Onkyo 5105 Vs Philips 3569

vijar

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Hi All

A debate has been going on in this forum whether to buy Onkyo low end seperates or Philips HTiB. My 2p on the same.

I wanted to upgrade my old HTiB and considered a high end AVR - Denon 1909 since I wanted good music performance. Auditioned Onkyo 5105, 3105 and Denon 1909. Denon was definitely better. Though Onkyo 5105 performed really well with movies. But both disappointed me with Music (even the Denon sounded a little hollow with some tracks).The expert there suggested me to opt for a seperate stereo setup for music and buy a low end home theater (i.e. Onkyo 5105).

I listened to NAD BEE525 with Monitor Audio BR2 speakers and difference between Denon-1909 with Polk Audio floorstanders was immediately noticeable. Onkyo 5105 was nowhere in competition when it came to music.

That's when I decided to go for Onkyo HTiB for movies and have a stereo setup for Music. Total budget - Onkyo 51505 - 36K + NAD 525 Amp - 25 K + Monitor Audio BR2 - 40K. This was approx same as that for Denon-1909 with Polk Audio speaker set but Movie performance was comparable and Music much much better.

Having read a few posts in this forum, I thought of trying Philips HTiBs before I committed to Onkyo. I went around auditioning all HTiBs available in the market and covered - Philips, Sony, LG and Yamaha (not HTiB though). Sony ones sounded OK but failed to impress. LG was a firm no-no. I liked Yamaha but was concerned about spares availability.

Philips 4750 was out of stock everywhere. Fortunately found one at e-zone. On the open floor could not really make out whether it is what it is said to be in this forum. Then went to the proper home theater room at e-zone and auditioned 3569 and Onkyo 5105.

The e-zone guy played Casino Royale on both Onkyo and Philips. He showed me the crowded market scene. Both Onkyo and Philips did a great job with surround. Then he showed me the scene at the end where Bond is mourning Vesper's death. There was sound of birds chirping in the background. I could hear the birds on Philips - faint but clear (as it was supposed to be probably) and on Onkyo - nothing. I asked the guy to play it thrice on Onkyo but there was no such sound to be heard. And Philips was much better with Music as compared to Onkyo.

So Philips 3569 killed Onkyo5105 for me - never mind the upgrade options. I would probably junk even Onkyo5105 after 4-5 years and buy a better one (am sure kids will burn it out in 4-5 years). So I didn't mind buying Philips 3569 and saving 14K even though I will have to junk it 4-5 years down the line. Will go for NAD + Monitor after a while.

Other benefits of a simpler HTiB (as compared to seperates) that I am realizing now are -
1. Kids n wife can fiddle with this HTiB and I dont have to bother about settings getting changed everyday
2. Easier to operate for family members (including my parents)
3. I can keep my stereo setup out of bounds for everyone now

Hope that gives something different to think about to prospective buyers.

Cheers
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am planning to go the same route. I will stay with my current onkyo htib for movies for some more time - say 1-2 years, and for music I am planning a 2 channel setup. Will upgrade the movie setup when I move back to my own house, which is like another year from now.
 
Well written. I have received few brick bats for supporting Philips HTiB till my friends heard my setup at home :)

Philips has a very good VFM HTiB line up. Sad that they aint marketing it well. Enjoy the system mate, I wanted to move it to my bedroom in 2 yrs, its 3 yrs now and I dont even think of another system :)

One more advantage, I find them aesthetically pleasing and the 4750 compliments my plasma so well
 
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I bought 5105 knowing that it will not perform very well for music. But since I am an avid rock music fan, I could not tolerate any longer. So within 2 months I went ahead with option that I had always kept open: I went for a pair of Polk RTi A3 Book shelf speakers. Moved the original front speakers to the rear. The rear speakers are now used for my PC thru Creative Amp!

The sound now for HT is superb. Now I enjoy both music & movies!
 
Hi,
Has anybody auditioned Onkyo 5105 using Wharfedale 9.2 as fronts? Would like to know your observation.
- Can 5105 comfortably drive the 9.2 to their potential?
- Is Wharfedale 9.1 better suited for 5105 considering 5105 is entry level AVR?

Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Sonosphere
 
the onkyo will give you more flexibility than the philips. If you want a cheap out of the box solution the best VFM solution is the philips. If you want flexibility and a upgrade path onkyo is the way to go.

