Onkyo TX-SR701 with Bose AM 16: Is it Good Combination?

 

Anonymous
Hi Folks,

I am relatively a newbie in this field of receivers and audio speakers. Wanted to have a good start...have been reading around, getting some information. Know that much, that I can now talk a little on this topic.

I need an opinion about this combination: Onkyo TX-SR701 with Bose Acoustimass 16 series speakers.

Please advice, any suggestions appreciated.

TIA
Audio Newbie
 

Anonymous
Hawk and other experts:

May I please request you to opine on this one. It will really help me in deciding .

Thanks
Audio Newbie
 

Hawk
Audio Newbie:

No. I would never recommend Bose. No extension below about 300-400 hz, which is made up by the subwoofer. the problem with that is that the sound at that frequency is directional. the sub is actually the whole system woofer. Stupid arrangement. The onkyo is a good unit, however.

What are you trying to accomplish by buying the Bose?
 

Anonymous
Hawk:

Thank you for your response.

Well, to be honest, I probably got bought over by the Bose demo show held here at Fry's (a local electronics store). Hence I was thinking about Bose, no other particular reason. It did sound great...(no brainer)

My main intention is to have a good home theatre. My percentage of use of hte home theatre is 60% movies and 40% music. My budget is $2000. (If HWAF, then I might be able to reach $2500 :) ) so my high-level break up was $500-$700 - receiver, $200-cables and the rest for speakers. But I would like to have 6.1 as I do not see myself upgrading these components every 3 years, maybe every 10 years not less frequent.

My expertise with sound goes to the following level: when I watch movies, I would to hear as clear as possible sound, when the shattered glass hits the ground and not the glass shattering sound itself. I like the sound of the echo of bullet fired and not the actual bullet firing itself. Hopefully I have put for music/audio level clearly.

So please advice (now that Bose is supposedly out of question), which speakers would you recommend for 6.1 with TX-SR701. I read some of your great posts on this site but got overloaded with too-detailed information about speakers.

Really appreciate your help.

Thanks...
Audio Newbie.
 

Anonymous
I have an Onkyo 601 with JBL scs150 for speakers. They recently came out with scs151 which adds a back center speaker. The speakers work fantasticlly for movies but I'm not sure if they are good for music (I use my system for HT 99%). The only real negative with the speakers is that they have an odd shape for stands so you must buy JBL's speaker stands they make for them. They include wall mounts so that shouldn't be a problem. The speaker system only costs about $550 so you'd save money too. It might be a good answer as I'm sure it would work very well with your 701. You should have a 30 day return policy if you don't like how they sound with music.
 

Anonymous
Thanks for the response about JBL. I will get some information about SCS150. A little bit I found out that it is only 5.1 and JBL now have newer unit called SCS160SI which is 6.1 costing on public website for about $550. So a further hunting can also save some money.

Hawk:

I have been looking around for information on various speakers. I came across some your writings about Paradigm speakers. Would System.Three or System.Three.1 be good enough. Also Paradigm's dealer locator works pretty poor as it only searches within 2 mile range without giving a choice of entering search radius.

I am in BayArea, so if you know any Paradigm dealer, please let me know as well.

please advice...

Thanks
Audio Newbie.
 

DWK
For $1100-$1200 you can get a nice speaker arrangement and still steer clear of Bose. Manufactureres off that I can think of off the top of my head that make speakers in that price range inlucde Athena, Paradigm and Klipsch.

I was just recently in the market for a HT system and spent somewhere around $1500 on a 5.1 system including speakers and reciever (well, 5.0 really, I put off the sub for later so I could afford to go nicer on the speakers). You can do fairly well without buying single-box HTIB speaker systems.

According to Paradigm's webpage, this is the only dealer in SanFran:

PERFORMANCE AUDIO
2847 CALIFORNIA STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
94115
415-441-6220

I did a search for my zipcode and it found one 15 miles away from me, so I don't think it is limited to 2 miles, it just didn't find anything else for you.
 

Anonymous
Thanks DWK. I will drop in city over this weekend to check out Paradigm speakers...

