Great deal on Onkyo TX-SR600 surround receiver and SHS-HT500 surround speakers ($311.75 and $164 respectively)

[Kwad Guy]

This is a really good deal on a very good sounding but not bank breaking surround system. It's available at www.shoponkyo.com. Create an account (or log in if you have one) and then go to the refurbished section. There you'll find:

1) Onkyo TX-SR600 receiver. $321.75. You get 10 "onkyo points" (= $10
discount) for creating an account, so it is $311.75. Free shipping.

This is an EXCELLENT surround receiver, and probably the best
quality/featured surround receiver available at anywhere near the
price. The only major downside, and this only concerns some of us,
is no phone level input. But it has component video switching, so
it's completely usable with a HDTV. These go for around $400 or so
on eBay (with shipping included), so this is a great deal (and you
get a warranty from Onkyo).

2) Complement the TX-SR600 with a set of SHS-HT500 speakers. Price
once you log in is $180. If you buy the receiver FIRST (that is,
COMPLETE THE PURCHASE OF THE RECEIVER BEFORE YOU BUY THE SPEAKERS)
then you will have another $16 in Onkyo dollars in your account,
so the net price will be $180-16 = $164, free shipping. If you
don't buy the receiver, the price is $180-10 = $170.

These are pretty good sounding speakers, and will beat any set of
subwoofer+satellites at 3x the price...That's because the speakers
are not mini satellites...The front left and right are modest sized
bookshelf sized. The rear surrounds are smaller, but larger than
typical satellites. The bigger sized speakers won't win any
design awards, but it makes it possible to achieve better sound
at a lower price point. These aren't the best speakers you will
ever heard at any price, but for $164 I will argue strongly they're
the best full 5.1 setup you can get for 2-3x that amount of money.

The total price for the two items, shipped, is $475.75. This is $25
LESS than the price this set was offered last month in the limited
"St. Patrick's Day" sale. BE SURE to buy the receiver (fully check
out) before buying the speakers if you're going to buy both!

Kwad

 

[DaveSimmons]

Excellent deal. From the reviews at CNet it's a definite step up from the $300 Pioneer 811 people here usually recommend for low/midrange buyers. This price is at least $100 below no-warranty stores and almost $200 below Crutchfield's warranty price.

I'm still leaning towards the Denon 2802 or 2803 though (for $500-800) -- descisions, decisions.

 

[Vincent]

How does this compare with the Yamaha HTR-5550?

http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-6342373-1304-20018064.html

Thanks.

 

[NeoSolo]

Onkyo TX-SR600 has rear center

Yamaha HTR-5550 does NOT have rear center.

I heard that Onkyo has better FM. Other than that Onkyo and Yamaha seems to be good choice.

 

[iliopsoas]

i've been waiting for the tx-sr600 refurb to come back online at this price

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: NeoSolo
Onkyo TX-SR600 has rear center

Yamaha HTR-5550 does NOT have rear center.

I heard that Onkyo has better FM. Other than that Onkyo and Yamaha seems to be good choice.

The Yamaha "RXV-730" which is like the HTR-5560, but with a few more features was recently tested by Sound and Vision. With 5 channels driven, it only produced 27 watts per channel and the receiver was rated at 75 watts per channel. The Onkyo is also over-rated when it comes to power. I've owned a Yamaha HTR-5560 before and didn't like it. If given the choice, I'd pick the Onkyo.

 

[rh71]

Great deal. I picked these up separately during Black Friday when Circuit City mis-marked the TX-SR600 for $299. The SHS-HT500 came out to be $199.

This one even beats that out. Great sounding system... couldn't be happier for what I paid.

 

[nasttcar]

Thanks for posting this great deal. I followed your instructions to the "T".

John

 

[kobwebb]

I checked this out today, and already its gone! Can anyone verify this?

 

[kobwebb]

Its back!

 

[Danzilla]

dang. you should put refurbished in the topic.
I was this close >< to getting a SR600 for $299 this past December with the Circuit City ad mixup, but couldn't quite pull it off.. sigh.

D.

 

[eyeguy]

Been waiting for this,
Bought one today.

comparing with the yamaha:

the onkyo's has discrete outputs with low impedence,

the yamaha's specs yamaha
list the back channels only into 8 ohm, this may be a lower current section than the front amplifiers. note the dynamic power into 4 ohm is 140 watts and into 2 ohm is 160. this is only for the front speakers.

the onkyo states
"Amplifier Design

Identical Full-Bandwidth Channels 6 "
listed into 3 ohm loads. loudspeakers are not 8 ohm linear resistors, and often dip to 3 ohm. This is one reason 'low impedence' amps usually sound like they have more clean power.
dynamic power into 4 ohm is 160 and into 3 ohms is 215 - more reserve power (bigger power supply caps for the O/C'ers)

the onkyo weighs 2.5 lbs more - hopefully that is the power supply section..
and the onkyo is more expensive than the yamaha (usually you get what you pay for)

 

[PrelateBishop]

I found a little more information regarding this receiver:

- Review @CheapHomeTheater.com
- Review @CNet

I did a quickie 'Net search and the best prices I could find were $398.98 and $378.95.

