Onkyo HT-3100 VS Onkyon HT-5100

navinkaus

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Earlier I decide to buy onkyo HT-3100 as it fits into by budget. But when I read the specification of HT-5100 I found that it has HDMI which HT-3100 does not have. Now thing is, I am buying next week HDMI LCD,DVD PLAYER. We know that right now India does not have HD contents, but let's say after 2 years HD contents are available in India, that time if my home theatre is not having HDMI feature then video will be HD but audio won't.

My concern is HT-3100 is available just for Rs19,990 with DVD player free, but just for HDMI, I don't want to go for HT-5100 which is very costly.

What do you suggest should I go for HT-3100 or HT-5100 considering the fact that my budget allows currently for HT-3100 as I am buying LCD also.
 
Earlier I decide to buy onkyo HT-3100 as it fits into by budget. But when I read the specification of HT-5100 I found that it has HDMI which HT-3100 does not have. Now thing is, I am buying next week HDMI LCD,DVD PLAYER. We know that right now India does not have HD contents, but let's say after 2 years HD contents are available in India, that time if my home theatre is not having HDMI feature then video will be HD but audio won't.

My concern is HT-3100 is available just for Rs19,990 with DVD player free, but just for HDMI, I don't want to go for HT-5100 which is very costly.

What do you suggest should I go for HT-3100 or HT-5100 considering the fact that my budget allows currently for HT-3100 as I am buying LCD also.

Hi navinkaus,

Don't know if you have yet made the purchase, but if you have not then go for HT3100. The reason being HT5100 does not do audio processing via HDMI and only does video processing. In fact all entry level to mid level Amp/AV Receivers even with HDMI only do processing of video and not of audio. In fact only high level Amps which are quite expensive will do audio processing via HDMI. Also you can directly output HDMI from DVD player to the Plasma/LCD TV. In fact the concept of a Home Theater is for audio and not video so output of video from DVD player to Home Theater and then to TV from the Home Theater does not really do anything and is not required per se. The HT3100 with a DVD player thrown is works out great. You will be paying 10-15K additional for the HT5100 just for connecting HDMI from the DVD player to the Amp and then from the Amp to the TV without any audio processing being done and I am not really sure about the video processing so I will leave that alone.

The only advantage I see in this is that the cables will come down with just one HDMI cable taking care of audio and video and another HDMI cable from the Home Theater to the TV. Otherwise you will need a coaxial or optical cable from the DVD player to the Home Theater and another HDMI cable or at least Component Video Cable from DVD player to TV. 10-15K really does not justify the HT5100 over the HT3100.

Hopefully this helps...
 
Let me correct that a little bit, neither the 3100 nor the 5100 do any HDMI "processing" at all, it's just an HDMI switch, so it takes in multiple HDMI inputs and sends a single output to your display, and you can switch on the AVR, instead of on the TV, which is only useful of course if your TV doesn't have enough HDMI ports. Therefore, HDMI switching should not be a consideration while deciding which HTIB to buy.

the advantages with the 5100 would be the following:

a) an active sub (and therefore a sub pre-out on the receiver)
b) more power
c) 7.1 vs. 5.1
d) A receiver based on the latest line of Onkyo AVRs (the 506), whereas the the 3100 has a receiver based on the 304 line, which is about 3 years old. The new ones incorporate some interesting sounding technology, so should be on paper superior, and be a better centre for future upgrades.
e) bigger and better speakers

You may also consider the 5105, which falls somewhere between the two (and gives you a solid receiver albeit 5.1), the MRP is supposed to be 30k, i have no idea what the price on the ground is.


Hi navinkaus,

Don't know if you have yet made the purchase, but if you have not then go for HT3100. The reason being HT5100 does not do audio processing via HDMI and only does video processing. In fact all entry level to mid level Amp/AV Receivers even with HDMI only do processing of video and not of audio. In fact only high level Amps which are quite expensive will do audio processing via HDMI. Also you can directly output HDMI from DVD player to the Plasma/LCD TV. In fact the concept of a Home Theater is for audio and not video so output of video from DVD player to Home Theater and then to TV from the Home Theater does not really do anything and is not required per se. The HT3100 with a DVD player thrown is works out great. You will be paying 10-15K additional for the HT5100 just for connecting HDMI from the DVD player to the Amp and then from the Amp to the TV without any audio processing being done and I am not really sure about the video processing so I will leave that alone.

The only advantage I see in this is that the cables will come down with just one HDMI cable taking care of audio and video and another HDMI cable from the Home Theater to the TV. Otherwise you will need a coaxial or optical cable from the DVD player to the Home Theater and another HDMI cable or at least Component Video Cable from DVD player to TV. 10-15K really does not justify the HT5100 over the HT3100.

