Audio Video News

Onkyo has introduced two new home-theaters-in-a-box, budget-priced for consumers looking to get a full-featured surround sound system for less than $600.

The HT-S5200 features a 1200-watt 7.1-channel receiver (at 130 watts per channel) with Onkyo Micro Fiber satellite speakers and a 10-inch, 290-watt subwoofer to give it plenty of thumb for its $599 MSRP. It offers Audyssey 2EQ room correction, Audyssey Dynamic Volume and EQ for keeping music even and balanced, and Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES Discrete/Matrix processing for handling surround sound. It also sports a built-in iPod dock and charging station, always a nice touch.

For less than two-thirds the suggested price of the HT-S5200, the 5.1-channel HT-S3200 offers a more modest feature set at a much more modest price tag. It puts out 110 watts per channel and its 8-inch subwoofer is powered by the receiver, which uses DTS and Dolby Digital surround processing. It will retail for about $379.

They're not high-tech room-shakers, but at those price points they're certainly tempting for anyone looking to dip their toe into a surround sound home theater system.

— Will Greenwald