Home Theater Shopping (Sony dav dz 690 Vs 790 Vs Onkyo hts3100)

[tellranga]

Friends,
Within three weeks time, I am planning to buy my first Home Theatere System and willing to spend around 25K. I shortlisted the following models after few research,

1) Sony Dav dz 690 for 23K (Cons -rear speaker is not 2 way)
2) Sony DAv dz 790 for 30K (Cons - a bit expensive)
3) Onkyo hts3100 for 23K (Cons -need to spend another 4K for DVD Player)

I am satisfied with their performance.
But due to lack of experience, finding a tough time to decide one among these three models (can also suggest some other model if I have missed)

Kindly guide me to make the right decision.

Cheers,
Ranga.

 

[vj_box]

Hey ranga,
I personally have a 3100 and i am quite happy with that so far.I would obviously suggest you to go ahead and grab the 3100.The cons on this HT is first, the Sub is passive,you have to live with this.Second,pls consider this as a decent setup for watching movies as it gives you a pretty good performance on this regard.I have auditioned the other 2 models lately and i wasn't quite impressed with them. Onkyo any day will beat the other 2 here. More over,if you have auditioned em all and you personally like a particular model,go for it!.
Vj

 

[unleash_me]

I shortlisted the following models after few research,

1) Sony Dav dz 690 for 23K (Cons -rear speaker is not 2 way)
2) Sony DAv dz 790 for 30K (Cons - a bit expensive)
3) Onkyo hts3100 for 23K (Cons -need to spend another 4K for DVD Player)

Kindly guide me to make the right decision.

Option 3 would be my pick.

Happy auditions!

 

[shuv]

Agree with all here. The Onk will eat the Sonys for breakfast and ask for seconds

 

[Yogesh]

Also HarmanKardon+JBL combo at 25K is also a good choice, if u like ur music to be bright.

 

[vj_box]

The 3100 has this brute power in handling certain sounds and it can handle the highs and lows very well. Make sure you audition this using some of your best sources. Try and grab some best sounding movies and give it a dry run,i am sure it should impress you.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi,

23K for 3100 looks a little steep. They should throw in a free DVDP along with it for that price. Did you try any e-zone outlets?Among the list i too vote for the 3100. I have it and my son-in-law has the Sony. Clearly the 3100 is way ahead of the Sony. You can always upgrade the fronts with some good bookshelves down the line. But bargain hard and try to get a DVDP along with it.

chees,
sri

 

[metalbandit]

Personally, Sony is coming out with more and more versions of the same HTIB's with some additional power output, nothing else. I auditioned just one of them and instantly changed my mind never to tread that path again. Then I heard the Onkyo 5100 and it was way ahead of the Sony in every dept. However, the older Sony systems are great sounding ones. One of my friends has a Sony CD Changer system around 12 years old, and it can still give the newer ones a run for their money.

In a way, its not Sony's fault too, since most customers are not true audiophiles or videophiles. They just want a 6 speaker home theater, not a real high fidelity system. So it's a customer segment which Sony exploits, and there's nothing wrong in it, if you think again. In my family, I am the only one who has gone for Component systems, all others have either Sony or Philips. Adding a DVD player to the Onkyo may be worth more than going for an integrated HTiB.

 

[tellranga]

Thanks Guys,
I am ok with Onkyo but what is fishy, is it is neither having HDMI nor active subwoofer .
I am planning to use my 5.1 to play avi movies (downloaded from DVD quality torrents), mp3 songs & PS2 games.
Needless to say, I am ok to live with passive sub. But defenetly want to know the consequence of not having HDMI feature in Onkyo.
I know the basics of HDMI cables to the extent that, the movie we play from DVD player, will be carried by common HDMI wires, sending the video part to LCD tv and the audio part to 5.1 Onkyo.
The shop guy said I will not compromise anything if I buy an Onkyo 3100 + HDMI DVD player. But he admitted that I may not be able to utilize HDMI if I later upgrade my DVD player to Blue Ray player. Both ways, I am not clear as to what he was trying to convey ?
My question now, is should I have to compromise the complete satisfaction on sound (via Onkyo) when I play Hollywood movies due to lack of HDMI in Onkyo.
Pardon me, for my dumb question .

 

[teky]

Thanks Guys,
The shop guy said I will not compromise anything if I buy an Onkyo 3100 + HDMI DVD player. But he admitted that I may not be able to utilize HDMI if I later upgrade my DVD player to Blue Ray player. Both ways, I am not clear as to what he was trying to convey ?
My question now, is should I have to compromise the complete satisfaction on sound (via Onkyo) when I play Hollywood movies due to lack of HDMI in Onkyo.
Pardon me, for my dumb question .

