Electronics Top Reviews

Comment from Syed H
Time October 20, 2010 at 6:32 pm

I have had this theater system for over 2 weeks now and I can say that I made the right decision.

Arrived on time and setup was fairly easy. Color coded wires help. Sound quality is very good for this price range system. I have hooked up my 50inch 3D Samsung Plasma.

Currently setup in 5.1 mode.

Pros:

- I Like the ARC (audio return channel). Watching broadcast tv and having sound output through theater system via the single HDMI input cable is nice.

- Standby pass through for when you want to watch bluray/dvd without the system on.

- sound quality is very good.

- HDMI pass through lets the video signal without any changes. 3D works fine.

- A lot of sound controls

- Ipod dock

- and many more to list.

Cons:

- sub woofer is big, but it could be a plus to produce big sounds.

- Careful about handling the bottom of subwoofer.

- Clicking noise when swichting the sound input type when watching broadcast tv, which I think can be fixed via a configuration setting, which I have not been able to found yet.
Rating: 4 / 5

Comment from VJ
Time October 20, 2010 at 8:51 pm

I ordered it on Oct 8 and received it on Oct 15 with Free Super Saver Shipping via UPS. The box was torn the 2 sides and top. I could put my hand in and hold the speakers in front of the UPS man. The top part of the box was also broken and I could reach for the receiver’s power cord. This is just about the delivery part. That does not mean I don’t like buying from Amazon or ONKYO’s product.

This is my first home theater system and I have been researching a HTiB for almost 5 months but couldn’t take my eyes off ONKYO although I often wandered off to the idea of to building one using Harmon Kardon/Denon receiver and Klipsch/Energy speakers but that could have cost easily around $1000. But, I always trusted in ONKYO’s quality and the features they packed in with this value pack. I went to local retailer and experienced music through iPod dock and other features. Looked at other combinations as well and then it came down to a decision between either HT-S5300 vs HT-S6300. An earlier reviewer clearly explained what 6300 has that 5300 does not, so I will not repeat it.

I am going to hook it up with Samsung 42″ TV with Samsung Blu-ray, Wii and Cable box. I definitely needed the upscaling feature for my Wii and the cable box and run one HDMI to the TV. The speaker wires are definitely short and won’t be enough for rear speakers in my room. I bought a 100ft RCA 16-gauge from Amazon to take care of that.

I will write more with setup and music/movie experience shortly.
Rating: 5 / 5

Comment from S. Jhagroo
Time October 20, 2010 at 10:39 pm

First off, I should say that I bought this from Newegg, since – at the time – Amazon had an estimated ship time of 1-2 months. I see they now have it back in stock for immediate delivery (at time of writing, anyway). Overall I will say that for the reduced price they have it at (less than $500) it’s quite a bargain – and worth every penny.

PACKAGING:

I’ve included pictures of the packaging, since I assume that this doesn’t really change much between either seller. Everything is packed and separated pretty solidly in thick styrofoam, the TX-SR680 receiver is located at the top, the subwoofer is at the bottom, and all speakers, accessories and cables are in between. There was some slight damage to the box in UPS shipping, but nothing out of the ordinary. The equipment inside was fairly pristine.

SETUP & PERFORMANCE:

The included wires with this system are 22-Gauge (for the front and center channels) and 24-Gauge (for the surrounds and rear surrounds) respectively. I replaced these with 14 Gauge wire purchased at Monoprice. That being said, I found it much simpler to use cheap banana plugs from Home Depot for connecting the wires to the receiver, since the binding posts in the back of the receiver are fairly closely placed and it’s fairly tricky to thread the bare wire into the connections. The banana plugs allowed me to plug into the front, minimal fuss. I also used speaker pins for the spring clip connections in the speakers themselves, but that’s a personal preference, since I like the neater look and I’m too lazy to strip wire .

You should also know that I’m using this as a 5.1 system, I’ll figure out what to do with the rear surrounds later I guess.

The system worked like a charm out of the box, I have a DVD player and my PS3 connected via HDMI and use an HDMI out to the LCD TV. Upconversion works flawlessly, picture and sound are excellent. My Blu-Ray of Serenity sounds and looks amazing through this system. Also popped in my Star Wars DVDs to see the upconverted 1080p signal at work – again, quite excellent and smooth picture. The HDMI connection carries both video and sound to the receiver from the PS3, so it’s one less cable to deal with – 2 if you count the absence of a corresponding HDMI output to the TV

I used the Audyssey setup afterwards, it matched my manual estimations fairly closely and I can definitely say I noticed an improvement in surround sound speaker volume after I did it. Sound is quite clear, system has good loudness to it and the bass sounds great in my apartment. For larger, hall-like rooms, however, the bass may not be sufficient. Movies – as stated – sound excellent.

Another great thing is the on screen displays for setup functions and listening mode adjustments while the TV is switched to the HDMI input from the receiver.

CONS:

As awesome as this system is, I will point out a few things -

1) The center channel is obviously made to lie horizontally, and yet the speaker is not shaped any differently than the front or surrounds i.e. the surface on the side is slightly curved and will rock unless you use some of the included rubber “feet”. I had to pretty much guess where they should go on the underside of the speaker, which is fine since the system comes with like 20 of the things and I don’t need them for any of the other speakers.

2) BE VERY CAREFUL handling the subwoofer. The speaker fires down and there literally is NOTHING protecting the underside of the cabinet, which means your fingers can poke a hole quite easily through the cone if you don’t watch out. Not quite sure what the Onkyo engineers were thinking when designing this, but it’s a bit too easy to ruin your new purchase that way.

