The "NEW" Power!

I am in a writing mood right now, two articles in a day!

Anyway, I know I said a while back that my HT journey has ended in terms of hardware acquisitions. But sad to say its not, after a few weeks of thinking, and with my wife's blessing (very important point here!), I decided to change the heart of my HT Room, the Audio Video Receiver, what does this equipment do? It actually does pretty much everything for your HT Room to work effectively. It does video / audio switching, meaning all your sources like DVD players, CD players, Cable TV and some old equipments like Tape deck or even Turntable can be run through this machine. It also has a tuner wherein you can use the machine as your radio whether AM or FM listening and lastly, and the most important, it powers the sources' audio signal for it to output out of the speakers connected to it. That's why when I say heart of an HT Room, it really is!

I currently am using the Onkyo 604. Its basically a 2006 model but I bought it as a NOS (New Old Stock) in February of 2008. When I bought it, Onkyo just launched their 605 and in late 2008 launched their new 606, which were both award winners and at the same time best sellers for them having great value / feature for the money they are asking from consumers.



I don't want to upgrade to a 606 since doing so might not be a revolutionary change for me. I look at other brands too, and the Harman Kardon, Yamaha and Denon caught my eye. unfortunately the Harman has issues with its firmware with various user complaints all over the internet. The Denon was very good but pretty much out of my budget.

The Yamaha 663 model really got me thinking for a long time, its got hi-def audio decoding, its got pre-outs for added external amplifier for future upgrade, its hdmi 1.3a compliant, more than average amplification power and price very competitively. All these features are not present in my Onkyo 604, and also are the features I am looking for as an upgrade. BUT..... sadly in the end, I decided and went back to get an ONKYO. An Onkyo 806 specifically.

Front Panel

Back Panel with Audyssey MIC and Remote

Its $150 more expensive than the Yamaha 663, but I chose it over the Yamaha because mainly of several factors:

- Audyssey Multi EQ -
- THX Ultra 2 Plus Certification -
- Faroudja DCDi Cinema Video Processing -
- More Amplification Power -
- Five (5) HDMI 1.3a Inputs -

And all the features that the Yamaha 663 has, the Onkyo 806 have too. So, for a $150 premium, I felt like I am getting more value for money. So in the end, I think with this acquisition, my "NEW" power will last me atleast 5 years before I even think of changing to a newer model.

I am now waiting for my unit, it will take around a month before it arrives from the USA. Will post some actual pictures of unboxing and setting it up. So the waiting game starts....

Acoustic Treatment

This is a topic I am not very confident to talk about. I simply don't know enough, even after researching through the internet left more questions than answers. But at any rate, I started to acoustically treat my HT Room so as to maximize my equipment's capabilities.

The above photo shows the two acoustic panels I placed behind the two floorstanders. By putting these two panels, imaging vastly improved for both stereo music and home theater movies soundtrack. I could not believe the difference only two panels do! UNBELIEVABLE!

Next, I bought a pair of 5 foot triangular bass traps from the same supplier to be placed on my back room's corner, and what these two monsters do is to trap the bass and make it sound and "feel" better. What I can tell you is before these two, my bass was all over, and my room has some modal ringing wherein when there are explosions in the soundtrack, I can actually feel my windows and "kisame" shake and bake so to speak, which is not cool. Now, after the placement, bass is tight, no more ringing, and I feel the bass! And I am loving it! its like getting a new subwoofer!

Overall, I am very satisfied with these new acquisitions. Its less than the cost of a good pair of bookshelf speakers but the effect is huge! I have plans of getting two more acoustic panels on the back sides of the room and I feel that my HT Room is set.