Returning my second Onkyo 706

Ok I am returning my Onkyo 706 to Amazon after speaking to Crutchfield customer rep. I told him the situation about component upscaling not working. He told me that it is definitely the receiver that I got from Amazon. I asked him how could 2 receivers go bad. He asked me to try once more, with Crutchfield this time. I have to pay $45 more. But they are not amazon and I can understand. So lets see if I get a receiver with no problems. The only thing I am afraid of is, the millions of connections I have to do again!!

Aside some issues with picture, the sound has started to impress me. I calibrated all the speakers with auto setup and adjusted directions of my surround speakers. The clarity in the music is awesome. The speakers are now showing what they are worth for. The bass is deep, coming out of sub and I have set the level below 50%. You know I am in an apartment. Don't want to distrub anybody.

The other thing I am enjoying is, controlling my music (in iTunes) with my iPhone. The remote app on iphone is great. I can also stream music from any computer in my house with Airport Express with air tunes.

Will update again once I get my new receiver from Crutchfield. Let hope for the best!

Home Theater is all about how good you are in Trial and Error (for first timers)

Hi-Fi sound and Picture are fun. Large HD TVs, Big speakers, Great receivers and latest technologies like HDMI are every audiophile's favorites but all this comes with long agonizing hours of setup, expensive accessories and requirement of infinite patience, specially when you are doing it on your own and doing it the first time. If you are a perfectionist then I warn you not to venture into it on your own. "It" is - bulding your own Home Theater system.

The basic components of a home theater system are:
T.V.
Speakers
DVD Player
Amplifier/Receiver - Depending on the funtions you want it to perform

My setup:


Sony BD350 blueray player
Vizio 32" LCD - 720p
Onkyo 706 receiver
PolkAudio 6750
Mac Mini connected to receiver
Apple Airport extreme with airtunes.
Motorola HD cable box.





I set out to build my home theater system just because I had longed for one for a long long time. I had my LCD T.V. - a Vizio 32" 720p - great value for my money.
Apart from my LCD, I had a cheap cyberhome DVD player that plays almost all the formats. I was happy with that.

So what did I need? A speaker set (5.1 for my room), A better DVD player (upconverting) and a receiver. I started looking for all three of them at the same time. I didn't want to spend too much on my speakers - I wonder why, now. Also I wanted to buy all my speakers (5 channel and a sub) together. Later I read a good advice from someone, which I will talk about later. I wanted to buy an upconverting DVD player and use the HDMI port as my digital connection to my receiver and on to the TV. A nice DVD player would have costed my somewhere between $75 to $100. Then one day I saw a great deal on Sony BD350 player(a BlueRay player) for $199 shipped. I thought I could buy the sony and be future proof. I thought that someday I would like to watch Blueray movies because Netflix is renting them and I do have a Netflix account. I read reviews on Amazon and ordered from macmall.com. So that was my first purchase. Its a nice player that plays a lot of formats(not all like mp3) and upconverts older DVDs. I compromised on mp3 capabilities because I already have loads of mp3 files in my computer (Mac Mini) that I am planning to connect to my Receiver. So I will have nice Front Row access to my music and video libraries (check our boxee.net). Who wants to rip mp3 CDs when you don't have to. I watched Cars DVD and noticed the difference between DVD player and BD Player quality. The BD Player had more depth in color. Simple experiment is to notice the blacks. Like in this movie - Road or Tires. BD player was amazingly black in those areas. Also the sound was much improved (on my TV speakers). So I deviated a bit from DVD player to a BD Player. Possibly $100.

Then I started looking at speakers. I searched on Amazon for a 5.1 package and could not pass up on the Polk6750. Such great review, nice looking, black and small in size. Wow. A system for under $200 bucks? Great I thought and ordered a refurb on e-bay(polk's own auction shop). I got them for $191 shipped. I could have got new for $199 later from newegg.com I got them but had no receiver to hook them to and test. So left them in my store room. Well later I read from somebody ( a perfectionist maybe) to go slow on speakers. Buy front channel(1 for Left and Right each). Then later add a centre channel. Later add a sub and then surround channels. This way you could exactly build what you want and may be a better system of speakers. Afterall there are so many companies specialize in different types. Later I concluded that this way you could build a system providing best value for your money. So I deviated here too.

