys, Circuit City, Best Buy, Costco, Sears, Walmart, Kmart, etc.) I know...I need a life...but I wanted to find a nice HTIB (home theater in the box) that I could afford (around $500) and that would sound really good. There are a few out there. Sony makes a few decent Dream Systems, Panasonic, Pioneer Elite ($1200) sounded great, but was out of my price range...and it had the receiver as a combo unit with the DVD player. When I first started researching, I thought that I wanted a system with receiver and DVD as one component to save space, but after talking to several sales folks, and listening to 30+ systems...I came to the conclusion that I would get a much better value by using my existing DVD and adding a reciever.

Love at first listen....while at Fry's listening to several systems, I was completely unimpressed...the salesman asked if I could spend a little more...like $699. I originally wanted to stay around $500, but told him to show me what he had in mind. Just looking at the Onkyo HT-S870 impressed me. The receiver is THX Select certified...try to find a THX Select certified receiver for $699...with no speakers....you'll be hard pressed. Most start at $799 and go to $2000+ for the receiver alone. The other thing I noticed right away was the size of the speakers and the fact that they have wooden enclosures, not the cheap plastic like most inexpensive HTIBs.

He turned on the Onkyo system, and I knew I had to have it. No kidding, this thing was in a completely different class than the $300-700 Sony's, Panasonics, etc. It was so much richer when turned up, with no distortion. The others that I had listened to sounded like boom boxes, in comparison. There was a Pioneer Elite that sounded great, but it cost about $1200.

After getting it home and spending about an hour setting it up. I am very happy with my decision. I turned the Matrix up and even in the bar scene where the music is blasting in the background and making my walls shake...you can hear Trinity whispering to Neo very clearly.

So far, I am very happy.

Yes, friends, you, too, can hear =exactly= what the director wants you to hear with a HTiB (or Home Theater in a Box). It's the Onkyo HT-S870B, and it simply will rock your socks off.

The nearest thing you're going to get for this kind of price with any THX certification at all is just a receiver. True THX - both THX Select and THX Surround in a HTiB. You will not find a HTiB at this price with THX decoding anywhere. I've tried. The usual high-end Dolby sound modules are also included. But what is Dolby when compared to the digital perfection of THX?

This baby has power to spare. At 1000 watts, it can fill all but the largest rooms with pure audio appreciation. Any audiophile will tell you that more power equals cleaner sound. Take one look at the speakers - real wood enclosures, not cheap plastic. This unit is capable of reproducing even the smallest whisper of a single musical note within a symphony - either on music CD's or movie DVD's.

Even better, it allows you to get your own DVD player/recorder and add it into the provided input. If you're in this kind of market, buy one with digital upconversion - you won't regret it. And a separate optical output for your TV. Pure bliss for a HTiB. Add a DLP TV and watch this unit blow your mind. Don't try this in an apartment - your neighbors will hate you - or come over to enjoy it.

The only things that =might= have made this system a =bit= better is three way speakers, but you can add them later if you still want to after hearing what this beast can roar. And the included wires are next to worthless. Get the best speaker wires you can afford - get Monster Cables if at all possible.

I've installed many component home theater systems, and a few HTiB's. This unit has one of my highest audio recommendations.