I have heard onkyo with wharf 9.1 - decent but lacked bass. But then again I prefer floorstanders as they offer greater range. You can go with the onkyo and upgrade to wharfdale bookshelves later.
 
Hi All

A debate has been going on in this forum whether to buy Onkyo low end seperates or Philips HTiB. My 2p on the same.

I wanted to upgrade my old HTiB and considered a high end AVR - Denon 1909 since I wanted good music performance. Auditioned Onkyo 5105, 3105 and Denon 1909. Denon was definitely better. Though Onkyo 5105 performed really well with movies. But both disappointed me with Music (even the Denon sounded a little hollow with some tracks).The expert there suggested me to opt for a seperate stereo setup for music and buy a low end home theater (i.e. Onkyo 5105).

I listened to NAD BEE525 with Monitor Audio BR2 speakers and difference between Denon-1909 with Polk Audio floorstanders was immediately noticeable. Onkyo 5105 was nowhere in competition when it came to music.

That's when I decided to go for Onkyo HTiB for movies and have a stereo setup for Music. Total budget - Onkyo 51505 - 36K + NAD 525 Amp - 25 K + Monitor Audio BR2 - 40K. This was approx same as that for Denon-1909 with Polk Audio speaker set but Movie performance was comparable and Music much much better.

Having read a few posts in this forum, I thought of trying Philips HTiBs before I committed to Onkyo. I went around auditioning all HTiBs available in the market and covered - Philips, Sony, LG and Yamaha (not HTiB though). Sony ones sounded OK but failed to impress. LG was a firm no-no. I liked Yamaha but was concerned about spares availability.

Philips 4750 was out of stock everywhere. Fortunately found one at e-zone. On the open floor could not really make out whether it is what it is said to be in this forum. Then went to the proper home theater room at e-zone and auditioned 3569 and Onkyo 5105.

The e-zone guy played Casino Royale on both Onkyo and Philips. He showed me the crowded market scene. Both Onkyo and Philips did a great job with surround. Then he showed me the scene at the end where Bond is mourning Vesper's death. There was sound of birds chirping in the background. I could hear the birds on Philips - faint but clear (as it was supposed to be probably) and on Onkyo - nothing. I asked the guy to play it thrice on Onkyo but there was no such sound to be heard. And Philips was much better with Music as compared to Onkyo.

So Philips 3569 killed Onkyo5105 for me - never mind the upgrade options. I would probably junk even Onkyo5105 after 4-5 years and buy a better one (am sure kids will burn it out in 4-5 years). So I didn't mind buying Philips 3569 and saving 14K even though I will have to junk it 4-5 years down the line. Will go for NAD + Monitor after a while.

Other benefits of a simpler HTiB (as compared to seperates) that I am realizing now are -
1. Kids n wife can fiddle with this HTiB and I dont have to bother about settings getting changed everyday
2. Easier to operate for family members (including my parents)
3. I can keep my stereo setup out of bounds for everyone now

Hope that gives something different to think about to prospective buyers.

Cheers

well writen review man.. was very informative.
 
Both Onkyo and Philips did a great job with surround. Then he showed me the scene at the end where Bond is mourning Vesper's death. There was sound of birds chirping in the background. I could hear the birds on Philips - faint but clear (as it was supposed to be probably) and on Onkyo - nothing. I asked the guy to play it thrice on Onkyo but there was no such sound to be heard. And Philips was much better with Music as compared to Onkyo.


why this is happening ? can some one answer to this ?.Is this beacause of the poor quality speakers used in Onkyo htib or the settings may be wrong in the Hitb . Please some one answer this ?.I think is an interesting .. because here lots of people are using the onkyo 5105 and they are very happy with that...
 
why this is happening ? can some one answer to this ?.Is this beacause of the poor quality speakers used in Onkyo htib or the settings may be wrong in the Hitb . Please some one answer this ?.I think is an interesting .. because here lots of people are using the onkyo 5105 and they are very happy with that...

do you know how many minutes into the movie this scene happens? I will check it myself.
 
do you know how many minutes into the movie this scene happens? I will check it myself.

Post the time anyone if you know it. I would like to check it out myself on the Onkyos and Yamahas I have in my circle. Sadly no Philips with anyone though.
 
There's nothing wrong with Onkyo HTiB. It works perfectly well for me. No issues. They are VFM. You get what you pay for. If you want high end or separates, just go for them. ;)
 
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