This might not be too bad of a deal.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech

Originally posted by: NeoSolo
Onkyo TX-SR600 has rear center

Yamaha HTR-5550 does NOT have rear center.

I heard that Onkyo has better FM. Other than that Onkyo and Yamaha seems to be good choice.

The Yamaha "RXV-730" which is like the HTR-5560, but with a few more features was recently tested by Sound and Vision. With 5 channels driven, it only produced 27 watts per channel and the receiver was rated at 75 watts per channel. The Onkyo is also over-rated when it comes to power. I've owned a Yamaha HTR-5560 before and didn't like it. If given the choice, I'd pick the Onkyo.

Actually the Onkyo produces somewhere between 34-37 watt/ch with all channel driven.

Then again it is hovering at about 81-95 right now in two channel mode. ( I love it because specs say 80Watts)

This is probably the best reciever that you can get that doesn't have preouts.

If you need watts with all channels driven and have inefficient speakers however, go with the Denon 1803. It's only crowning achievement is that is has a larger PS and can hover vary close to the 80watts channel that the specs state...Denon is also a good company....not that Onkyo isn't either.

I have the Onkyo TX-SR600 because of all the feautures that best Denon's offering....all except the power with all channels driven....I only have two speakers

 

[eyeguy]

I would not want to listen to 30 watts continuously 5 or six speakers.
lets say you had the Hometheaterdirect level 2 speakers at 88 db at one watt. That would be 103 db at 32 watts, then there are the music peaks....

enough power

and the funny thing is a 4 year old reciever still sounds good, a 4 year old computer is a doorstop....

 

[bbkat]

Originally posted by: eyeguy

and the funny thing is a 4 year old reciever still sounds good, ....

yup, my Onkyo receiver is going on 9 years. Movies sound great w/ surround. No problems whatsoever. But this damn thread is tempting me to upgrade. I have to keep telling myself I don't NEED it!

 

[tigerbait]

I see the 500,700, and 900, but no 600. I guess they sold out.

 

[huesmann]

How do you measure the wattage in action?

 

[wluk]

TXSR600 RECEIVER
$429.00

 

[WolverineGator]

Got mine 2 weeks ago for $311. On the top there are two small scratches about 1 cm long by 2 mm wide that went through the paint, but did not dent the unit. Otherwise perfect. I watched--no no, participated in--Black Hawk Down last night. Holy cow! This receiver rocks!

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: huesmann
How do you measure the wattage in action?

Instruments

 

[aggie113]

I picked a refurb unit off ebay but wish I had gotten in on the first part of this deal. When searching for a nice upgrade from my old dolby pro receiver I found this to offer the best sellection of features (DTS EX/Dolby Digital II) and the all important component (hdtv) switching. The unit I got has one tiny imperfection on the top that is hard to spot without a direct inspection. One thing if you get this, don't worry if you have to turn the volume upto around 60 to get a good volume from a source. Oh, and I love the optical in in the front.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: aggie113
I picked a refurb unit off ebay but wish I had gotten in on the first part of this deal. When searching for a nice upgrade from my old dolby pro receiver I found this to offer the best sellection of features (DTS EX/Dolby Digital II) and the all important component (hdtv) switching. The unit I got has one tiny imperfection on the top that is hard to spot without a direct inspection. One thing if you get this, don't worry if you have to turn the volume upto around 60 to get a good volume from a source. Oh, and I love the optical in in the front.

Yeha, about the volume, it is normal for the type of amplofier it has bulit-in. YOu have to turn it way up but it is ok. I believe the amp is 'high-gain'

 

[Auric]

I got the refurb HT-S650 (TX-SR500 + SHS-HT500) a couple months ago for around $300 also and recommend it for an entry-level or secondary/PC system. The speakers would not be well matched with a large screen HDTV though. Mine came flawless. The reason a lot of these were available was due to a defect in one of the chips responsible for LFE. hometheaterspot has some info about it. Not sure about the TX-SR600... I did consider that at the time but did not need the additional channel, power, or OSD. However, if you need a learning remote, the price difference of the 600 is effectively less as it includes one while the one that comes with the 500 is of limited use (I already had a nice Sony LR).

P.S. the free shipping was the clincher

 

[nealh]

Auric..I had heard others say they work very nice as Home theater set up for an HDTV