Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo HT-SP908 7.1 Channel Home Theater System

I would like to first say that this unit was packed better than anything I have ever recieved. This is not my first surround system, but it is my first onkyo and 7.1. All my previous systems have been 5.1. Once I was done admiring the overall good looks of all the components sitting on my table it was time to start wiring. A couple more speakers, mean a little more wire to run, but overall pretty painless. onkyo color codes pretty much everything so you cant mess it up. I hooked up my new Toshiba HD A35 dvd player with a Monster 800 HDMI cable and then to My Toshiba 1080p 47 Regza lcd tv with the same type of cable. Again very painless, my satalite reciever was a little more extensive, mainly because I dont have a hd reciever, so I used the s video and component audio to the reciever. works fine, my main purpose is to watch movies. I also hooked my vcr, and x-box up to the reciever. The great thing is that the 1 HDMI cable to the tv is all you need to the tv. Picture is awesome and the sound is unbelievable. I reccommend the onkyo speaker stands, acutually I picked up 2 sets, the sub is huge but beautiful. I could not be any more happy with my purchase. I have not hooked up the dvd player that came with the unit or the I-pod dock yet, but I'm pretty sure it will be amazing.

Pros:
- Solid Onkyo product with good sound. Sub-woofer is especially good.
- Receiver is very full featured. It comes with a calibration mic so the system adjusts itself to the layout/arrangement of your viewing area.
- The receiver supports newer HD surround formats that BluRay discs will support.
- Good upscaling dvd player, upscales regular DVD's to 1080p. Also plays mp3 CD's fine.
- The Ipod dock allows you to control the Ipod from your receiver's remote. The Ipod dock also supports video out from the Ipod.
- One major point for me was the discrete components i.e. distinct receiver, dvd player etc. You can get cheaper Sony, Panasonic units for around $500 where many pieces are integrated into one box. If one piece breaks (DVD players often go first), you pretty much have to toss the whole thing. I've heard those units also have proprietary connecting wires to the speakers. With components, individual parts can be used longer especially great receivers like this one. Yes, this Onkyo is more expensive, but I think of it as a longer term investment. I can buy a ps3 tomorrow and take full advantage of it; I can't do that with sub-$500 units.

Cons:
- One minor surprise for me. The receiver supports up-converting/upscaling component-input to HDMI-output. BUT, in that case, the HDMI output is capped at 720p. So 1080i HD cable from my cable-box actually gets downscaled to 720p. Onlyo must have assumed older dvd players or regular cable would be connected via component input (480i -> 720p). HDMI input -> HDMI output is pass-thru and component input-> component output is pass thru. So in those cases 1080i/p input would come untouched as 1080i/p output
- MP3 CD navigation is ok. But I really wish Onkyo had added a screen-saver or screen-dimmer in the navigation view. Since the directory view is static, I'm worried about leaving that on and having burn-in on my LCD HDTV. Fancy visualization like the PS3 has would be perfect :-)
- This Onkyo system is not trivial to setup. So be ready to connect lots of cables and to spend time and effort. Also requires spending time going through the manual. But if you're a geek like me, you'll enjoy it and the final results are worth it.

This is very easy to hook up, and provides great sound and enormous value for the money. The user guide is good, but the ez hookup sheet gets you up & running very quickly. The setup features in the receiver itself are also welcome.

I needed something that did all my video switching as well as had good clean sound for my media room. The Onkyo did not let me down at all. It's my second Onkyo receiver and I've been absolutely pleased with both (the other was older and didn't have HDMI inputs).

I looked at a few other manufacturers but chose this one because it was bundled with a good DVD player with upconverter, and provided 7.1 surround sound.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the size of the powered sub that came with the package (much better than expected) - the only surprise (easily overcome) was that it came in 1 box the size of a small fridge.

I bought and installed this system in conjunction with a 46" Samsung LCD tv, digital cable box, Xbox 360, and Wii gaming system. It was very simple to wire components into and the way you can "assign" inputs to components is genius (although they should have come up with a way to change the names on the buttons...my Wii input is activated with the "DVD/DVR" button).

Sound quality is much better than the Bose Acoustimass (sp?) system I had at my previous residence. The highs might not be quite as high, but the mid-range and bass of the sub-woofer included in the system is great. I had a 250W powered sub I was going to use in place of the stock sub, but sound quality is so good that I'm going to stick with the stock components. The center channel speaker is about 1000 times better than using the Bose cube speaker.

I'm really happy with the results, and the controls are so simple my 8 year old doesn't have any trouble switching from tv to game to stereo and back.

Totally happy with the system, and for the money I really doubt you'll be able to purchase separate components and come out better.

The Onkyo-908 is a great HTiB. When I researched this product I found that they include their top notch (low-mid range) onkyo 605 reciever. After getting it home and taking some time to get the wiring correct (8 speakers worth of wire routing takes time) I turned it on and ran the auto setup program. It sounds like a cross between a bat and a drum and takes about 10mins to setup 3 listening positions. I was very impressed with the sound and my wife liked it as well. I didn't really need another DVD player, but it seems to fit the bill and has the nice feature of passing the audio via HDMI. I like it a lot and everyone I have listen to it is impressed as well.