I just purchased an Onkyo tx-nr555 receiver and an Onkyo sks-ht540 speakers, pick the set up 8/28. Am I going to be happy with this set up? I checked the reviews I could, want people who know to give feed back on performance. I was hoping for theater like sound in my apartment. My apartment is 11' by 16'. Also I wish to take advantage of the Dolby atmos and need a little suggestion on speaker placing. I have the 5 speakers figured out. Now for the height speakers I don't wish to mount them in the ceiling, could I mount then flush on the wall at the top of the ceiling or would they have to be angled down?

In that size apartment I don't think angle's gonna matter much, but ideally, they should be angled toward the sweet spot of your primary viewing position. Get as much separation to the front on your R/L speakers as you can - not quite as critical on the back L/R. Center to the center of your viewing angle, subwoofer doesn't matter where.

You'll generally be happy with Onkyo receivers, I think. I've been running nothing but for over thirty years.

Thanks, hope it's sweet. Got a Visio 65" 4K tv and want to make the best of what I earn. The girl unit don't know, easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. She's going out next weekend, I'll install it while she's gone. Feel a little guilty but fuck it, I work two jobs.

Just to add, I think the sub on that speaker set is a bit underpowered (at least for my tastes).  I run matched Sony speakers on my rig, except a 12" Infinity for my sub (SUB R12), after blowing two cheaper subs before it.

Onkyo TX-SR575S receiver, Sony SS-CR3000 (rear/center), SS-B1000 (l/r).

I thought I read the subwoofer was 230w output. I'm not sure if I matched the receiver right with the speakers. The guy at Best Buy said it was OK. Your opinion?

It's OK - time will tell if it's up to the job. The specs said my other two subwoofers were OK with my rig, but they each blew out within a year, so I tend to go overboard on the sub rather than listen to that crackling.  My current sub is rated almost 3x the max output of my SS channel on the receiver, the others were 1.5x then 2x, respectively.

In all honesty Id probably just run a good 5.1 system over a cheaper 7,9,or11.1 system. Especially with a mid grade receiver. The more speakers you hook up to that AVR the less power is available for the speakers. Receivers are rated at 1 or two channels driven.  Also if you cant properly place each speaker it becomes a cluster.

I think what I'm shooting for is a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos configuration. My receiver is 7.1 or 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos, I think. Instead of mounting my side speakers overhead I was hoping that maybe I could mount them on the side at the top of my ceiling pointed down. The receiver is suppose to have a calibration tool to help. Am I wrong here?

You don't need to angle your rear speakers at all.  Their function is to provide reverberant sound using the room to create audio spatial reinforcement.





Sub placement is not critical, as long as it will provide enough SPL with an 80Hz crossover (Dolby standard.)  Put your sub away from corners for more clarity, and in the corner for more reinforcement.





The calibration tool is pretty good, but the room needs to be quiet.  Air conditioner, fridge, traffic, will all screw it up.





I've been running an Onkyo TX-SR876 (140W per channel) for 10 years.  It works fine and sounds decent, although moving to a bigger space revealed a lack of power when running my 5.1 Paradigm speaker set (sub is a Paradigm PS1000 amplifed speaker.)





Yours (80W per channel) should work fine in your smaller space, as long as you're not looking for thunder and lightning...
 

I think my receiver is 140w per channel. Look here

 
That's at 6 ohms.  Most speakers are 8 ohms.  Your spec is:




80 W/Ch (8 Ohms, 20 Hz–20 kHz, 0.08% THD, 2 Channels Driven, FTC)


 

You think that's going to be loud enough? I haven't picked it up yet, I could probably switch it out for the 656 model. Would there be that much a difference? I'm out of my element here, any advise would be helpful.

See I got everything at Best Buy, just haven't picked it up yet. Waiting on the speakers to arrive at the store to pick the whole thing up.

Id see if you can get out of the whole deal or at least the reciever personally. While buying a package deal is easy, I like to piece my stuff together.

For you $449 receiver budget Id look at this one. Its a step up to the 600 series over your 500 series, and its the newer RZ series. It is a refurbished unit but you can get a lot more receiver for your dollar if your willing to go that route. My dad purchased a RZ900 from them and it looked bran new.

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/onktxrz610/onkyo-tx-rz610-7.2-ch-x-100-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

Here is Onkyo's page for it.
http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=TX-RZ610&class=Receiver&source=prodClass

What kind of budget do you have for speakers. Are you willing to start out with a 2 or 3 channel system (left, center, right) and build up to a 5, and eventually atmos system if it allowed you to buy better quality speakers? How about tower speakers for the Left and Right? Your going to need stands for book shelf speakers any way so they are not going to take up about the same amount of space.


Here is what my current setup is.

AVR: Onkyo TX-NR808
Amplifier: Carver A-753x 250w x 3 channels.
L&R: Polk Audio RTiA-7 towers
Center: Polk Audio CSiA-4
L&R Surrounds Polk Audio FXiA-4
Sub: Polk Audio DSW Pro 660wi


The amplifier isn't a requirement but it really brings larger tower speakers to life. You have to watch what AVR your going to buy if you ever plan on running an external amp because the lower end receivers don't have analog pre out connections. With Onkyo you generally need at least a 800 series receiver. Some of the older 700 series had pre outs too but I don't believe the newer ones do. This probably isn't a concern for most people since running an external amp isn't common practice for a home living room setup.

I decided on the speaker set partly because I read speakers had to be timbre matched and partly on reviews I seen, price wasn't bad at $350. I wouldn't mind piecing it out but I wouldn't know what to look for as far as timbre matching. The receiver was a brand name with features I wanted, no reviews as its new still. I thought it was a decent purchase as with receiver, speakers, wire, hdmi 2.2 plug all cam out to about $900. I have a Best Buy card and they match prices. If you think I could do better I'm open for suggestions. Much better if Best Buy carries it.

