Customer Reviews:
 so far , so good October 27, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
well so far so good. let me just start by saying this is my third htib in less than 2 months. my setup is 40 inch samsung ln40a550,directv hd,ps3.
the first htib i chose was the sony ht s2300, which was to weak to meet my standards. sub was cheap because it was passive. returned that and got the
samsung as720st which was nice, met my needs, i was happy with it until the infamous "handshake" issue got way to annoying. it is where when you switch sources it will say "mode not supported" and you you have to turn it on and off to get a picture.
so i returned that and got the onkyo 6100 which so far I'm loving. the sound is great, there are 4 hdmi inputs = way more than enough, 7.1 speaker package in the box, i like the auto setup with the mic that it came with, has an ipod dock which is way cool, i play alot of
guitar hero 3 and it is awesome on this thing.
well long story short, i am very satisfied with the 6100 it is meeting all my standards and not on error yet.
just one thing, it does get very hot like someone on here mentioned. which scares me just a little bit.
anyone who is thinking of getting this wont be disappointed. its a very good investment.
Great system, but needs to be smaller and wireless to be perfect October 9, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The title says it all.
Okay, the pros:
1. This system has great sound and we're very happy with that.
2. The nice thing about the speakers is that they have a low profile and they all look the exact same (which helps when you're going for uniformity and symmetry to your room).
3. The receiver can handle lots of different systems working off it (i.e., TV, Gaming, Computer, Radio, etc.).
Okay, now for the not-so-good aspects:
1. The speakers, although having a low profile, are very tall. They will certainly not be inconspicuous.
2. The subwoofer is also larger than we would've liked (look at the dimensions, don't estimate the size based on the picture of the system).
3. The receiver runs quite hot, so you need to make sure you don't put anything on top of it.
4. As with any speaker system, the wires it came with were garbage.
5. It would've been sweet if the system had been wireless...(sigh).
Overall, would I buy this system again? Yep! Great system for the price.
Very good almost great September 14, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this system at Circuit City for $549 on a price match deal. After getting the 90lb box home it took me about 2 hours to set up; a good deal of that time was unhooking my previous Panasonic system.
Like other reviewers I wish the speaker wires were heavier but that is a minor issue as far as I am concerned as I have plenty of speaker wire around. Setting up the unit is fairly easy if you done this before but might be a little daunting for a first-timer. The speakers are marked and the wires are color coded as is the back panel. The receiver has more than enough connections but for me the selling point was the 4 HDMI connections which I needed so I could get rid of the HDMI switch I was using.
After getting everything connected I did the auto setup and discovered that one speaker was not connected properly. The auto setup took 10-15 minutes and is fairly easy. I am very pleased with the sound and video, The HDMI works flawlessly and the picture quality doesn't seem to suffer. Blu-ray playback is spectacular and the sound blew me away.
If you want to make a step up from the basic HTIB then this system represents great compromise between the $199-$299 systems and the $1000 systems. I took off one star for not being able to rename the inputs.
Great system for the price. September 5, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Well, first of all, I got it for $580 from CircuitCity shipped. For me, it's definitely a justified price, however, I don't know if the $699 price tag is justified for this unit.
Let's review them one-by-one.
RECEIVER:
The Good: The receiver has four HDMI inputs, which is necessary considering all the units one can have now a days. I am only using two of them now, but I definitely need couple more once I finish building up the entire system (PC server, HD Tivo...). The number of inputs on this unit is great. Two optical in, two digital coax in, four RCA cable in... which is one of the primary reasons for me to get this package. I want a real receiver and not one of those theater in a box system, which rarely has any inputs at all. Setup is easy, just follow the manual and you should have it running in about half an hour.
The Bad: not be able to rename the input source, I connected my PS3 (HDMI), PS2(RCA video+optical audio), DVD(HDMI), TV (optical) now i have to remember that DVD is for DVD, SAT/CBL is for PS3, AUX is for TV out, VCR/TVR is for PS2, which is quite annoying. The output screen from the receiver stayed in the 480p era, on the menu setup, the screen is insanely unattractive, which is surprising considering the unit is doing 1080i conversion.
SPEAKERS:
The good: the price. I paid $580-$370 (receiver) - $70 (iPod dock)=$140 for a set of 7.1 speakers, which is not bad.
the sound is detailed and clear, however it lacks fullness. I spent about an hour to tune the speaker to get it into a decent state. The subwoof is power and produce great base, but the wood box didn't fit in with the rest of the speakers, i wished they have finish it with some other material.