Hawk:

What would be your opinion? I really appreciate if you advise.

Thanks.
Audio Newbie.
 

Hawk
Anonymous:

Hey, what size room do you have? Also, are you looking for something to hang on the walls? Bookshelfs?

I have a couple of initial recommendations. Based upon what you said you want from a system, and teh receiver you have, let me suggest a couple of speaker systems that are very good values for the money, are small like the Bose, and will compliment your Onkyo to give you the sound you are looking for:

1. Athena Point 5 system: Four satellites, dedicated center, and small subwoofer. Should run about $800. Can be seen at a local Best Buy, but you won't be able to audition them there (what a zoo!). Nice, well built and clear-sounding speaker, sonically a little forward, but which will compliment your Onkyo nicely.

2. JMlabs Sib/Cub system: Costs a bit more than the Athenas, but a wonderful system consisting of five matching satellites together with an excellent subwoofer. Each satellite comes with a fully articulating wall bracket. Cost is about $1195. Similar sound to the Athenas, but a bit smaller and a bit dressier looking, too.

3. If you want high quality and small, check out the One Call Home Theater Package. This consists of five identical NHT SuperZero speakers, each 9" tall (which were highly praised, but now discontinued--seems One Call bought up the last of their production). Each satellites is finished in a gloss black piano finish that is very nice (High WAF). This comes with a Phase Tech Power 8 sub (very good quality, especially for the price). One Call is selling these packages for $590 (MSRP is $1000). If you want to hear approximately what they sound like, listen to a system of NHT SB-1 speakers.

4. Finally, since you live in the Bay Area, you should be able to find a KEF dealer with the KEF 2005.2 system, consisting of 5 identical satellites that are extruded aluminum encased speakers that look a little like an "egg." They sound great and look even better (Very high WAF!). MSRP is something obscene ($1500-1750 as dealers are pretty fuzzy in their pricing), but I know of dealers where I can get them for $1100.

This is a place to start. Good luck
 

Anonymous
Thanks so much, Hawk, for your valued response. I will find out more about these speakers.

Couple of more points, 1. these all are 5.1 and as I had previously mentioned I will probably not be changing the audio components quite often, so I am thinking about 6.1. Do these speakers also have options for or an upgrade path to 6.1 ? and
2. Perhaps you missed about Paradigm speakers. I found out that System.Three or System.Three.1 are just in my $ range.

One more question, I dropped in at local CC for somethign and took another look at TX-SR701, thing which was not clear to me was, there were some cables connected to Digital Coaxial and also it has some other Digitial connections. What are these for?

Again, thank you for your response.

Please let me know when you get a chance.

Thanks..
Audio Newbie.
 

Anonymous
Hawk:

Also, I have been hearing about Energy Take 5.2 speakers with Take S8.2 as sub. Are these good speakers? I saw it for a deal where it is like $625.

Let me know please.

Thanks..
Audio Newbie.
 

GT
I have orginal Take 5's and they're very good for home theater. Music is not their forte although they're not bad. I've read the 5.2's are better for music. Energy and Athena are sister companies.

If you're doing 6.1, you might consider getting 3 sets of Athena AS-B1's. They're bigger than satellites or the Point 5 speakers and have a 5.5" mid/bass driver. They go for $150/pr at Onecall and sometimes Best Buy. I guess it depends if you can sit a bookshelf speaker on top of your TV though. You can add whatever subwoofer you want.
 

GT
Has anyone heard the Rocket ELT package? $899 for a full system and they look very nice.

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=31.1
 

Hawk
Hmm. Lots to answer, so here goes. If I forget something, repost your question.

1. Each of the packages I suggested allow you to get an additional 6th speaker. My recollection is that the cost of the JMlabs (a "Sib") is $175. The NHT SuperZero is something like $87.50 at One Call (sold separately). I don't know the cost of either the Athena or the KEF, but I do know they are available.

2. Paradigm is not my first choice for an Onkyo, but their quality is undenialable. I like Paradigm speakers and if you like the sound with the Onkyo, then get them. It has to be a system you like.