Hopefully this helps...
 
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Couple of weeks back I bought HT-3105, I bought it because I liked black color too much attractive comparing to silver one. Once you see the black color, you won't like to buy silver one. I bought it for Rs19000 at Gurgaon. One very intersting thing, HT 3105 model, I could not find it in Reliance Digital,eZone,Croma, I had to buy it from Onkyo exclusive showroom. As per them, Onkyo does not provide this model to retail chains.

Thanks,
Navin
 
wokay, today i am going with my friend dejavu007 to check out some of these Onkyo HTIBs (primary focus being the 5105), and i shall report on them later today.
 
Okay, listened to the HT-5105. Very competent with movies, both special effects, and dialogue were delivered very well, and a reasonably convincing soundstage, but poor with music, as in so poor that I wouldn't listen to music at all on it.

Then we listened to another combo for the same price (30k) , which is the Onkyo TX-SR-304 along with a 5.1 speaker comrpising 5 pure acoustics speakers and a large 200W active sub from Onkyo. Comparable performance with movies, but clearly superior with music. Whitney Houston's voice finally achieved some body and character. The pure acoustics speakers looked very similar to the Onkyo ones, but were a lot heavier, and knocking against them with a nail produced a lot less of a plastic resonance, and more of a solid thwack......obviously far superior construction than the Onkyo speakers. The downside of course is that the 304 is an older receiver with a few less features, including the lack of an auto-setup....but on the plus side it has a "speaker B" option, which the AVR in the 5105 lacks.

Now dejavu007 is trying to get a combo of the TX-SR506 and the pure acoustics package for hopefully 35k (he has space constraints which is why he is not going for bigger speakers). Will keep you guys posted on that.

Anyways, if you're considering a small Onkyo based HTIB, do consider the pure acoustics package, as it is markedly superior to the Onkyo speakers (still not 'great' for music, but at least tolerably decent).
 
I should thank psychotropic to have taken time out and come along to audition the setup. As he mentioned above, there was a marked difference between the Onkyo speaker setup and the Pure Acoustics speaker setup.

The one thing I realised with auditioning these HT setups is that every time you audition it, you tend to want more :).

In fact they played a track through an Onkyo CD player with an audio amplifier and floor standing ELAC speakers with jet tweeters. We were literally blown away. None of the HT setups would ever play music that crisp and clear. The cost of course of the CD player, the amp and the speakers was around 2 lakhs :).

Coming back to the setup we auditioned, the 304 and the pure acoustics speakers, it was much better than the 5105 HTiB. I guess with the 506 receiver, this would be much better. Having said that, as psychotropic mentioned, it would make sense to go with the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speaker set any day. I am waiting to go audition the Wharfedale speakers, and also consider a few HTiB options from Yamaha.
 
I should thank psychotropic to have taken time out and come along to audition the setup. As he mentioned above, there was a marked difference between the Onkyo speaker setup and the Pure Acoustics speaker setup.

The one thing I realised with auditioning these HT setups is that every time you audition it, you tend to want more :).

In fact they played a track through an Onkyo CD player with an audio amplifier and floor standing ELAC speakers with jet tweeters. We were literally blown away. None of the HT setups would ever play music that crisp and clear. The cost of course of the CD player, the amp and the speakers was around 2 lakhs :).

Coming back to the setup we auditioned, the 304 and the pure acoustics speakers, it was much better than the 5105 HTiB. I guess with the 506 receiver, this would be much better. Having said that, as psychotropic mentioned, it would make sense to go with the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speaker set any day. I am waiting to go audition the Wharfedale speakers, and also consider a few HTiB options from Yamaha.

All the best and also congrats! Let us know how it goes. Will help others too in making informed decisions.
 
Thanks Moser.

You are welcome. I was thinking of going for the Onkyo HT5100 upgrading from my HT3100, but have decided to hold off after reading your and psychotropic's take on it. That's the reason even I am awaiting what you go in for and your review/comments on it. Do please keep us posted on it.
 
Moser, ideally you could invest in good speakers rather than just go for another HTiB. I guess you have the 304 receiver with the 3100 already. Just get Wharfedale Diamond series speakers to go with the receiver and you will have a much better HT. Just my 2 paise of thoughts.
 
