Customer Reviews

ONKYO SKS-HT240 Home Theater Speaker System

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I spent a great deal of time researching a home theater system that fit my requirements. Online reviews were the single largest source of information and the biggest input to my decision. I'm hoping this review will aid someone in the same manner in the future.

First, a few words about my situation - we have a largish (20 X 20 X 25) family room with a 50 inch DLP (a Samsung HL-R5067W) in a corner. The room has large floor-to-ceiling glass windows on the right side, solid walls on two sides, and an open back, which overlooks the kitchen area. In short, a difficult acoustic situation. I needed a system that could fill this large space with sound, yet be crisp enough for dialogues. Plus, this was going to be our main music system as well, so it had to do a good job with music CDs and MP3s, with a large mix of genres and styles.

Since this is the family room (roamed by our curious 2 yr old, with spillover noise from the kitchen etc), we didn't want to spend the world either. The understanding was that we'd budget about $1000 for this system, reserving the future 'media room' for the _really_ good system.

Other requirements were: speakers should be medium sized (not as small as bose, but not large either), preferably in silver.

As mentioned earlier, I looked at many systems online, ranging from HTIB systems (Home Theater in a Box) to separate speakers that ran to hundreds of dollars each. We went to Best Buy, Flanners, American etc to listen to some setups, comparing Denon, Yamaha, Sonys and eventually this Onkyo set.

This Onkyo set has almost a 'perfect' review everyplace you see them online. That's what really made me take notice. And when I actually listened to them at American TV, they beat everything comparable, and then some. So we bought them online (from Vanns.com, actually), and haven't regretted them for a moment.

They do have a couple issues - one, and this is highly subjective, is that I don't care for the stainless steel top, bottom and linings (a little too flashy for our taste). They are a little on the large side, with the subwoofer being pretty big. Also, more importantly, you'll need a few tweaks to get them to play up to their full potential. But that's about it.

As many others have attested before me, the sound from movies will change your movie reviews, and to really top it all, Dave Matthews sounds like he's pretty much sitting in my family room (well, I'm exaggerating, but only a little). The subwoofer is beyond good - it produces a low rumble that's almost visceral.

I paired these speakers with an Onkyo TX-SR574S receiver, and the results are delightful. You will need a good receiver so that you can change the sound levels and distance to different speakers individually. I needed to do that before they started sounding really good. You also will need good, thick speaker cables. Not Monster cable - they are a waste of money - but good (16 gauge at least) speaker wire and a better subwoofer cable than what comes with the set.

The entire set cost me about $700, including $100 for good cables. So we have $300 left over for a HTPC I'm building.

And now for the most important measure of all - my wife, who hates sci-fi movies, sat through 'The Fifth Element' from the beginning to the end, including the credits. This one's a keeper.

These speakers look and sound fantastic! The speakers are all very easy to mount right on the wall with regular screws. You do not need any fancy speaker mounts. You can also mount the speakers vertically or horizontally in case you are limited by the shape of your room, as I was. Their low profile makes it look like you spent a fortune on your system. The sub-woofer is huge and puts out amazing bass sound. They are far better than other HTIB sets. The sound is rich and is perfect for a small/mid size room. If you want a step higher than these I would recommend the Paradigm CT series, but for the money these speakers are a bargain.

I wanted to get a new surround system that did just as good or better on music as it did on movie surround tracks since I'm an avid music lover of all types. Small speaker surround systems tend to do movie surround ok, but sound a little anemic when it comes to playing good old fashion music. I was impressed when I heard the ONKYO's at Circuit City due to their rich and clean sound. They also look great on the wall next to the ever popular flat screen TVs. Their brushed aluminum finish and accurate natural sound real makes a statement in style and performance. One online reviewer said that they have the gravity of a larger more expensive speaker system.
The powered sub is also fairly clean and deep though you might have to set the crossover to 100hz or more to get a good match and set the power output a little lower than normal cause of some booming at high volumes. With my test setup disc from Sound and Vision magazine the bass produced palpable bass down to the middle to lover 30's at least in my medium size room of 15 by 13 with very strong output in the middle 40's.
The wire connections are spring loaded and are adequate for larger size wires, but it would have been nice if they were gold plated binding post on such a fine speaker. They work well with my ONKYO AV receiver which does have binding post. In my room, I get room filling and lively sound on most discs using less than half power.
These speakers work well on Jazz, acoustic, classical and classic rock music but may not be for head bangers that live on heavy metal crunch. They're well worth the money for the discriminate listener. I'm listening again to all my CD's and DVD AUDIO/SACD's to hear what I may have missed over the years.

