B&H Photo Video has the Onkyo A-9555 Integrated Digital Stereo Amplifier (Black) for $399.95 with free shipping and handling (add it to the shopping cart to see this price). Amazon has it for the same price. That’s a drop of $5 from a month ago, and the lowest I’ve ever seen for this model (over half off). Stereophile has a very positive of review of this amp, stating: “To say that I was impressed with this product would be an understatement.” The review concluded: “If you want significantly better sound, be prepared to spend much more. Yup, I was impressed.”
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 Amazon has the Onkyo TX-SR707 THX Select2 Plus Home Theater Receiver for $426.89 with free shipping and handling. That’s a drop of over $20 since my last mention of this model a little over a week ago, and the best price available anywhere for this popular receiver. Check out the review at electronicsme.com for more information on this model. If you don’t need the network functionality or 3D handling capability of the higher end models, this is an excellent unit.  OneCall (via Amazon) has the Onkyo HT-RC180 7.2-Channel A/V Surround Home Network Receiver (Black) for $499.77 with free shipping and handling. That’s more than $500 below MSRP and a drop of $20 since July 5. It’s particularly noteworthy because this receiver is ethernet network capable – meaning it integrates with the rest of your home network and provides access to source material on your PC or via internet radio (i.e., Pandora). This model has received very good reviews from home theater gears, digital trends, and the Audiophiliac blog. One of the few knocks against it is that it lacks multi-channel analog inputs. But at this price, it’s a great opportunity to get a network ready receiver from a highly regarded company.  Newegg.com has the ONKYO 7.2-Channel Black Home Theater Receiver TX-NR807 for $599.99 plus $9.99 shipping and handling (with coupon “RECEIVER76A”) (expires 6/23). That’s at least $80 better than the next lowest price I could find, and $50 lower than my last mention of this product at the end of June.
 Amazon has the Onkyo HT-RC260 7.2-Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)  6ave.com has the Onkyo TX-SR608 7.2-Channel Home Theater Receiver in stock and available to ship for $440.45 with free shipping and handling (after coupon “AFLBONUS”). That’s $50 under my last mention of this product, and the best price available for this recently released model (by at least $20), which has six of the HDMI® 1.4a inputs (and adds compatibility with the new 3D video format). It maintains the other features (and generally well respected build/sound quality) of its predecessors (include native decoding of all the current audio formats including Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD, 192-kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown PCM1690 DACs, on-screen overlaid GUI, and HDMI Thru). Check out the first look from Audioholics for more information.  Vann’s has the newly released Onkyo HT-S5300 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver/Speaker Package with Dock for iPhone/iPod for $449.98 with free shipping and handling. That’s $150 below MSRP and the lowest price available (next lowest is $458.96 at Amazon  Newegg.com has the ONKYO 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver TX-SR508  Amazon.com has the Onkyo TX-8255 Stereo Receiver  J&R Music World has the Onkyo CS-V720 Micro Audio System with DVD CD Player for $349 with free shipping and handling. That just edges out B&H Photo Video‘s price by $0.99 (another recent price drop). Aside from B&H, it’s $35 better than the next lowest price I could find, and the lowest price I’ve ever seen on this unit. There’s a nice review at Cnet which describes the features and performance of this model.  Newegg.com has the ONKYO Stereo High Fidelity Receiver TX-8255 for $179.99 with free shipping and handling. That’s the best price I could find for a new unit by at least $10. I have the prior model (nearly identical specifications) – it sounds great. There seem to be a fair number of people out there seeking advice on how to get started with building their first stereo system. Confronted with a seemingly endless selection of electronic components, sources, and speakers, they’re not sure where to begin. I will be posting some suggested setups at different price points — starting with this post trying to put together a system for under $500 (including cables). Audio is one of those areas where you can always spend more, and in most cases, the incremental increase in cost will be accompanied by an incremental increase in sound quality (though not always). As I put together these proposed combinations, I will use the following guidelines whenever possible: (1) the ability to purchase from a single retailer; (2) best total cost; and (3) matching components (at least on the lower end systems — more for aesthetics than any perceived synergy achieved by using the same brand). That said, here’s the sub-$500 setup: Receiver: The Onkyo TX-8255 Stereo Receiver Speakers: The Polk Audio RTi4 High Performance Bookshelf/On-Wall Speakers (Pair, Black) CD/DVD Player: The Onkyo DV-SP406B Single Disc DVD Player (Black) Speaker Cables: Monster Cable THX SP 16-50 Standard THX-Certified Speaker Cable (50 Feet) Interconnect cables: Not much left to spend, but you can get the Phoenix Gold Audio Signal Cable 1 Meter GRAND TOTAL: $498.20 Next up, a $1,000 system. |
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J&R Music World has the 
Newegg has the 
Amazon has the 
B&H Photo Video has the 
for $349 with free shipping and handling. That’s the best price available by $40. This model is similar to the TX-SR608 model (but lacking THX certification and omitting the PC input) – amplification and video handling specifications are otherwise the same (for about $100 less).
). Onkyo has a good reputation for building quality HTIB systems (a category otherwise filled with a lot of mediocre products). This model includes all the speakers necessary for a 7.1 system and also comes with an iPod dock. Detailed information on this package can be found at the 
for $169.99 with free shipping and handling. That’s a $25 price drop since January, and the lowest I’ve seen it in the last three months by at least $10. I have an earlier model of this same receiver, and have found the sound quality to be comparable my higher end receivers by Denon and Harman Kardon. It has a phono input for those who want to add a turntable and sufficient power to handle most speakers.
are still available from J&R through Amazon for $149.99 with free shipping and handling. I wrote about these last week and they are still available. (NO LONGER AVAILABLE AT THIS PRICE 2/23/10)
is available from Amazon for $121.82 with free shipping and handling. This is a fairly entry level player, and won’t play blu-rays or Super Audio CD (SACD), but sound quality should be more than adequate with this system.
is $23.41 with free shipping and handling at Amazon.com. Nothing special about this cable. Good quality. At this price, no banana connectors (just bare wire), but this will do the job.
for $8.98 with free shipping and handling from Amazon. Or you can save $9 and use the interconnect included with the DVD/CD player.