HDMI can carry the latest HD Audio formats of Dolby & DTS. However you need an AVR or a Player which is able to decode this format and feed to speakers, which I think is only available in blu-ray (I may be wrong).

So if you are going to watch only DVD's & downloaded rips a 5.1 should be enough.

 

[tellranga]

HDMI can carry the latest HD Audio formats of Dolby & DTS. However you need an AVR or a Player which is able to decode this format and feed to speakers, which I think is only available in blu-ray (I may be wrong).

Does it mean that even if my DVD Player (or blu-ray player) is going to send the latest HD Audio formats of Dolby & DTS to my 5.1, Onkyo 3100 cannot utilize it as it lacks HDMI feature ?
Then can I conclude that I have to compromise the complete satisfaction on sound (via Onkyo 3100) due to lack of HDMI in Onkyo 3100(without HDMI itself Onkyo is beating Sony 5.1 System which has HDMI is a different story, though).
If that is the case, then I should search for a 5.1 HT system which has HDMI feature ?
I have heard about 5.1 HT System which has HDMI pass through feature. Will HDMI pass through feature is sufficient for 5.1 HT System to grasp HD Audio formats .

I think I am lost somewhere .

 

[teky]

Does it mean that even if my DVD Player (or blu-ray player) is going to send the latest HD Audio formats of Dolby & DTS to my 5.1, Onkyo 3100 cannot utilize it as it lacks HDMI feature ?

Yes and DVD's don't have HD audio in them

Then can I conclude that I have to compromise the complete satisfaction on sound (via Onkyo 3100) due to lack of HDMI in Onkyo 3100(without HDMI itself Onkyo is beating Sony 5.1 System which has HDMI is a different story, though).

Sony 5.1 - I believe uses the HDMI for Video and not audio. It may use Optical which is sufficient to carry 5.1

If that is the case, then I should search for a 5.1 HT system which has HDMI feature ?
I have heard about 5.1 HT System which has HDMI pass through feature. Will HDMI pass through feature is sufficient for 5.1 HT System to grasp HD Audio formats .

I think I am lost somewhere .

I think you are confused

HDMI can carry both Audio & Video at the same time. Video being the 1080p & 720p. Audio formats are Dolby & DTS True HD.

The HTIB boxes sold will have HDMI for video only and audio at 5.1 will be via the speakers connected to it.

Onkyo seems to accept video signals at HD resolution using Component input and pass through them (I don't own one of these, So I'm going by internet specs) and can do 5.1 audio (Normal DD & DTS)

If you want True HD audio then you should be taking the separate AVR route which will be far expensive.

Hope this helps or if I have confused more guru's here will help.

 

[Nexpress]

even though 3100 doesn't have HDMI support.... it can do HD video(1080i) through component but yu need to rely on optical / digital coax for dolby digital or DTS audio... but as long as yu dont play blu-rays this will do just fine..

all it requires is an extra optical wire from yur DVDP to AVR for audio

3100 is a cool grab...i say go for it

 

[srikarkav]

Hi ranga,

You are right the 3100 cant't handle True HD sound. But not all AVR's with HDMI can handle True HD.
You need a more expensive HTiB or AVR which has the spcs
to handle it.At your budget TruE HD is not a possibility atleast now
My be u need a system like this.

ONKYO SIGHT & SOUND - INDIA

But i don't have any idea about the price.

cheers,
sri

 

[Nexpress]

6200 is around 49k i think :thumbsup:

 

[B_Krishnakumar]

This may be too late for you. I am also in confusion, but haven't made the jump to buy so fast yet.

I think the comparison is not straightforward.

The 3100 doesn't have a video player. Not only that, it does just HDMI passthru, no upconversion. Whereas I think the 790 does upconversion. What this means is video signals from normal sources (like standard DVD player) will not be made into 1080p signals by the 3100.

Of course the upconversion done by 790 is by no means perfect.

The 3100 is definitely the better quality system, but it also needs better quality video sources (such as a game box or a blue ray DVD player).

 

[vj_box]

This may be too late for you. I am also in confusion, but haven't made the jump to buy so fast yet.

I think the comparison is not straightforward.

The 3100 doesn't have a video player. Not only that, it does just HDMI passthru, no upconversion. Whereas I think the 790 does upconversion. What this means is video signals from normal sources (like standard DVD player) will not be made into 1080p signals by the 3100.

Of course the upconversion done by 790 is by no means perfect.

The 3100 is definitely the better quality system, but it also needs better quality video sources (such as a game box or a blue ray DVD player).

Krishna,the 3100 does not have any kind of HDMI INs/Outs and thus does not do any pass through. It only has component INs,and so can handle,1080i signals. 3100 is a system which will allow any HT enthu to test the water and is a good start for the HT exp.