3. Can't be sure about the connections, but is sounds like they had connected the CD and/or DVD's audio to the receiver with a digital connection rather than using audio patch cords (RCA pairs). Now, there are two types of digital connections--TOSLINK, which is a fibre optic cable transmitting a digital light signal from a digital source to the receiver, or the second kind is a digital coaxial cable, which tends to look like a single RCA patch cord and is an electrical signal rather than a light signal. Both send a digital signal which means that the signal is converted from digital to an audio signal within the receiver using the receiver's DACs. This largely reduces your CD player into being s simple transport mechanism, but is probably a good thing if you have a good receiver and a cheap CD player.

4. Energy Take 5s--a decent little speaker that does a good job in a very small space, but has no where near the detail of the NHT SuperZeros. I found the Takes (and their improved brothers, the Encore), to have a very flat soundstage giving no depth to the sound at all. When the Takes first came out about ten years ago, they were a revelation given their small size, but they have been eclipsed in recent years by quite a few other products, IMO.

5. Rocket ELT package: I have not heard this particular speaker, but as a product built in China, the makers of Rocket can and do put together a wonderful rosewood veneered cabinet. These speakers were involved in an audio small budget speaker "shootout" on the AVS Forum last Thanksgiving (held in the Los Angeles area). As I recall, they were pretty well liked, but came in second to the Ascend Acoustics system. I think the Rockets and the Ascends are about the same size and our Audio Newbie needs something smaller.

I hope this helps.
 

Anonymous
Thanks for your responses, Hawk and GT. This is really helpful for me.

1. I found some dealers for NHT superzeros around me. I will check them out over this weekend.

2. I have collected some information about Athena speakers, specifically some combination that can make 6.1, for example:
All Bookshelf :
AS-B1 x 5, AS-C1 x 1, AS-P300 x 1 = ~$940
AS-B2 x 5, AS-C1 x 1, AS-P300 x 1 = ~$1080
and
Front Floor Standing, Rear Bookshelf:
AS-F1 x 2, AS-B1 x 3, AS-C1 x 1, AS-P300 x 1 = ~$1150
AS-F1 x 2, AS-B2 x 3, AS-C1 x 1, AS-P300 x 1 = ~$1250
Of course, these are public website prices, I am sure someone can offer them cheaper.
If any of these combinations, appeal to you, please let me know as well.

3. Also reading around about Paradigm speakers, they seems to have a lot of "respect", so.... should I consider Paradigm speakers and another receiver maybe . What would be your recommendation.

Now that I have decent amount of information about speakers, looks like this weekend will be busy...:)

Again thanks a lot for your patience in answering my queries.

Thanks...
Audio Newbie.
 

Anonymous
Hawk and other experts:

Has anyone heard of Cambridge SoundWorks Newton theatre speakers. What is your feedback on those?

Please let me know.

Thanks...
Audio Newbie
 

Anonymous
Hawk/GMan and other experts:

Seems you guys are too busy. Can you please help me in deciding on speakers.

How about Aperion Speakers. ( http://www.aperionaudion.com )
In fact they are selling a package with Onkyo receivers, have you had a chance to hear to Aperion. Also if you know about any dealer here in BayArea that carries these, and I can hear that, I would appreciate that.


Again, I thank you for your help.
 

GT
I think you can only buy Aperion online. But they have free shipping and no sales tax plus a 30 day no risk trial. The high gloss black looks good. You get two free stands with any 5.1 package or greater. Not a bad deal. The reviews are very good but I cannot say that I've heard them. You'd only be paying $600 for the Onkyo which isn't bad.

Good review on the aperion system. http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/aperionaudio_intimus_51.htm

Of course if you're willing to pay almost $2200 for a full system you've got plenty more options. Say the HK 525 or Onkyo 701 plus either one of these Axiom packages. http://axiomaudio.com/epicmaster.html or http://axiomaudio.com/epicgrandmaster.html
 

GT
I noticed you threw some floor standers in the mix with one of your Athena packages. If you're getting the go ahead to look at bigger systems, you might want to try out the Monitor Audio Bronze package. Good Guys carries this and list for around $1599 but they've had 15% off deals recently which would bring the price down to $1359. It's only 5.1 but would definitely fill your room. It consist of the Bronze B4, B2 and Center speakers. Comes in beech or black.

