Help Me Decide

[Fishman2010]

Hello,
I have been reading the threads and reviews for two days, some of them are based off completely different setups. So I thought it would be ok to make a new thread.

My setup is:

Small area, but open space (high ceilings, etc.)
Samsung 42" 720p Plasma
Panasonic BD655K
DVR Cable Box
Xbox 360

I'm looking at getting the Onkyo HT-3300.

My questions are:

1. Does it have a receiver or repeater (whatever the difference is), and does it matter?
2. Does it decode HD audio formats that are found on Blu-rays?
3. Any other useful info I should know?

Would I be better off getting the Onkyo HT-5300?

I like that it has a powered sub, 2 extra speakers, and they are a little bit higher powered. The only thing that concerns me is there are 4 one star reviews and they seem to be for the same reason, the back channels are reversed with multichannel PCM (or something like that). Also they said the audio will drop out in certain cases. Any info on this?

I'm sorry for the "noob" questions, I will be the first to admit I pretty much know nothing about audio. I know quite a bit about displays, but when it comes to audio I know about as much as a new born baby .

I just want to make sure I get the most out of my games and Blu-ray, I can SEE Blu-ray..... now I want to HEAR it .

Anything I buy can't be worse than what I'm using now, Bose Companion 3 computer speakers [*crickets chirp*]. Yes, I know......

Thanks

[brianh78]

I bought the 3300 a few months ago. I love it. It does do both hd sound formats and for my 8x15ft living room it fills it completely. Our bedroom is directly above the living room and I have to turn down the bass as not to wake up the wife. For regular dvd and games (have a 360) its good but watching a blu-ray is outstanding. See my pics how its setup and for me its absoutly perfect and do not regret it in the least.

[Fishman2010]

Originally Posted by brianh78

I bought the 3300 a few months ago. I love it. It does do both hd sound formats and for my 8x15ft living room it fills it completely. Our bedroom is directly above the living room and I have to turn down the bass as not to wake up the wife. For regular dvd and games (have a 360) its good but watching a blu-ray is outstanding. See my pics how its setup and for me its absoutly perfect and do not regret it in the least.

Thanks for the reply. I know the 3300 doesn't have a powered sub, but from what you said it seems like it is more than enough for you. I was leaning towards spending the extra $100 and getting the 5300, but the reviews are not as good and it seems like there are a lot of issues with it.

Especially from your response, now I'm leaning towards the 3300 again. I hate deciding stuff like this, there are to many options and variables .

What cables are you using to hook everything up? Just HDMI? Can I hook 2 things up via HDMI through the receiver and 1 thing up to my TV or do all my devices have to be hooked up through the receiver?

[benzgrl]

To OP - Be careful of which particular 3300 you put in your cart, the price seems to be different. I've been eyeing this one ($280 right now):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Your link to AMZ in your original post seems to go to one not shipped by AMZ and price is higher.

[Fishman2010]

Originally Posted by benzgrl

To OP - Be careful of which particular 3300 you put in your cart, the price seems to be different. I've been eyeing this one ($280 right now):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Your link to AMZ in your original post seems to go to one not shipped by AMZ and price is higher.

Thanks for the heads up. The link you gave me also uses Blu-ray.com as a referral so they will get a percentage, which I wanted to do. Any reason why the one from Amazon says "Usually ships in 1 to 3 months?" I mean that can't be right? Can it?

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

I have the Onkyo HT-s3300 as well and it sounds great playing blu-ray movies but not with regular television. Have you checked eBay? I bought mine on ebay for under $300.

[benzgrl]

Originally Posted by Fishman2010

Thanks for the heads up. The link you gave me also uses Blu-ray.com as a referral so they will get a percentage, which I wanted to do. Any reason why the one from Amazon says "Usually ships in 1 to 3 months?" I mean that can't be right? Can it?

I'm assuming it's backordered - ? Not sure, I just noticed that too. I've been watching it the last month or so and it's flunctuating between 280 - 305 I think. But I need to get the one thru AMZ because I have Prime.

[benzgrl]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

I have the Onkyo HT-s3300 as well and it sounds great playing blu-ray movies but not with regular television. Have you checked eBay? I bought mine on ebay for under $300.

But it's gotta be better than watching just thru TV speakers, right?

Is the sound bad if you're watching an HD movie on a TV station?

[JAYSONE]

To the OP...if you're considering the 5300, I would just get the 6300, which right now is only $50 more from Amazon.

Here's a link so you can compare the models with each other.

One thing to consider is that the 6300 includes a mic for calibrating your speakers once you set them up. The 3300 & 5300 do NOT. I personally wouldn't know where to begin as far as calibrating my speakers.

The only thing that concerns me is there are 4 one star reviews and they seem to be for the same reason, the back channels are reversed with multichannel PCM (or something like that). Also they said the audio will drop out in certain cases. Any info on this?

I think it has something to do with the firmware. If you did need a firmware upgrade, you would need to send it to Onkyo so they could do it for you. More info on the 5300 at AVS forumshere. If this ends up being an issue with the 6300, I'm sure you would have to do the same since there is no way for us to update the firmware. However, the receiver included in the 6300 is not the same model as the 5300 system.

Whatever you decide to go with, I think it's a good idea to purchase thru Amazon just in case things don't work out as planned and you have to return/exchange it if defective; less headache and no return shipping fees.

Hope the info helps.

[brianh78]

Originally Posted by Fishman2010

Thanks for the reply. I know the 3300 doesn't have a powered sub, but from what you said it seems like it is more than enough for you. I was leaning towards spending the extra $100 and getting the 5300, but the reviews are not as good and it seems like there are a lot of issues with it.

Especially from your response, now I'm leaning towards the 3300 again. I hate deciding stuff like this, there are to many options and variables .

What cables are you using to hook everything up? Just HDMI? Can I hook 2 things up via HDMI through the receiver and 1 thing up to my TV or do all my devices have to be hooked up through the receiver?

**Im using a hdmi cable from the dish network hd reciever, and since its an older 360, but using componet and same with the wii also, but do having running to the tv hdmi as well. Its a very easy setup Ido say its not the best for tv, but it is definatly better then watching through just the tv speakers. As forwhere I got it, bought it from newegg.com for less than $300 (have a review on there as well).

[Joffner1208]

Originally Posted by Fishman2010

Thanks for the heads up. The link you gave me also uses Blu-ray.com as a referral so they will get a percentage, which I wanted to do. Any reason why the one from Amazon says "Usually ships in 1 to 3 months?" I mean that can't be right? Can it?

I have that same exact one on order right now and yes it's back ordered right now and it says for me its shipping October 2nd and I placed the order end of August. It seems like a good little system as I don't need anything huge.

[brianh78]

i didnt need anything huge and expensive either, but it does the job nicely and enjoy it immensly

[PitbulI]

I picked up a Samsung BT-C6530 HTIB and it sounds pretty good. The disc drive itself makes noise when advancing through scenes through the remote or sometimes when loading the disc.

Also, I think it's my TV that keeps doing this but when I had 1080p and 24Hz selected in the player, My TV info window kept popping up switching to a bunch of different modes. I know my TV can't do 1080p, it is a 720p TV but can't it do 24hz?