It will be a good setup, and that receiver will power those speakers fine. It just depends on if your going to be content with this setup or if you want to do upgrades later on.

As for timber matching you just need to use the same brand and series of speakers. Different brands and series have a different sound. So you want at least your front 3 to be the same so as voice moves across the front three it doesn't change in tone. Ideally you use the same brand and series for all speakers, except the sub.

Cool. Thanks for your input. This is my first real sound system. Getting my feet wet and learning what I like is important. Sort of like bow hunting. You get one and play with it, see what others use and update when you understand it more. I hope it works out, I hate having buyers remorse. Let you know how it works out.

You will be happy with it if its your first real surround sound.

I'm considering adding an amp to my setup, but using it to power the center and rear speakers, leaving my Onkyo TX-SR876 to handle just the mains (Paradigm Studio 40v2.)

 




Why do you prefer to power the mains with the amp?  (The amp is rated for the same RMS power per channel as the Onkyo.)






 

Can I bridge 4 channels of the amp into 2 and get more power to the mains?

Amps just like any audio gear have a certain sound. Some are warm (softer highs), some are neutral, and others are bright(Sharp highs).  So you want all 3 front speakers to be on the same power source. That way you don't get different sounding voice as it moves across the front sound stage. I would still try a 2 channel stereo amp before I would settle with a AVR only. It might not be that noticeable with the towers on an amp and the center on the AVR. The auto eq setup can also help with come tone corrections between the different speakers, or power sources.

The other thing about amps is it not all about the wattage they are rated at. Its also about how much current or amperage they can supply. This is what gives you real authoritive bass. The low end really came alive on my L&R towers when I put them on the amp.  Also when you look at your recievers specs most of the time they are rated at only 6 ohms, with only one channel driven. Some times you can find a 8 ohm with two channels driven rating but it will be lower than the 6 ohm rating. When you start hooking more speakers up to the AVR that number goes down because you have more speakers tapping in to the same available power. Where external amps are normally rated at all channels driven.

What kind of amp are you looking at getting? Id love to get a Parasound Halo A51. 250w x 5 channels and 60 amps per speaker, but they are not cheap.
http://www.parasound.com/a51.php#


Emotiva is suppose to be a decent budget amp. Audio snobs don't like em though. I haven't ever herd one my self, but for $1500 you get a 250w x 5 channel amp bran new is pretty good.
http://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/xpa-gen3

It's a B&K AV5000 (125W x 5ch.)



A friend has it and doesn't use it.



I could put the L+R+C speakers on it, and use the Onkyo for pre-amp and rear speaker duties.



 

Id probably just put all 5 speakers on it. Use Channel 1,2,3 for the front 3 and 4,5 for the surrounds. The manual I found for the AV5000 said that channels 1,2,3 are rated at 100watts per channel with 28 amps peak.  Channels 4&5 are rated at 60watts with 14 amps peak

I believe the specs above are for the older AV5000, I think they also have a newer AV5000 Series 2 amp. So you might ask him to see which one it is.

josh

Here is the link for the manual.
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/14253/BAndk-Av6000-654.html?page=10#manual

The Onkyo specs are nearly identical, and I'm finding the sound level is less than I need.  The idea for splitting channels is to increase total SPL.



Or is my thinking incorrect?



Onkyo TX-SR876:

Front L/R	140 W + 140 W (8 ohms, 20 Hz?20 kHz, 0.05%, 2 channels driven, FTC) 160 W + 160 W (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 0.7%, 2 channels driven, FTC)
Center	140 W + 140 W (8 ohms, 20 Hz?20 kHz, 0.05%, 2 channels driven, FTC) 160 W + 160 W (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 0.7%, 2 channels driven, FTC)
Surround L/R	140 W + 140 W (8 ohms, 20 Hz?20 kHz, 0.05%, 2 channels driven, FTC) 160 W + 160 W (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 0.7%, 2 channels driven, FTC)
Surround Back L/R	140 W + 140 W (8 ohms, 20 Hz?20 kHz, 0.05%, 2 channels driven, FTC) 160 W + 160 W (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 0.7%, 2 channels driven, FTC)
Dynamic Power	320 W (3 ohms, 1 ch) 270 W (4 ohms, 1 ch) 160 W (8 ohms, 1 ch)

B&K AV5000



All I can find is 125W x 5ch.



He's had it a LONG time, so it's probably a Series I

The difference between Onkyo's specs and B&K's is how they are tested. Onkyo doesn't do an all channels driven or at least a 5 channels driven because the rating would be much lower. Its kind of a smoke ad mirror trick when you rate a multi channel receiver with only one or two channels driven. Where almost all external amplifiers are rated at all channels driven.

Take this Onkyo TX-NR838 for example.
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/onkyo-tx-nr838-av-receiver-test-bench#fv02ByOAsffVfCKG.97

Onkyo rates it at 130 watts per channel with only 2 channels driven.

Sound & Vision actually rates it slightly higher at 134 watts 2 channels driven.  It falls to 110 watts with 5 channels driven, and to 85 watts with 7 channels driven.


Looking though that manual you do have the option to bridge channels 1&2, and 4&5. This would allow you to have 200 watts per channel for the L&R speakers, and then have the center at 120 watts. That way you can utilize all the amps available power for the front 3 instead of just leaving the two surround terminals un used. It says to have your local dealer or factory do the conversion. I don't know what all is required. It must not be simple like car audio where you just use the + from one channel with the - of the other channel.
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/14253/BAndk-Av6000-654.html?page=7#manual

Makes sense about the way amps are rated.  And thanks for the idea about bridging the B&K amp channels.