The bad: speaker wires sucks, I bought new wires right away after i unpack the unit, those wires are horrible. Needs a lots of tuning to get a decent sound, I will definitely upgrade the speakers later on, at least the front and center speakers within the next couple month.
OVERALL:
Great unit for the price, sound is not bad if you know how to tune it. If you have the money, at least upgrade parts of the speakers. But overall, beat, sony, samsung, panasonic or whatever other home theater in-a-box system.
Onkyo HTS6100 performs well August 14, 2008
26 out of 29 found this review helpful
I received my 90 lb box containing my Onkyo HT-S6100 Home Theatre system from OneCall.com for $666.00 shipped. Took about 7 days to arrive, double boxed. Connected immediately and worked properly. Make sure you go through the menu prompts on the screen of your TV to verify all speakers are working. One of my speakers was not working correctly because I did not connect it properly. I would not have known if it were not for the testing ability from one of the on screen menu items. Pay attention to the colors on the wiring as they match the colored circles on the back of the receiver. (nice touch). The volume knob does not have the lit blue ring on the circumference which I was expecting.(The subwoofer was bigger than expected and has a lit led on the front to let you know it is getting a proper signal and glows in blue. The remote control does not light so you may want to get a fully lit unified remote such as my favorite, the harmony one (the newest one out) for 199.00 anywhere. Don't buy any of Harmony's other remotes with the raised oval keys because they hurt your fingers after much use. The Onkyo HT-S 6100 HTIB performed exactly as planned. I am using it with 4 devices. It is connected to my TIVO Series 3 HD, Apple TV, Sony BDP 300 Blue Ray and Nintendo Wii. All sounds are moving properly from the various components to the receiver and coming out of the speakers with no lip sync problems. I have not had any hissing, popping, signal ugliness or processing voodoo. I previously had a Samsung HTIB and I did have signal, both video and audio weirdness, maybe because it was HDMI 1.1. The Samsung HTIB with HDMI in and out worked fine as long as I didnt plug anything in to it otherwise it was finicky with other HDMI components. My current TV is the Sony 60 inch KDS 60 XBR HD 1080i rear projection model that was a top choice about 18 months ago. The Onkyo HT-S 6100 works perfectly and the sound is definitely a significant step up from my previous Samsung HTIB. In fact, on audiophile recordings using a lossless music file streaming through Apple TV on an HDMI connection I was surprised by the smoothness and detail of the sound reproduction. The only things that bug me are: lack of THX certification, unlit remote, would like a larger more contemporary readout screen on the receiver, wish the speakers were heavier, and came with proper stands. I ordered the proper Onkyo stands, 6 of them from Amazon for 300.00 shipped. I called Onecall back after seeing the Onkyo HTS 6100 cheaper at JR Music and they credited me 44.00. The owners manual is 100 pages in English and you must remember to do the microphone supplied calibration process. I noticed no video degradation running all signals through the receiver however when changing from one HDMI component to another, such as from TIVo to Apple TV or BluRay DVD, there is a HDMI handshake delay of a few seconds before new signal both audio and video begin to operate. The Receiver when turning on or off gives off a distinct mechanical sound letting you know it is turning on or off which I call positive feedback and appreciate. Onecall.com people were pleasant to deal with and the owners manual while lengthy is a suggested read. Remember to plug everything in before you plug in the receiver and turn it on. Immediately go to the onscreen menu choices and get oriented to all the menu items so you will know what is going on. I am glad to get a HDMI repeater rather than a pass through as I am able to finally get HDMI simplicity and get rid of my optical cable and lip sync issues. I have seen this item advertised for $500.00 and highly recommend. This item is almost good enough to make me want to get rid of my better, but more complicated and grossly overpriced audiophile equipment. I am surprised there is any profit for the manufacturer or the retailer considering all the components and their performance. I feel like I have made a smart decision because had I bought expensive home theatre items 18 months ago I would have been unhappy every time there were an upgrade. Things like HDMI 1.3, the new audio formats, the microphone calibration, the upscaling, the repeater VS passthrough issue. I don't think you can justify spending thousands when you can buy a disposable system for 500.00 and upgrade every 2 or 3 years.
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