Onkyo SKS-HT993THX 7.1 Ch. THX Home Theater Speaker System

I don't think I have much to add to the other reviews posted. But I'll confirm what others have said. These speakers are a bit large - but I have a black TV with a black TV stand. In fact, the finish on these speakers matched my basic black wood finish TV stand from WalMart perfectly. Yes - they didn't blend in very well with the walls on the surround, but we are more focused on enjoying the sound than looks, so it worked for us.Overall, I would say that the extra size of these speakers is the key to their great sound and low price. Trying to engineer a super-tiny speaker with huge sound means exotic materials, high-priced design and testing, advanced electronics, and so on. These are based on time-tested speaker design principles and really do an amazing job. We replaced our 10 year old Bose Lifestyle system with this $169 set and I have to say the sound is actually superior by a good margin. These speakers really shine when reproducing high-impact, high-volume sounds. Think about the rumble and crackle you might associate with something like the space shuttle launch. Those types of sounds come across with clarity AND punch.I did have trouble with the subwoofer - the level control seemed to have no effect and it was like the control was stuck on the lowest setting. I called tech support (on a Sunday), got right through to a person, and was told I could drop the unit by a local authorized repair shop just a few miles from my house. I took the unit in on Monday and I think Wednesday the repair was complete.We paired these with a Yamaha AV receiver (RX-V867) with the "YPAO" automatic calibration system - basically a small microphone that plugs in to the front of the receiver and some internal software. It sends out test tones to all 8 speakers and automatically adjusts the levels and verifies polarity. After that, we popped in a movie in the blu-ray player for a test drive. The sounds was really impressive, especially on new sci-fi movies like TRON or the new Star Trek movie.The supplied speaker cables are rather wimpy, but I'd bet my paycheck the average person couldn't tell the difference between these and jumper cables in a double-blind study. Use them or not - you'll most likely be happy either way. My only other gripe with these are the keyhole-style mounting brackets that come pre-attached. These work ok, but I found it hard to find a screw long enough to go thru the drywall to the stud that still had a screw head small enough to fit thru the opening on the bracket - the brackets need to be a tad larger so that a regular drywall or similar screw can be used to mount them. That matters more for the surround speakers as you probaby WILL be mounting them - less so for the fronts as hopefully you can put those on the TV stand or shelf or something. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. You can easily come up with a workable solution...As others have noted - the speakers are well packed. The box is heavy - ours arrived with the yellow "Two Person Lift" stickers all over it. But the free shipping from Amazon was perfect. Just my opinion, but I wouldn't waste your money paying up for the "latest and greatest" model of the Onkyo HTS speakers. For less than $175, I SERIOUSLY doubt you'll find ANYTHING close. Yes, these are not audiophile or studio grade speakers, but placement and tuning will make as much difference as anything.

After purchasing an Onkyo TX - NR609 7.2 Channel Network THX Certified A/V Receiver, I wanted a 7.1 speaker system that 1. would best complement its features and capabilities, 2. had tallboy front speakers (to best complement our living room setup), 3. had received high ratings from consumers and reputable A/V websites, and 4. was reasonably priced. The SKS-HT870 met all four conditions and then blew away my expectations. As I slowly "built" the speaker system over a couple of days, starting with 3.0 (front and center speakers), then 3.1 (the subwoofer), then 5.1 (the surround speakers), then 7.1 (the surround back speakers), I was able to hear how the different 870 speaker types enriched the "sound image" with each addition and it was truly amazing as a convert to 7.1 from 2.0. The design specs of the speakers and the numerous audio settings of the 609 combine into a sonic synergy I didn't think possible for the money I spent on the two. It was exactly the result I was hoping for with the complete upgrade of our home A/V entertainment system.I had to pay special attention to the sub-woofer since although I do love bass, I didn't want to overpower the living room, or my wife, with too much bass "pounding". With adjustments of the sub-woofer's output level knob and the 609's bass and sub-woofer settings, low freqs are produced seamlessly for both music and movies. Using the physical and AVR settings, I've achieved the desired "omni-directional" sub-woofer output ("bass coming from everywhere and nowhere", meaning you can sense the bass but you're not able to tell where the subwoofer is located with your eyes closed) even though it's only 4 feet from where we sit!One recommendation that should not surprise anyone - instead of using the Onkyo supplied 22 gauge speaker wires (nicely color coded to match each speaker "+" spring clip) and the thin RCA-RCA sub-woofer cable, upgrade to thicker wires. I went with RCA AH1450SN 14-Gauge Speaker Wire (50 ft) for the 7 and a Mediabridge Ultra Series - Dual Shielded Subwoofer Cable - RCA to RCA Gold Plated Pro Grade Connectors (25 Feet). After using the Onkyo supplied sub-woofer cable for a couple of days while waiting for my new MB cable to arrive, I definitely could hear an increase in the "richness" of the sub-woofer produced bass with the new MB cable. It might just be that I finally tweaked the sub-woofer's level setting and the 609 bass / sub-woofer settings just right but after I installed the MB cable the sub-woofer seemed to be more responsive to low freqs; in other words, it appeared to come out of standby more often (a sometimes mentioned concern in other reviews). The sound from the 7 speakers improved markedly as well.Of note, the packaging was well done and all pieces arrived with zero damage. The system came in a single box of thick cardboard the size of a medium sized refrigerator (only slightly exaggerating) and was heavy enough to require use of a dolly from the delivery truck to my front door. Everything was very well protected and tightly packed in molded styrofoam with plastic banding, thin foam wrapping, and plastic sheeting. The attractive, shiny black top caps of the tallboys, side caps of the center speaker, and the front face piece of the sub-woofer were all completely protected with adhered plastic sheeting and were scratch free.The SKS-HT870 is 7.1 speaker system that has completely exceeded my expectations with its outstanding "sonic immersion". With it also being a very attractive addition to our living room and a great value ("bang (and bass) for the buck"), I highly recommend it to Onkyo AVR owners and everyone else.P.S. Using the 609's built in Audyssey 2EQ automatic speaker setup (using an included calibrated microphone), the 807 speaker system sounds even better. The easy to follow procedure adjusted individual speaker crossover freq and sound level settings as well as determined speaker distance from the listening position. One immediately obvious improvement was that we're able to watch streaming movies at a much lower volume but with the same high clarity as before, particularly dialog.