Table of Content
The system consists of an A/V receiver, five satellite speakers, a powered subwoofer, color-coded and pre-cut speaker cables, and a subwoofer cable. The front left and right speakers have additional speakers on top of the cabinets that perform as Dolby Atmos height channels, bouncing sound off your ceiling. The speaker package includes a pair of Dolby-enabled front speaker units that are actually two separate speakers in one chassis. They have separate inputs for the height channel and front channel. Also included are a standard horizontally oriented center channel and two satellite-style surround speakers. The subwoofer looks okay, though the blue glowing LED would annoy me after a while had I not been able to place it out of view.
If you own a turntable, the A/V receiver in Onkyo’s HTIB system is the only one we reviewed to be equipped with a phono input. I liked the included microphone to automatically balance the system. I was disappointed with the very thin, small gauge speaker wires. Very Nice System - Has plenty of inputs and works very well with new 4K TV - Make sure you go into set up on the TV screen - The sound had an echo until I did the complete set up on screen . I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of Onkyo’s subwoofer. A 10-inch subwoofer won’t deliver deep bass, but the Onkyo sub gave me a top-to-bottom, thoroughly satisfying experience.
Klipsch Reference Cinema System 5.1.4 with Dolby ATMOS
Proper tuning of the parameters is always required to fully enjoy this mode, but once done, it isn’t bad at all. The trouble I find with listening to stereo recordings with Dolby Surround enabled is that sometimes the result is a part of the music shifting somewhat unnaturally in location. It isn’t blatant, but enough to make me prefer not to listen to music in Dolby Surround. That all being said, with the system set to stereo , I was also very impressed with the sonic quality of the speakers included with this system.
Gabe Lowe is a Data Storage Professional residing in Durham, NC. Upon first getting a taste of surround sound in the late 1980's, Gabriel was hooked. I started with a couple of my Dolby Atmos enabled discs to really get a feel for how well the Dolby-enabled speakers performed as compared with true in-ceiling units. The first disc was the Dolby Atmos demo disc – which includes several Dolby Atmos trailers.
Pro-Ject Phono Box S3 B Phono Preamplifier and X2 B Turntable Review
Delay is resolved so that everything arrives at your ears at the same time. The result is cohesive reproduction of object-based soundtracks. I had the opportunity to see this movie in the theater as well as review it as part of another, much-higher-end Dolby Atmos setup. Consequently, I knew this movie well and felt it would be a perfect test.
Most people will find listening to music on the Onkyo system to be a highly satisfactory experience—especially music with good bass lines. The system imaged well and presented a well-developed soundstage. Nevertheless, there was persistent image smearing–especially when I wanted to focus in on individual instruments during songs. The HT-S7700 is a real winner for the first-time home-theater buyer and technology novice. It’s a solid, feature-rich package that delivers a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying movie experience at home.
BenQ TH690ST Projector Preview
This is not the actual cinematic film, rather, a mixture of concert performance, cinematic scenes, and on-stage performance. The height channels in this case are used to expand the live music sound stage, and it comes through very well. I put on the title track which begins with the on-stage performance and cuts into one such cinematic scene, all while keeping the music track intact from the performance. In addition to Chromecast built-in and AirPlay, you can stream virtually any audio from smartphone, tablet, or laptop to your home theater via Wi-Fi® or Bluetooth. Available internet radio and music subscription services include Spotify, Deezer and many more.
They are definitely a great value for the cost – and sound like more expensive speakers. Home Theater in a box systems have certainly improved over time, and the Onkyo HT-S7800 is certainly a shining example. For a hair under $1000, you get a full Dolby Atmos-enabled speaker system, an excellent mid-range receiver, and the performance of a system that could potentially cost a lot more.
What We Are Watching: Winter 2022
What I missed, in comparison with higher-end Dolby Atmos systems, was any sense of depth behind my listening position. That’s to be expected, of course because you can’t connect rear height speakers to this system. In a matter of 20 minutes, I had everything unpacked and connected and I was ready to use the receiver’s AccuEQ room correction software. AccuEQ will equalize the system for speaker distance, type, crossover, and output level, and it can apply a dose of digital EQ in an effort to correct for acoustic anomalies in your listening environment. To use AccuEQ, you plug the included microphone into the receiver’s front panel and then initiate the step-by-step guide.
The HT-R695 includes both wired and wireless connections, and is very easy to configure. As I have the luxury of a network drop in my cabinet, I opted for the wired connection. I found that a firmware update was waiting for me the first time I fired the receiver up, which completed in about 30 minutes. Aside from internet-based firmware updates, the network functionality also allows for control via the Onkyo Remote smartphone app, and network streaming audio services such as Spotify. As I have discussed at length in previous Onkyo receiver reviews, the Onkyo remote control app is fantastic.
Firing up Fury Road I immediately noticed that the Onkyo makes it a point to try and envelope you with sound with a very aggressive approach to reproducing the surround mix. Given the potential target audience, I think this will go over favorably. If you’re new to surround sound, you probably want to hear every speaker getting a workout.
To be clear, I am not saying that these speakers are a failure, or that you can’t hope to enjoy Dolby Atmos in such a setup, just that it is not exactly the same as with a full system. In fact, despite this difference, they still sounded pretty good with the demo material. AccuEQ equalizes the surround-sound to suit the room acoustics for crisply focused sound, while AccuReflex aligns the phase of upfiring height speakers with sound coming from your other speakers.
It is fully compatible with this unit, making it my go to method of control once the network was set up on the receiver. Setting up a home-theater-in-a-box system has become a relatively simple task. Onkyo has done an excellent job with their quick start guide and color-coded wiring.
On the surface, the HT-S7700 packs in a ton of features where it counts. Set this up in an hour, used the included mic for calibration, was blown away by what I had been missing. I'm sure you could spend thousands and get something even better, but for the price the Onkyo system is great. Our magazine, which began with the publication of the SECRETS Primer, is available exclusively on-line and offers to our readers an extensive information resource about home theater and high-end audio. SECRETS of Home Theater and High Fidelity was launched in 1994 as the first major publication offering serious audio/video journalism on the Internet.
Speaker - Frequency Response
Most people will place the front speakers closer to the receiver; as such, Onkyo provides longer cables for connecting the surround channels. My listening position was 13 feet from the receiver, and I had plenty of cable to accommodate that scenario. The included subwoofer, which sports a 10-inch driver, was larger than I expected.