3) iPod Dock works pretty nicely but the instructions on how to truly take advantage of it aren’t very clear (press DISPLAY to get an On Screen Display of your Music and folders from iTunes). I haven’t tried playing video on this yet but I did notice it detected Apple’s “TV Shows” folder – perhaps I can use this instead of getting an Apple TV? Any feedback here will be welcome in the comments.

4) This is my 2nd Onkyo unit so I’m used to this, but the remote can take some getting used to. There’s a little bit of a lag when you navigate the on screen displays.

SOME OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

I did notice some hiccups when playing sound from my TV. I don’t have a set top box, signal is just basic cable coming from the wall and I have a Digital Out (Optical) running from the TV to the receiver. This could very well be the fault of the cable signal or TV since the PS3 audio comes in perfectly fine. We’ll probably end up with an STB (or maybe Apple TV/Boxee) soon enough, so this should no longer be an issue.

The receiver does run hot – but it hasn’t been too bad for me. I have it in it’s own section of my TV cabinet – with about 8 inches of space on top. The cabinet has an open back, with about 2 inches of space in front the wall. I was able to watch a movie with the front door closed with no issues but I haven’t left it on for an extensive period of time while behind the closed door.

Also, for those of you who are interested, I’m using the surrounds with the Atlantic Satellite SPSCUR47 2 Speaker Stands (Titanium). The speakers are attached via the included double sided tape to the base of the stand (no other practical way that I can see for attaching them) – otherwise they support these quite nicely and they look great!

SUMMARY:

This is a great system, I highly recommend!
Rating: 5 / 5

Comment from Anonymous
Time October 21, 2010 at 1:36 am

Bought this system to complement a 58 plasma and PS3 home theater system which is in a fairly large room.

The box is huge, weighs about 90 lbs and labeled as what it is on the outside. Fedex left it outside the home which fortunately for us doesn’t matter but beware if you live somewhere where theft might be an issue.

Setup was easy with the color coded speaker system.

I also set up only as a 5.1 system and used a rocketfish transmitter to make the rear surround speaker wireless.

HDMI input and output simplifies connecting other devices.

Although I am not an audiophile by any stretch, I think the sound is amazing for both cable TV watching and blu-ray movies. Have not tested it with games.

It has a nice feature to emphasize center speaker to hear the voice dialog better which is useful to watch at night movies where the explosions and music tend to be much louder than voice without constantly adjusting the volume.

Housed in a cabinet with the front door open and about 6 inches clearance on top, the unit does get hot with blu-ray movies but have not noticed any problems with stuttering. Doesn’t heat up significantly with ipod or regular TV watching.

Overall a great buy if you already have a blu-ray player.
Rating: 5 / 5

Comment from L. Murray
Time October 21, 2010 at 2:54 am

The HT-S6300 is replacing a mid-range 8 year old RCA 5.1 surround sound system, still going strong just wanted to update to a DTS 7.1 unit. Shipped UPS and was very well packaged and protected in the box. I received this system last week and spent a good part of Saturday afternoon setting it up. It went into a tight workable area of my entertainment area so maneuvering around for me was somewhat awkward. The speakers have the screw ready notches in the back, can be hung vertically or horizontal, I liked that option. I couldn’t find too many reviews on this model as it seems like it may be a new model for the coming season but I feel like I got a decent price for everything it has to offer. The sub-woofer is BIG. My sofa end table is not much larger in size so the case really sticks out like a sore thumb by the side wall, although it is attractive with a combination of black wood tone with the front the black shiny piano finish (dust magnet). I have a Panasonic blue-ray DVD player, LG 42″ 1080p LED flat screen TV, Bright House cable box and WDTV Live Plus Media Player hooked up to it all via HDMI cables. I played part of a movie (Finding Nemo whale scene) and it sounded very good especially the bass, I had to turn it down some by the volume control located at the back of the sub-woofer. Convenient. I was so happy with my purchase. So that evening I settled in to watch a couple of action movies to get the real sound effect of my new set-up. Disappointment set in. It stared cutting off or making a high pitch squealing sound then would lose connection with the TV. Granted only a minute or two is lost before reconnect but when this happens a few times per 2 hour movie it can be very aggravating and frustrating. Went online and read in some forums that the receiver has an overheating issue. I touched the top of the receiver and it was HOT!. I had the acceptable 6+” from the top shelf and the shelf that this unit sat on but I increased it to 8+” , an AC vent also blows right down on the center so it has good air flow/ventilation. Didn’t make any difference. This sucks as I can’t enjoy watching a movie without the cut offs every so often (haven’t watched much TV so don’t know if it does it with that or not). I can turn everything on and within 10 minutes of a movie running it will disconnect so I am not real sure if it is an over heating issue. The receiver is no where near as hot as it is after a couple of hours of playing. I will call Onkyo customer service this weekend and hear what they have to say. I’ve already tossed out the box so I can’t even return this system for something different. Then to have to pull the entertainment center out and unhook everything……..not a happy camper right now considering the price I paid for a supposedly quality product. Especially upsetting to think that Onkyo is aware of a possible heat problem and still continues to sell these units with said issues.

Will update later if/when this issue gets resolved.

UPDATE 9/19/10: I actually had a couple of problems causing my lost connection and/or shut offs noted above. Purchasing a small fan and placing it in the cabinet over the receiver helped. But when that didn’t solve the problem completely I discovered it was the cables. I had bought the super cheap, CHEAP HDMI cables from Amazon because I had to get so many for hooking up my new set up. Believe it or not, when the sub-woofer would kick in from an action scene or the music would amp up, the vibration from the bass would cause my cable to lose connection. Getting better quality cables made such a big difference! I absolutely love my new Onkyo system and set up. It certainly deserves 5 stars now.
Rating: 5 / 5