I was interested in these speakers for a friend a few months ago and found a dealer in Mill Valley who was willing to deal when I called. Maybe they can work out a great package deal.

WORLD OF SOUND
Mill Valley
415/383-4343

At least check them out at Good Guys since you've probably got a location close by. GG only carries Yamaha and Denon so might not have a receiver that sounds close to the Onkyo.
 

GT
Link for Monitor Audio here:
http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/products/bronze/index.html

and check out the Bronze package reviews here:
http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/reviews/index.html
 

Hawk
Anon:

Sorry to have abandoned you for awhile--been busy watching the new guv' of California strut his stuff.

Hey, the Aperions are a very good choice for your receiver. They may be hung on the walls as well. You can't find a dealer because they have no dealers. All Aperion products are sold over the internet only. However, they do have a very liberal return policy, so if you don't like them, you can always send them back with no questions asked.

However, I am now very confused. I thought you wanted something small, but your recent post suggests you are looking at the floorstanding Athena AS-F1s. Did I miss something here?
 

Anonymous
Hawk/GT and other experts:

I am sorry, Hawk, if I confused you. Yes you are correct in your understanding that I am looking for small/medium sized speakers. I just saw those speakers at Athena's website and looking that their price, they seemed attractive. I checked out these at local BestBuy, they definitely do sound great, but yes they are really big.

Today, I also checked out NHTs at local Anderson's TV store and they had a deal, it did feel a very nice one. Please confirm as soon as possible. As if it is really a good one, maybe I can get my speakers this weekend itself.
Here is the deal for these NHTs:

SB1 Front Speakers
SC1 Center
SB1 Rear Speakers
SW10II sub
--> this whole package for $999.

Now even it seems to be a really good price to beat even on the Internet.

Also they sounded great.....but he had it hooked to a Denon AVR2803 which may not be, its fullest use IMHO. I wanted to hear these really against TX-SR701.

Please let me know at your first chance.

Thanks...
Audio Newbie.
 

Anonymous
Experts:

Sorry to be bothering you again and again....

please comment on this deal, I am almost closing-on this one.

Thanks.
Audio Newbie.
 

GT
Anon,
That's a good deal. AC4L.com has 30% off deal on NHT right now so when I put everything in my cart and got the discount, it came out to $980 with free shipping. You might as well spend the extra $20 and buy locally. Service and support is much easier that way.

Sounds like a great package. Good luck.
 

Anonymous
I just listened to the Onkyo TX-SR701 and the Cambridge SoundWorks M80 at a local showroom. A VERY nice combination. The D/A converters are especially good on the Onkyo, and I almost bought an older Marantz DVD player because of how good it sounded - turned out it was the the receiver (playing the unit through the analog outs was not nearly as good). The M80s are remarkably detailed and lively - give them a listen. I have Paradigm Mini-monitors, and I prefer the M80s, although I have not heard them side-by-side.
 

Hawk
Anon/Audio Newbie:

I think the NHTs are a wonderful system for the price and I can tell you I have priced this very system and couldn't get below $1100, so your price of $999 is a great price. I heartily endorse it.

Enjoy--that will make a very nice system!
 

Anonymous
Hawk/GT and all other experts:

Yes... At last. I have my surround speakers with the receiver. and I sicerely thank all of you for bearing me and my dumb questions.

I picked up NHTs but picked up a bit higher range receiver, the TX-NR900 (regularly priced at $1500 but got it for $1100 after some bargaining at a deal price of $1200, at a local dealer).

Spent entire Sunday afternoon connecting all this stuff together now I am kind of understnading this stuff works, maybe I need to go thru the entire features and other documentaion to understand completely. Just a quick after thought, is Cross-over freq for the sub 100 Hz ok?

Again, thanks for all your help. This list has really been a great help and of course, a valuable resource for lifetime.