Moser, ideally you could invest in good speakers rather than just go for another HTiB. I guess you have the 304 receiver with the 3100 already. Just get Wharfedale Diamond series speakers to go with the receiver and you will have a much better HT. Just my 2 paise of thoughts.

dejavu,

You are absolutely right. Only thing is I will be moving my HT3100 to my parents' bedroom and also I wanted HDMI connectivity (even though it does no processing per se in the HT5100) since I am going for a Panasonic PV8 or a Full HD Sony LCD 40" or more soon and also the black HT5100 looked so good and even sounded good in a recent audition. The only other system on par (at least on budget) was the Yamaha RXV663 that I auditioned but I found it did not have the punch or the feedback that the HT5100 had especially on movie clips. However, the Yamaha RXV663 did have a warmer and a more mellow sound on the music, but my main requirement is for movies as of now since I have a lot of DivX movies in 5.1 along with my DVD collection. My music collection is mainly 2 channel at 192-384 kbps on mp3 and played mainly on my PC.

So basically what I am looking for is a complete HT System with HDMI, my Sony and Philips DVD players will do for a while for the source, and most importantly on a limited budget of around 30K especially if I go for a Full HD Sony LCD instead of the Panasonic PV8 which retails for around 54K in Hyderabad at present.
 
Hey Moser, just to clarify what we checked out was the 5105, not the 5100, the 5100 should be slightly superior to the 5105. If you're going to park the 3100 in another room, then why dont you start building a solid home theater with carefully selected components? You don't really need to spend a bomb

you could start with an Onkyo 506 (or 606 if you have the budget for it), and then select speakers.

You are welcome. I was thinking of going for the Onkyo HT5100 upgrading from my HT3100, but have decided to hold off after reading your and psychotropic's take on it. That's the reason even I am awaiting what you go in for and your review/comments on it. Do please keep us posted on it.
 
Hey Moser, just to clarify what we checked out was the 5105, not the 5100, the 5100 should be slightly superior to the 5105. If you're going to park the 3100 in another room, then why dont you start building a solid home theater with carefully selected components? You don't really need to spend a bomb

you could start with an Onkyo 506 (or 606 if you have the budget for it), and then select speakers.

Psychotropic,

Thanks a ton for your valuable input. I will be starting with the shopping sometime next week. I am however new to the HT scenario and I really don't have much of an idea what to look for. I really don't know what power the speakers should be for the 606. Please help me with any links/pointers/posts that would deal with this subject of pairing the amp and speakers correctly so I know what to look for. Your help/input/feedback is much appreciated.
 
Re: Onkyo HT-3105 VS Onkyo HT-5105

hallooooo,
to day my 1st day ,i am f-kolkata,i have two sony lcd 1]26 inch, 2] 32inch s 400 series, i want to buy onkyo any one /ht-3105 or 5105,pl tell me both have hdmi port or not ,what the pries of ht-3105& ht 5105 my sony lcd have hdmi port,if 3105 have hdmi port then i buy 3105,,i have friends in delhi if price in low in delhi then i buy there,kd tell me who give the lowest give the name,shop,or phone number,my cell=09836302424,
[email protected]
 
Somen, the 3105 is under 20k and the 5105 is under 30k. None of them do any HDMI processing, the 5105 has an HDMI switch, which means it can take in multiple HDMI inputs and provide a single output. This won't be necessary if your TV has adequate HDMI ports. Other details and information you will find out by going through these forums in detail...use the search function liberally! Enjoy your stay.
 
Somen, the 3105 is under 20k and the 5105 is under 30k. None of them do any HDMI processing, the 5105 has an HDMI switch, which means it can take in multiple HDMI inputs and provide a single output. This won't be necessary if your TV has adequate HDMI ports. Other details and information you will find out by going through these forums in detail...use the search function liberally! Enjoy your stay.

dear Psychotropic,
i just say thank you,in kolkata ,onkyo own shop says 3105b ,price says 22,900/-& 5105b says 30,000/-kindly tell me if i tolmol how much i tell two of this model ,
my sony tv has hdmi port, i tell you i want to buy dvd player of sony model =708 with hdmi upscale and hdmi cable free ,its cost in kolkata rs4800/-
you have any knowdge of good dvd player with hdmi
thank you
somen
 
I own the 708, it's good for the price....good colours, sharp pictures, but suffers a bit from image noise..... the 3105 you shoul get for lesss, 30k for 5105 sounds ok......listen to them, pick whichever appeals to you at whichever price point.

you can also consider the yamaha YHT-195, which costs 26k.

dear Psychotropic,
i just say thank you,in kolkata ,onkyo own shop says 3105b ,price says 22,900/-& 5105b says 30,000/-kindly tell me if i tolmol how much i tell two of this model ,
my sony tv has hdmi port, i tell you i want to buy dvd player of sony model =708 with hdmi upscale and hdmi cable free ,its cost in kolkata rs4800/-
you have any knowdge of good dvd player with hdmi
thank you
somen
 
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