Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker System

An amazing deal, they sound great, if a little large in size.. but I think that might be part of the reason they sound so nice, the larger size.

Best deal in America for a 7.1 set of speakers that can handle serious power. Hooked up to a Yamaha RX-V661 7.1-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver Very nice combo, and both great values for the $$.

I took one of the 3 main speakers apart today to see the drivers and how it was put together. I took some pics and tried to upload them to show people what I saw, but after uploading them, Amazon through up a general "we are experiencing technical difficulties" error. I will keep trying to upload the pictures.. hopefully they will be in the user pics soon. They seem to be very well put together, and the speakers look pretty beefy.

On another note, I do not agree with one of the earlier reviews that state these do not sound good with music.. they sound amazing with all kinds of music. Now my receiver has a plethora of functions and adjustments that allow me to fine tune the sound that comes out of them, but the way I have them adjusted, the speakers sound great with music, movies, TV shows, etc..

Frankly, we did not shop around a great deal for speakers and we selected these because of price and the Onkyo brand - we purchased the Onkyo TX-SR605 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver.

The speakers sound great and I can only come up with small criticisms:
- The speakers are black which standout too much on our white walls
- The rear speakers are a different size than the larger front speakers
- The front speakers have no "keyhole" or other mounting hardware and there are no speaker stands available from Onkyo
- The wire connection do not support banana plug connectors

We used Monster Cable THX-GP 20-Pack Standard THX-Certified Gold-Plated Speaker Connectors rather than jam the wires into the spring hinge connectors on the speakers.

These are a heavy item and the speakers survived their trip to us fine but the box was a bit beat up. Also we ordered ours from JR Music (thru Amazon) which is on the other side of the country from us. Shipping took a week.

As I said, these speakers do sound great and you are likely to be happy with them too if you don;t let these little things bother you.

In general, I've been very happy with the Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1 Surround Speaker System. I selected them out of sheer laziness to match the Onkyo receiver that I bought around the same time, expecting them to be best matched to Onkyo equipment. I primarily use the equipment in a home theater, which doubles as a part-time family room for watching TV.

For clarity of sound, I have never owned better speakers. Unlike with my older Infinity speakers, I can hear each and every sound and understand what people are saying even at low volume levels. My only complaint is that the bass response seems to be a bit weaker than I would expect. The subwoofer doesn't produce quite the power I anticipated without adjusting it to a high level. I have found that part of the problem is that the subwoofer is on pile carpeting, which seems to have a pronounced deadening effect. Placing the subwoofer on a hard, but vibration-resistant material helps a lot. The front speakers also don't have quite the punch in the bass range that I was expecting. Again, part of the problem may be setup. Although I tried to mount the speakers in the optimal location, the bottom two inches are obscured by surrounding equipment (from the perspective of the listener). Adjusting the equalizer to enhance bass ranges seems to mostly eliminate the problem.

All in all, I think this speaker set was a really good value for the money, and despite the minor complaints I have, I would repeat the purchase without a second thought.

It's been about 2 years since I purchased this system and to be honest they still pump it out the same way they did on day 1! When I got them it was a steal at $500! Now look at them. By far the best investment if you're going all out for an entertainment center.

I'd say I'm a gamer before anything else. It's what I do and when I'm sitting smack in the middle of my living room and I'm surrounded by 7 speakers and a subwoofer behind my couch just blasting me from every direction I know that I made a good decision to buy this system. I always thought it was corny for people to say "it feels like you're there," well now I know what they mean. The immersion is beyond expectation especially for those high action games where there is noise and things going on everywhere you litterly feel like you really are there! (No, it still sounds corny, but hey, it's true!)

(Que the wife) When the game turns off and it's time for a movie there is no difference. The voices are right where they belong. If they're talking off screen and you got the volume up high then get ready to be startled by the split second you think someone is in your house because that's how real these things work. Coupled together with the sub practically right next to us you're placing yourself there in the scene. (I know, still corny.)

I have multiple things going into it. My PS3, XBox 360, Wii, cable box and the add on to connect the Ipod. And the receiver recognizes every input itself. It decodes that the PS3 is Dolby and so on. Although I do feel that the music coming from the Ipod can be a bit better(I don't know what it is there, the dock, the Ipod, or the system) it certainly is not a deal breaker. Also, there are some systems out there with a HDMI connection. At first I was divided on which to get, with or without. I went with this one because I figured why would you want to mix the video through your audio and possibly lessen the quality of it? I mean I have no idea how it would come out maybe better maybe not, but if that's a reason for you thinking twice about getting this particular system don't let it burst your bubble because to me it's working perfectly fine without it.

I know I could honestly say that even though I have all these components going on in my man cave it wouldn't be what it is without this system...

And the 12 miles of speaker wire I needed to connect it all together.

You can purchase better speakers than the HTIB Onkyo SKS-HT540. Of course, if you're looking to upgrade your home theater to 7.1 and are on a budget, the SKS-HT540 is a gem. Easy connection, especially if using an Onkyo receiver and the sound is pretty good for the price you're paying. The speakers look good paired with an Onkyo receiver, plus they look nice with an HDTV 40" or larger. The center channel is strong which is a great plus for dialogue. The bass isn't the strongest available, but it's strong enough for small rooms. (ie: 16x13 or smaller) Setting the speakers properly through your receiver will make all the difference in the world. If you've hit the correct setting and pop in 3:10 to Yuma on Blu-Ray, the incoming train near the end scene will make you feel like you're standing at the train station. Now that's a true plus!!!!