Thanks...
Audio Newbie.
 

Hawk
Audio Newbie:

The sub cross-over point is going to be a function of the speakers involved and the room interactions with the speakers. In short, there is no right answer. Experiment with different cross-over points and see what works best for your system.

Congrats on the new system! I am sure you will enjoy it!
 

Albert B
Experts:

This and other discussions on this board have been helpful in deciding what componets to go to as I upgrade my old system. I am going to order an Onkyo tx-sr701 and had originally thought of the Bose speakers. After reading the posts here, I re-listened to them and they are not the sound I want (it is obvious that all the base is unidirectional and the sound from the satillites is lacking. In fact my current setup of baby Advent II's with Infinity Sterling TS for the center and back give more richness to the sound than the Bose. My real question here is that if I add a subwoofter to my current set up of speakers, how much difference will I hear if I were to go to any of the newer setups mentioned here?
 

Anonymous
Hi experts,
I am thinking of buying a onkyo receiver but am not sure which one to purchase between the 601, 701, or the tx-nr900. Any suggestions? I will use this receiver 60% hm and 40% music. I hate to admit I also have Bose 501 speakers from about 8 or 9 years ago. I also have the lifestyle model 5 Bose system. I didn't have any surround sound before with my Onkyo tx-sv535 that I had bought about 8 or 9 years ago too. Any thoughts? I was thinking of putting the lifestyle in my bedroom and the new onkyo in my living room. Thanks any help will do.

Confused in Carlsbad.
 

Anonymous
Sorry guys I meant the Onkyo 801 not the 900.

Confused in CArlsbad
 

Hawk
Confused In Carlsbad:

I think there is a big step up, sonically, in going with the 701 or 801 over the 601. It isn't just more power or more features, but a better layout within the receiver that leads to better sound. If you have the cash to get the 801, I would recommend it as I think Onkyo has a very good unit there at an attractive price point.
 

Anonymous
Thank you Hawk. I will start my search. Is getting a receiver on the internet shetcky? Would I be better off buying it from a store around where I live? I also wanted to ask you a question: What do you think of Klipsch or what would be comprable? Are there any speakers that are great sounding with out the name or facade of the outside veneers?

Confused in Carlsbad
 

Hawk
Confused:

I would recommend you check out One Call (www.onecall.com) for an Onkyo receiver. I have had very good service from them. They are an authorized Onkyo dealer and have very good prices.

As for your question about a great sounding speaker without the name, you should check out the Ascend Acoustics CM-170s at www.ascendacoustics.com. They are amazing, very dynamic, rich sounding and very clean, especially for the money. I suggest you order a pair of the CM-170s for the thirty day trial and see what you think. If you like them, fill out your 5.1 system by ordering more of them (and the Hsu Research VTF-2 subwoofer that is available is easily the best sub-$500 subwoofer I have ever heard).

Enjoy!
 

Anonymous
Hi I am also a newbie, and I would like to hear your opinion on the onkyo LSV950, here in Mexico I don´t have all the options you have in US.

Reading your comments I have decided not to by Bose, so I'm going for Onkyo.

One more question, are the speakers from Onkyo as good as the receivers.
 

Hi guys after seeing you all discussing speakers and amps.I would say YES get the Onkyo 801 amp and if you would like nice surround sound for DVD buy the Kef 2005.2 with its matched subwoofer of 250watt. They sell them in silver and matt black.
You can buy the sat. speakers seperate too if you like the 6.1 or even 7.1 system. Each speaker will sell for around 140 dollars/euros.
For real nice stereo sound just get two nice floorstanders from Kef or B&W. But the kef 2005.2 will really make your dvd's sound great.
Also check the new dvd/sacd player from Onkyo (dv-sp 800) for only a thousand bucks. Dont look any further.
Test it and see
Happy guest with all of the above!!!
 

Anonymous
Ok Just reading here, A question are the kefs really that good or is it just a hype. I believe the price is aprox. 1000 dollars for the 5.1 system. Let me know your opinion.

Cheers
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