fluance sx-htb vs onkyo s760

[lan52]

I went to circuit city and listened to the onkyo s760 and the sound was incredible. I read some reviews on the web for the fluance sx-htb and most of them were positive. However, circuit city or any store never even heard of the name "fluance". Also the price is for fluance is unbelievable! I can get a fluance sx-htb without a sub or receiver (5.0) for $269 *new* with floorstanding towers. Or i can get an onkyo s760 with everything (6.1) *refurbished*. Does anyone have a fluance speaker system or heard of them?
If there is any other good products in the same price range, feel free to talk about them.
Help is GREATLY appreciated.
Lan52

[Andrew Pratt]

Gord Moore one of our mod's as the Fluance centre speaker and it does look and sound pretty nice...esp considering the cost. I'd say given the reviews and the fact you can get more full range towers with the fluance set i'd go for them over the Onyko's. I believe many people were inclined to upgrade the center though so you might want to look at building a custom 5 speaker set rather then their sx-htb set.

[Gordon Moore]

Or....because their package is so afforable....I'd suggest purchasing the upgraded center (the one I got) and move the center that comes with the package to the rear for 6.1

Many people do that. I've been very impressed so far considering it was a blind buy....but only I know how little I paid. You won't be dissapointed (I think) but I can understand the hesitation considering they are an internet only business.

I can only speak for the center but it's clear, the voices are not coloured....and cut through to the listener perfectly. It's weird but things even out after the break-in period so there's truth to what they say about break-in and it's noticeable.


I took a chance and it paid off, I'll be adding more fluance components soon.

If you have questions contact their customer service....they respond very quickly....admittably their email response are usually brief and less informative so I'd suggest talking to a live person if you have questions for them but their website is well laid out and answers most questions.

Shipping within Canada is very afforable....I have no idea with the States though.

[lan52]

Thanks for all the replys. I am considering to buy the fluance av-htb with the upgraded center, since most people recommend doing that. For $270, I think the price is really good. I am considering to add an inexpensive Kenwood receiver or maybe one of the more expensive Onkyo receivers. Which one do you recommend? I am looking for a receiver that offers good sound quality and good processing. My old Kenwood receiver doesn't output any sound to the surrounds when playing VCD's. Does all receivers do that, or is it something Kenwood is lacking? Help is greatly appreciated.
Lan52

[Andrew Pratt]

Of the budget receivers that are out there now the Panasonic's with the digital amps are getting very strong reviews. They don't look that impressive but those amps are very clean sounding when set up properly. Other then those I'd perhaps look into some used receivers on sites like Audiogon etc as you can make your dollar go even further that way. What sort of budget do you have for the receiver? As for the VCD question...VCD's are a type of video compression used on ripped movies to make them fit a conventional CD...or sometimes TV shows and the like will be saved in that format. Either way its the DVD player that must decode that signal and send the audio along to the receiver. If your receiver isn't getting audio then either the VCD wasn't encoded properly or your DVD player can't decode it properly. Have you tried both analog and digital connections to your receiver?

[lan52]

I use a digital connection.(optical fiber THX Certified :T ) The DIGITAL light lights up when playing any media. The Dolby Digital lights on when playing DVDs. It's probally just because my dvd player because I got the really cheap, not famous DVD player. And of course...its made in china... I'm not saying china is a bad country it's just that they use lower-quality parts for manufacturing. I think I'm going to buy a new Sony DVD player and an Onyko 6.1 receiver with fluance av-htb with an upgraded center for 6.1 sound :B . I'm planning to add carpet and put walls to seperate the home theater from the rest of the open basement. (I renovated the basement but took down all the walls). Can I live with an open space and tile flooring, or will it drastically affect the sound quality?