Then comes the most difficult and may be the most important part - The receiver. The receiver was most difficult because I had absolutely no experience of a receiver. Basically I didn't know what all a receiver does. So I looked in Amazon and the reviews of many receiver in my price range which was less than $400. Right away Onkyo 606 topped my list. This is absolutely the best selling receiver everywhere. From amazon to crutchfield. There is absolutely no drawback, except upscaling is limited to 1080i and not 1080p. Should that matter to me who has a BD player for movies and cable signal is 1080i anyways? No. I wouldn't use receiver's Video processing. I almost decided about it but thought about my budget which is $400. I started looking at Sony 920, Yamaha 663 and Pioneer 1018. All of them were nearly $400. Now I observed some drawbacks for all 3.
Sony 920 - Feedbacks suggest that Sony customer support is bad and its ratings (wattage) is overrated.
There is no Zone 2 where 606 is equipped with it.
Sony has long been notorious about less than perfect value for money.
On the positive side, it would sync perfectly with my BD Player (1 less remote).

Yamaha 663 - Great reviews and amongst the best seller. The problems I had with this one were - No upscaling, just upconversion from Analog to Digital.
Yapao setup for auto speaker calibration is not for multiple listening positions. Yammi still gives you zone 2. For $399 I order from J&R but read about the shortcomings and cancelled the order. Perhaps the biggest mistake in my setup.

Pioneer 1018 - After rejecting Yamaha I jumped on to 1018 which also had great reviews and I liked the great looks and all the features. One thing which diverted my mind again is the fact that it does not support Zone 2 without additional amplifier. This factor is the least thing I should have considered for getting a great receiver. But I rejected this too.

Finally I saw Onkyo 706 with prices falling under $500 on amazon. All the features that I wanted, were there. Plus THX certification was great addition. I waited till thanksgiving for $505, again $100 deviation.

Receiver came with a problem with upconverting component to HDMI. I replaced it with a new one but the problem persisted. Later I found that this feature is not well supported by Onkyo. So I am here with a receiver that I am not impressed with its first impression. So the video processing feature I was looking for was already buggy.
Sound - Frankly I liked the upgrade from TV speakers to 5.1, Laptop speakers to digital sound through digital connections. But is that all? $500 amp should blow away the expectations atleast with the sound?
Is this the case with $200 speakers? In that case, the reviews were misleading. Well hold on, I read an article about speaker placement on crutchfield.com. Basically, its all about experimentation. Placement of speakers is a pain. You need to try placing speakers in different positions relative to your favorite listening position to find out the magic spot. That process can go on for days before you find all your sweet spots and mount your speakers and cleaning up your wiring mess. True test of your patience. Frankly that can happen only in your media room or basement. You cannot let your living room hijacked by home theater wiring and mess. I have yet to do the speaker setup correctly and that thought is driving me insane.

Last but not the least, the hookup of all the component to the receiver. The worst is the speaker setup. The speaker wires are in pairs and you have to draw the wires from speakers to the receiver with correct polarity. You have to do this for 5 speakers; sub-woofer is very easy with coaxial cable. On the speakers' side, the wires have to be connected with spring plugs which is crappy. How much would it cost for even cheaper speakers to have banana sockets? On the receiver end though, you have can use banana plugs (which you should do) to save your time and effort, if you have to do the hookups again and again. The whole setup leaves you exhausted and unsatisfied. You will think whether the hook ups are resulting in any loss of the signal or not. You cannot test that very easily. The component, composite, digital audio (coax or toslink) and HDMI are easy to hookup and easy to troubleshoot with.

Overall, building a HT system (advanced) which is not out-of-the-box, is an exhilarating experience but sometimes tiring and frustrating. If you could get the best sound after all your hard work then playing your favorite song on it will make you proud. Proud of the fact that you have achieved something great which is going to stay with you for next 5-6 years. That sense of achievement will come every day and every moment you listen to your HT system.

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