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Onkyo HT-S790S Theater System Product Technical DetailsTechnical Details:HTS790S Key FeaturesIncluded Components:...

I love this system Onkyo HT S790S Theater System I spent a good deal of time researching before I purchased this particular unit. I walked into the local Circuit C...

I got the HT-S790 about 6 months back and was very pleased with the performance. I recommend it to all my friends and sure enough, a friend bought the HT-S790S and I helped him set it up it. Here is the review…

Onkyo HT-S790S

Onkyo’s HT-S780 was launched in early 2005 and is the first inexpensive 7.1 channel home theatre system. It was much talked about %26 popular, since it was the only one with 7.1 channel and priced under $450 and because of the fact that it was an “Onkyo for that price.” The 780 was an amazing HTiB, offering tons of inputs/optical great Sub-woofer and very good sound quality. It was very close to perfect. In early 2006, Onkyo launched the replacement for the nearly perfect 780 by launching the HT-S790 %26 the HT-S790S. This product has the same great %26 rich sound quality of the HT-S780, but only louder, offering more wattage per channel. It also sports a new speaker design.

Onkyo HT-S790S vs HT-S790

The Onkyo HT –S790S %26 HT-S790 share absolutely the same specifications, the only difference being the color. The HT-S790S is Silver – all speakers, receiver and remote are silver. The HT-S790 ( http://www.epinions.com/content_231649939076 ) is all black. Most people like black receivers %26 speakers, (including me), but the silver color adds a lot of visibility to the system and brightens up the room. One disadvantage to the 790S, (if it is a disadvantage) is that all DVD players/changers from Onkyo are only in black, this might be a color mismatch for the perfect home theatre setup.

In the Box:

The box is huge, weighing close to 100 lbs. The box includes:

1. 1 x Receiver

2. 8 x Speakers

3. 1 x Remote

4. Speaker cables

5. Comprehensive user manual

6. Quick setup guide

Receiver:

The receiver is a real beauty, offering so many features, inputs/outputs and easy of use. It is big, close to twice the size of a normal DVD changer. It is heavy too - weighing 20 lbs. There front of the receiver has many buttons, all configurations can be made from the here, without the remote. It includes buttons for channel selection, power, volume, light dimming, preset equalizer selection, memory, setup etc. It also includes a head phone out and the one RCA video input (very helpful for connecting camcorders without having to grope behind to connect them). In-spite of all this it looks simple %26 not complicated, thanks to the huge size. Actually the black receiver looks a little bit cluttered, probably because of the color, while the silver looks uncluttered and more spacious button placement. The receiver is a beauty, its specifications speaks tons.

Power output: 110 W/Ch (RMS)

THD (rated power): 0.08%

Frequency response: 10Hz – 100kHz

S/N ratio: 100 dB

The audio quality is amazing, by far the best I have ever heard from a system under $700. It is loaded with tons of features. There is a certain amount of learning and configuration involved, including speaker placement, speaker distances setting, individual channel levels etc. The manual is very comprehensive and very easy to do the initial configuration. Also the quick setup guide is very useful. I had my system up %26 running in just over an hour. There are many inputs/outputs – 3 x optical, 3 x component, 3 x S-video. The optical is great. One issue here is the lack of HDMI port. HDMI has the best quality, even better than component since it is digital. Well, Onkyo should have thought of that. The receiver gets very hot, definitely not a good idea placing anything over it… allow lot of space over %26 the receiver. The receiver gets hot not only when being used, but when left ON without being used (TV/DVD powered OFF). Make sure to switch it off when not being used. I placed my Onkyo DV-CP702 6-disc DVD changer ( http://www.epinions.com/content_226430455428 ) on it initially and it became extremely hot and I was sure either the receiver or the changer would have been damaged, but there was no damage %26 they work great.

Speakers:

Seven speakers and one subwoofer… that’s a lot of speakers. The Front L %26 R and center speakers are big and look like high end speakers. The rest of the speakers are smaller, but definitely bigger than any other HTiBs I’ve seen. The speakers don’t have a key hole to hang the speakers, probably because they are bigger %26 heavier than normal speakers. The sub-woofer is massive, and pretty heavy. The frequency response of the Sub is 30Hz to 150Hz, that’s bone-jarring. The effect is amazing, can feel the vibrations all around the room. The speaker design is new and initially I did not like it, I preferred the older 780 design, but since it has been growing on me %26 I think it is better than the older one. This 7.1 system is recommended for a larger sized room. In a smaller room it might may seem “speakers too many”. The speakers have higher rating,

Speaker ————-Max power——–Sensitivity———-Freq Response

Front 110 W 86 dB/W/m 55 Hz-35 Khz

Center 110 W 86 dB/W/m 65 Hz-35 Khz

Surround 110 W 86 dB/W/m 65 Hz-35 Khz

Surround back 110 W 60 dB/W/m 55 Hz-35 Khz

Sub-Woofer 230 W 300 dB/W/m 30 Hz-150 Hz

The Subwoofer specs are very impressive. The speakers seem well made. The grill on the front L%26R and center speakers is removable. The speaker cables are very thin, it will be a good idea to use thinker ones, it will definitely improve the performance.

Remote:

The remote is well laid out. It is a universal remote so you can control not just Onkyo devices, but also other brand devices. The remote is very user friendly. There is one issue with the remote, its IR LED angle range is pathetic. It works merely 60 degrees, while my Sanyo remote works when I bounce it off the wall on the opposite side of the TV. The RI feature allows you to power ON/OFF the receiver and DVD with one click, but there is a catch, you need an RI cable connected between the devices %26 only Onkyos have this feature. But if you have all Onkyo devices like I do, it works great.

Nice features:

1. RI – function

2. Speaker position – The speaker position can be configured, distances between speakers can be entered to get the most optimum performance.

3. A lot of preset equalizer modes available.

4. Universal remote, works with any brand TV/DVD/VHS player.

Disadvantages:

1. Speaker cables are very thin.

2. Receiver gets very hot.

3. No built in DVD player/changer

4. No HDMI/DVI inputs

Essential purchases:

DVD changer, Component cables, Optical cables, speaker stands/wall mount and optionally speaker cables.

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