If you are in the market for a premium quality sound system, but cannot afford $1000s on a home theater system, a mini-component or shelf system is definitely the way to go. These bundled wonders do not compare to to their full size counterparts in power. However, they can be comparable in sound quality. Especially when listening to a small Bose or Onkyo system.

I have been a fan of Onkyo since I was a child and have been waiting to buy one since. After years of waiting, I was able to buy this, my first Onkyo system.

The whole unit will fit only in deeper book shelves. While the receiver is 12" (12.25" with cables)deep the CD changer is 13.5" (13.75 with cables) deep, so your book shelves will have to accommodate that. It is handsome , with silver faces and the speakers have maple wood grain exterior. The buttons on the face are sturdy and the dails are easy to use. The whole unit feels expensive and luxurious (wait until you turn it on).

When I brought it home to listen to some of my favorite CDs, I heard some things I had never heard before. There were sounds and nuances in these recordings that my older system had simply never picked up. It often sounds like 5.1 surround sound from a two channel stereo unit--WOW! Needless to say, I was very pleased. There are so many features, it took me a while to navigate through them all. As such, for the remainder of this review, I will focus on the features one component at a time.

The Receiver

The receiver is equiped with many more features than the ordinary shelf system and, typical of Onkyo, approaches that of high end stereo systems with the ability to connect to a Tape, DVD, CDR, and Minidisc players. The combinations are, however, endless and need not be other Onkyo products in the hands of the creative consumer. The unit has an AM/FM radio with up to 30 programmable pre-sets (more than the number of radio stations I care to listen to) that you can name. It has a clock that you can set for either 24 hour or 12 hour cycles. As if the sound quality was not already incredible, the unit has three "Acoustic Presence" settings which are pre-programmed equalizer settings Onkyo claims are "ideally suited for use with compact speakers. The settings are indeed good, however, the experienced audiophile may be frustrated by the units lack of a real band equalizer. I, however, found them sufficient my favorite is the first setting)and a small added luxury. It does not have an alarm exactly. But you can set the unit to play any component at any specified time. This can be used as an alarm or to record radio programming. The features and specifications are detailed below:

Power Output Stereo (4 ohm, 1 kHz, FTC) 20 W/Ch
Dynamic Power** (4 ohm) 24 W/Ch
WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology)
Discrete Output Stage
Low Impedance Drive
Audio Input/Output Terminals 5/3
Subwoofer Pre Out
Acoustic Control 3 Step
Number of Presets 30
Preset Station Naming
APR (Automatic Precision Reception) System
Automatic/Manual Tuning
Sleep Timer
Headphone Jack
RI-Compatible Remote Control
Power Output (4 ohm, 1 kHz, FTC) 20 W/Ch
Dynamic Power* 4 ohm/8 ohm (front) 24 W/Ch/17 W/Ch
THD (Rated Power) 0.6 %
Frequency Response 10 Hz-50 kHz (+ 0 dB, - 3.0 dB)
Damping Factor (8 ohm) 30
S/N Ratio TAPE/LINE 100 dB (IHF-A)
Tone Control
Acoustic Control 1. + 4.0 dB at 82 Hz
Acoustic Control 2. + 3.0 dB at 20.5 Hz, + 3.0 dB at 82 Hz
Acoustic Control 3. + 3.0 dB at 20.5 Hz, + 6.0 dB at 82 Hz
Acoustic Control 4
BASS +/- 8.0 dB at 100 Hz
TREBLE +/- 8.0 dB at 10 kHz
Tuning Range FM
87.9 to 107.90 MHz (200 kHz steps)
AM
530 to 1710 kHz (10 kHz steps)
Usable Sensitivity
FM Mono
11.2 dBf, 1.0 uV (75 ohm IHF)
FM Stereo
17.2 dBf, 2.0 uV (75 ohm IHF)
AM
30 uV
S/N Ratio (FM Mono/FM Stereo/AM) 73 dB, IHF/67 dB, IHF/40 dB
THD (FM Mono/FM Stereo/AM) 0.2 %/0.3 %/0.7 %
FM Stereo Separation 45 dB at 1 kHz

The CD Player

The player is actually a 3 CD changer. It does not have the carousel mechanism that so often breaks down on other systems. Again, I cannot overstate the excellent sound quality here. You can set the display to tell you how much time is left on the CD or opt for the standard track by track time display. I have had not problems with the player and, happily, it has played all of my computer burned CDs (I can't say the same about my older system). It features many programmable playing capabilities which is handy if you are planning a special evening. The unit has an amazing 5hz to 20 khz frequency response (probably why it will play sounds most other units miss). The following are the units' features and specs:

Single-Bit DAC
Capacity 3-Disc Changer
Peak Search DLA Link2
Memory Reverse
Number of Repeat Modes 6
Random Track Memory 40
Shuffle/Random Play
Direct Track Access
Digital Output (Optical/Coaxial) 2 Optical
Analog Output (Variable/Fixed) 1
Signal Readout System Optical non-contact
Reading Rotation About 500-200 r.p.m. (Constant linear velocity)
Linear Velocity 1.2-1.4 m/s
Error Correction System Cross Interleave Reed Solomon Code
DAC 1-Bit PWM/ACCUPULSE DAC
Digital Filter 352.8 kHz 8 x oversampling
Number of Channels 2 (stereo)
Frequency Response 5 Hz-20 kHz
Wow and Flutter Below threshold of measurability

The Speakers

And now for possibly the most important part of the system--the speakers. All of the above mentioned features would certainly be useless without the speakers to back it up. The speakers are great for a unit this size and at this price. But herein is maybe the only downfall of the unit. Onkyo specifically tells you that you cannot attach any other speakers to the unit. They do not tell you why. Maybe the sky will fall (not likely) or the thing will blow up (who knows). If they are going to prevent the possibility of upgrading the speakers, they should provide a frequency response of better than 60hz-35khz. At least provide 40hz-40khz. Regardless, the speakers are incredible for a home unit at this price range and in no way do I feel that it has substantially undermined the sound quality. Maybe Onkyo could consider providing an upgrade in the future, or better yet, selling first class speakers with a first class system. Here are the specs for the speakers:

Type 2-Way, Bass Reflex
Nominal Impedance 5 ohm
Max. Power 70 W
Frequency Response 60 Hz-35 kHz
Drivers: -
Woofer 4 3/4" Cone
Tweeter 1" Dome
Crossover Frequency 10 kHz
Sensitivity 84 dB/W/m

Conclusions

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase. I have owned it for three months and have enjoyed it thoroughly. The sound is absolutely exquisite and, at the risk of sounding redundant, it is, in my opinion, the best sound available for a unit in this class or price range. I do wish that the other components Onkyo manufactured for this system (MD recorder, CD recorder, Stereo cassette tape deck) were offered for sale in the U.S. This was a major downer. Also, as previously mentioned, I don't think that holding out on speaker quality is a good strategy for a high end stereo manufacturer.

Thank you for reading my review. If you have any questions or if you see an error, please comment and I will respond.


Recommended:
Yes