Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black)

Comments about Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black):

This system is great - it's easy to set up and calibrate for perfect sound - the ipod dock is great, you can control your ipod with the remote and it sounds fantastic.. it has tons of every input and output you can imagine. it pulls the sound right off of your HDMI cables and then passes the video on to your TV or whatever. If you are familiar with Onkyo then you know the type of quality and design which the company embodies. This unit deserves the Onkyo name. The only thing I would change about it is that the IPOD dock doesn't pass video and, from what I can tell does not have an onscreen display - but it sounds fantastic and has good remote control options for the ipod and it charges the ipod as well. To sum up my review - the quality is excellent. The setup is easy - the calibration using the included Audessey (sp?) microphone is automatic and works very well - it's loaded with features and connections, everything works how it should - the sound is amazing - the remote is great.It's just a spectacular unit, and as always when you order from BH the price is great and you get your item so fast. I am very happy with the unit [...]

Comments about Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black):

I picked this up a few weeks back and I've never regretted it. This is my 1st HTS and I'm very pleased with it. It look a bit to set it up (a few hours actually) but configuring it was a breeze. I have my xbox 360 (HDMI version), ps3 and cable box (with HDMI)hooked up to the receiver. The sound is great. I only have 5 speakers hooked up for now but when I put it in a larger room, all 7 will be used. I highly recommend this to anyone who's looking for a HTS (especially 1st timers). You can't go wrong with Onkyo.

Comments about Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black):

This system is a lot of bang for the buck. So far, it seems to be very good; it sounds great and has hooked up most components very well, and I swear my DVD's look better after passing through the receiver (thanks to the Faroudja video processor). There are just a few issues I've been having, none of which are a big deal, and which I'm sure can probably be resolved by looking at the owner's manual...perhaps I should try it. For one, the list of buttons associated with components on the remote isn't very intuitive; if I have one component hooked to an HDMI 'DVD' port and another to a component 'DVD' port, which one am I selecting when I press 'DVD' on the remote? Also, I just got an Xbox 360 and when I hooked it up with the component cable, it only displayed up to 720p resolution. After a little research I feel pretty certain this would be resolved with an HDMI cable; though this might be an issue with the Xbox rather than the receiver, I'm a little disappointed I need to spend [$]to get a proprietary cable to get full functionality. One more issue that I doubt many people will have is that I couldn't seem to hook up my N64 to it; I was getting sound through the standard 3-jack A/V cable, but no video...not a big deal, it's not like I need to play Mario Kart in 7 channel anyway. Beyond that, I am very satisfied. [...] I can't wait to get a Blu-ray player and see the full capability of the system. All in all, it may not be top of the line, but you're certainly getting your money's worth.

Comments about Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black):

The living room in our new apartment measures 18' x 16'. I began researching systems online that would fill the space with surround sound without breaking the bank. I have owned a number of Onkyo components over the years, and have always been impressed with the build quality and price/performance ratio. The HT-S6100 is no exception.

COMPONENTS:
The heart of this home theater system is the AV receiver, which is essentially a beefed-up version of the Onkyo TX-SR606. The 606 is one of the most highly rated receivers you can buy for less than $600, and with good reason: 4 HDMI inputs, excellent on-board video upscaling, and the Audyssey 2 automatic speaker calibration. The HT-S6100's receiver adds more power to each channel over the 606.

The speakers are sleek and can easily be hung directly on the wall, using an anchored screw and the included rubber pads. The Left, Right, and Center channels are now wall-mounted around my LCD and not only sound great but look amazing. The Left, Right, and Center speakers are all shielded for placement around the TV. I was impressed by their heft and the build quality; these are a step up from the typical HTIB mini-cubes. One con was the spring-clip connection on each speaker; I would have preferred recessed binding posts for use with banana clips, which I used to connect the speaker wire to the AV receceiver.

I have set up the Surround Left and Surround Right speakers at ear level by the couch (the primary seating for the room), for a 5.1 system. I am debating putting up the rear surround speakers or possibly running them to the bedroom as "B" speakers. I like the flexibility and wealth of options the HT-S6100 provides for speaker configuration.

The subwoofer is a beast right out of the box, and I found with some fine-tuning it blends nicely with the other speakers.

SETUP:
The system was very easy/straightforward to setup. The only time consuming activities were mounting the speakers on the walls and running the surround sound speaker wire, which would take time with any system. The included (shoddy) cables are color coded to match their respective speaker and input jack on the receiver, but I used my own heavier wire.

The Audyssey mic calibration was great. I set up the included microphone as instructed and let the program run. It did a good job of calibrating the 5.1 system, identifying the active speakers and shutting down the 2 channels I am not currently using. I tweaked the setting a little bit (rolled back the subwoofer, brought up the center channel) and am very happy with the sound.

The iPod dock works as advertised, and allows you to use the remote to control your iPod. I have not figured out yet if there's any way to display the iPod menu on the TV while the dock is activated, but fear that it may not be possible with this system.

Nearly all the video on my system runs through HDMI, which is a breeze to set up. Cable box, Blu-ray, and computer DVI-to-HDMI all got their assigned HDMI inputs on the receiver, with a single HDMI cable running from the receiver to the TV. My Wii is connected via component in, but this did not present any issues. Additionally, I still have inputs galore that are free (including an HDMI input).

PERFORMANCE:
I mostly watch movies and listen to music, and the HT-6100 really delivers. The sound is enveloping and well balanced, and gives a great sense of space and placement. The center channel delivers especially impressive sound, given it's low profile.


CONS:
One pet peeve is the low-grade speaker wire included with the system. I sprung for a spool of 14 AWG wire to run the surround sound speakers and am very satisfied with the results.

Another con is the remote. I use a Harmony universal remote for nearly all regular controls, but it does not work well for some of the AV receiver's functions (especially the Audyssey setup). The HT-6100's remote is somewhat cramped and not layed out especially intuitively. In an otherwise stand-out package, it sticks out like a bit of a sore thum.

Comments about Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black):

If you are looking into getting a HT system but want a all in one solution you're search is over!! Onkyo offer the best HTIB for under $1000 and they all come with future proof receiver(well close to it at least). I have been looking into getting a system for a few months and have done much reading to understand the pro's and con's of different system. In the end I choice to go with either the Onkyo HTIB HT-6100 or Onkyo HTIB HT-7100. The two systems are pretty much the same, only different is that the 7100 comes with 1 Pair AS-140 speaker stands and the receiver has "Zone 2" feature which I wouldn't use. Also the two systems come with different receivers but they are pretty much the same outside of what I said about the Zone 2. The HT-6100 comes with the 667 model receiver and the HT-7100 comes with the 606 model receiver.

Comments about Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black):

pros; easy set up .
sounds great this is a system that has 4 hdmi inputs more than enough for cable/sat ps3 dvd for pass thru 1080p .
cons; wish there was more lighting on unit buttons hard to see in the low light of a home theater setup ,takes a little time to set the sub to find a right amount of bass

Comments about Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1-Channel Home Theater System (Black):

I have owned an earlier version of this surround system for about 3 years now. I have been very pleased with it. After owning it for about a 6 months i did have to bring it to a certified Onkyo repair shop to have some work done on it because it was not producing any sound. The work was free because it was still under warranty. It was my fault because i had the ventalation vents blocked which caused it to over heat. So definetly leave plenty of room for the vents to breath. The only gripe i have is that the subwoofer could be more powerful. But besides that, I highly recomend Onkyo products.