When I first started putting my Home Theatre together I relied heavily on user reviews found at a number of different sites. These speakers received high grades at all sites where my alternative, Bose, were just average. Unbelievable value for the amount they cost, I would gladly pay two to three times their cost given the result.
I purchased these speakers unseen, unheard and as stated above the sound is just amazing. They are powered by a Pioneer VSX1015TXO.
I write this review so others may benefit from user reviews as much as I have during my Home Theatre project.

These speakers look and sound great. For the price, I am very pleased with my purchase. The left, right, and center channels look awesome hung next to my flat screen on the wall. I purchased Onkyo speaker stands ( which were made specifically for these speakers) for my rear channels. Even the speaker stands are very attractive. The sub woofer was a bit larger than I expected, but it sure does shake the house. Great buy!

Although I don't have much to add compared to the other reviews, I wanted to chime in to indicate I think these are great speakers for the price. I've had them installed in my home theatre in my basement for the last two years. Hooked up to an Onkyo AV receiver and DVD player, Xbox, and Cable TV, I have been very happy with the sound. I'd consider myself an "average" homeowner. I've got a 42" plasma TV kind of a setup. Unless you are VERY selective about your sound, I think most anyone would be very happy with these speakers. The subwoofer seems to be of high quality... I noted at that time (2 yrs ago) that this seemed to be a point of weakness with some other speaker sets -- folks weren't happy with the highs & lows of some home theatre speakers. These seem to perform very well with the full range in my opinion... again, from the point of view of an "average" person.

I have had these speakers for a few days and they work great now that I have my system set up correctly. I have an Onkyo TX-SR805 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) receiver and a PlayStation 3 80GB which I use to play blu-ray movies.

For several days I was quite disappointed with the surround sound. To get the speakers to perform I used a CD player and set my 805 to "All Stereo". The speakers filled the room with sound. They sounded really good, but obviously lack the rich bass of larger speakers. That's why I didn't give them 5 stars.

I wasn't too happy with my purchase at this point. Surround sound was still very weak. The back speakers were barely audible in THX or Dolby Cinema mode and I certainly didn't feel surrounded by sound. Having read many other reviews, I suspected my PS3 settings were incorrect. The audio output was set to Linear PCM like everyone said. However, there is another deeply hidden menu under Sound Settings | Audio Output | HDMI. The system defaults to Automatic mode which sets the system to two channels. You must select Manual and then the highest Linear PCM 7.1 settings.

Once I set that, I was practically blown out of my chair. I put on the blu-ray version of Pearl Harbor and went to the attack scene. The room shook and I could hear the deep rumble of the planes shooting across the room. The sound is comparable to being in a modern movie theater. Now I am very happy with my purchase of these speakers.

[Update Dec 2009] I have moved on. These speakers are great for TV and movies. However, they are really poor for 5:1 music that is played at high volume. When I crank up music the bass sounds horrible, like static. I have to unplug my center channel whenever I listen to music. Do not buy these if you want to listen to high-def music or super-audio at volume.

These speakers look sexy and of quality built, even the subwoofer is of elegant design and a pleasure to look at.
I have them connected to an Onkyo TX-SR804 and right out of the box the sound did not impressed me but with a little bit of tweaking I was more than happy with my new speakers. The subwoofer delivers well-defined and punchy lows. The mid and upper frequencies are clear and crisp.
I listen to a wide range of music and these speakers have delivered all that I was hoping for; classical and jazz sound reproduction is outstanding. Action movies and video games sound is really nice as well.
Bottom line: awesome sound but need a little tweaking, beautiful aesthetics. I don't think you can buy better speakers for less than 2-3 times of what you are paying here.

I had a friend over who has Bose 3-2-1 speakers in his living room and when he clearly and loudly heard birds chirping behind his head he became instantly jealous. For the rest of the night, every few minutes when he heard the clear sound effects coming from the back speakers he commented on how cool it was and that he was ticked he went with the bose speakers that didn't give him these effects. The speakers really do a good job. If you watch a movie with explosions you will feel the rumble of the subwoofer and hear the glass wizzing past you and shattering all around. It really is cool. I'm no audiophile and probably couldn't tell you the difference between two sets of good speakers, but I do know a good set when I hear one. This definately is a good one and the price makes it so much sweeter. I love these speakers! They're great for movies, video games (call of duty 4, with grenades blowing up all around really showcases their potential), and music. You will not be dissapointed with these speakers.

Enough said, this is as close as you can get to a high end system without spending a bundle. Though the center speaker is a little weak, so I supplemented it with a Polk Audio bookshelf speakers. Then I paired it with the Onkyo TX-SR705S and it sounded impressive. It is an excellent home theater speakers for the money without a doubt. Whoever have this speakers already, just add bookshelf speakers on the center channel and you'll hear what your missing. Other than that, with a good reciever your definitely good to go.