Onkyo HT-S3400 Home Theater System, good bang for the buck?

Old school use a flash light and touch one wire to battery neg. end thats exposed attach other to case of metal flashlight or neg terminal in case if light comes on its shorted if it doesnt then twist wires at speaker location and light should come on based on type of flash light used.
Other trick - locating a speaker tap the wires on a AA battery and speaker will make a pop noise
If Onkyo (crap) doesn't turn on or turns off after you turn it on with nothing connected it's toast. Shorted wire or bad speaker doesn't sound like a cause if unit has protection circuit.
Yamaha or Denon is better for receivers
Sorry about comment but I have just been thru this alot over the years. I have a client now that has a Home Theater in a box and 3 speakers are blown and the sub died on the second day.
Early comment on adding more speakers with a speaker selector a cheap Receiver can't handle it at average volume for long, the load on the weak amp will kill it.
 
Always trust someone who says 'I've been doing this for XX years' - especially if they have such an eloquent grasp of the written English language. You can't go wrong.

OP, I am truly sorry that you had a bad experience. It is not the norm with a discrete level Onkyo receiver like that.

As for alternatives Denon is of course great and a decent unit can be had at a pretty attractive price point.
 
AQ_OC said:
Dude...that can happen to any piece of electronics. Most will go bad immediately or soon after purchase or last for years. You should know this. Most who get burned with low end do so after realizing the should have bought higher because their taste can only be pleased that way.
Click to expand...


Eh, high end stuff generally has better quality control and testing, so while it definitely can happen, the chances of it blowing in the first few weeks is considerably smaller.

With cheaper stuff, it happens, replace it under warranty and move on.


I have a cheaper model denon, it is solid as a rock.
 
Verge said:
Eh, high end stuff generally has better quality control and testing, so while it definitely can happen, the chances of it blowing in the first few weeks is considerably smaller.

With cheaper stuff, it happens, replace it under warranty and move on.


I have a cheaper model denon, it is solid as a rock.
Click to expand...

Those are simply assumptions for which you have no data to back up. And without knowing the actual chances or failure rates, you have no means of putting anything in context. I've owned several HTIB systems over the years and have never had a problem.

It happens with more expensive stuff, too.
 
JahRas said:
If Onkyo (crap) doesn't turn on or turns off after you turn it on with nothing connected it's toast. Shorted wire or bad speaker doesn't sound like a cause if unit has protection circuit.
Yamaha or Denon is better for receivers
Click to expand...

You really ought to add "IMHO" to this. Onkyo are generally considered in the upper tier of receivers, close to Denon. Yamaha makes decent stuff also, but they can be a bit "different" in the way they do things. Some do not like the way YPAO works, as compared to Odyssey or MCACC.
By the way, the Onkyo receiver that came from my old HTIB, is still going strong in the exercise room, and it is 5 yrs old.
I have a Pioneer in my main system, VSX-1018K, but their quality went down after that year's model, it is the same as that year's Elites, the later years are not.
IMHO, of course!
 
JahRas said:
Old school use a flash light and touch one wire to battery neg. end thats exposed attach other to case of metal flashlight or neg terminal in case if light comes on its shorted if it doesnt then twist wires at speaker location and light should come on based on type of flash light used.
Other trick - locating a speaker tap the wires on a AA battery and speaker will make a pop noise
Click to expand...

Putting voltage clips through speakers is a dumb idea... though perhaps with cheap speakers you don't care I would *NEVER* do this with my speakers.

If Onkyo (crap) doesn't turn on or turns off after you turn it on with nothing connected it's toast. Shorted wire or bad speaker doesn't sound like a cause if unit has protection circuit.
Click to expand...

If unit has a protection circuit you would certainly get this behavior, where it turns itself off.
Onkyo isn't a crap brand. OP just happens to have a cheap unit.
Onkyo units in the upper end rival enthusiast units.

Yamaha or Denon is better for receivers
Click to expand...
At the cheap end where OP's unit currently calls, Denon and Yamaha come out of the same cheap Chinese factory.
Cheap Denon is the same as cheap Onkyo.


Early comment on adding more speakers with a speaker selector a cheap Receiver can't handle it at average volume for long, the load on the weak amp will kill it.
Click to expand...

A speaker selector shouldn't change the load.
Even a good speaker splitter is designed to maintain impedence.
 
I know I said Denon, but back to Onkyo, what about an Onkyo HT-S7409 for $300? My old platoon mate has one he ordered from Crutchfield last summer or so and never even opened the box. Seems like good reviews and slightly better speakers and a significantly better subwoofer than the 3400.

Thanks for all your input gang.

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S7409&class=Systems&p=i
 
cmadki4 said:
I know I said Denon, but back to Onkyo, what about an Onkyo HT-S7409 for $300? My old platoon mate has one he ordered from Crutchfield last summer or so and never even opened the box. Seems like good reviews and slightly better speakers and a significantly better subwoofer than the 3400.

Thanks for all your input gang.

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S7409&class=Systems&p=i
Click to expand...

I think it is fine for an HTIB. Hopefully, you'll get a working unit this time. that receiver has some good features, such as speaker calibration with mic and 1080p upscaling. Not a bad deal at all.
 
AQ_OC said:
Those are simply assumptions for which you have no data to back up.
Click to expand...

No, i can take one apart and see the circuitry and quality of components used. If you don't believe me, take the boards out of a 100 dollar receiver and a 1000 dollar receiver to your local tv repair man, watch in amazement as he picks out the more expensive one.
 
I'm sorry but I'm CEDIA,ISF,HAA,THX certified and BBB. You can talk all the crap about me and not listen it's fine. Your wife will hire me to fix it behind your back like last years client. My last breath on this is it's been funny hearing everyone waste their time talking about a system that indeed turned out to be a pain in his ass.
As for speaker selectors hook a good one to a jam box that has 6ohm outputs just to be fair with 6prs of speakers at half volume and watch it smoke later. The Amp runs hotter with one than with 1pr wonder why since it matchs the impedance.
Ever notice that the volume output drops when you use one wonder why?
Open up one like a Niles SPS-4 and you will see an empty box with 2 small resistors.
Peace out. :(
 
JahRas said:
I'm sorry but I'm CEDIA,ISF,HAA,THX certified and BBB. You can talk all the crap about me and not listen it's fine. Your wife will hire me to fix it behind your back like last years client. My last breath on this is it's been funny hearing everyone waste their time talking about a system that indeed turned out to be a pain in his ass.
As for speaker selectors hook a good one to a jam box that has 6ohm outputs just to be fair with 6prs of speakers at half volume and watch it smoke later. The Amp runs hotter with one than with 1pr wonder why since it matchs the impedance.
Ever notice that the volume output drops when you use one wonder why?
Open up one like a Niles SPS-4 and you will see an empty box with 2 small resistors.
Peace out. :(
Click to expand...

Who exactly are you talking about? Check who is writing what before you go throwing your comments around. I'm not talking crap, and I assure you my wife will not be calling you, haha :) Peace out, indeed ;)

I've decided to go with my friends HTIB. Get a good deal and help a friend out.

This has been an interesting thread. Thanks all. Semper Fi.
 
Did you flat out return the onkyo or decide not to get a warranty replacement?
 
That onkyo s3400 you bought was recalled. Someone posted the recall info in one of the recent reviews on amazon. Bad timing I guess, chances are you probably would've been satisfied with a properly functioning unit.
 
ShatteredX said:
That onkyo s3400 you bought was recalled. Someone posted the recall info in one of the recent reviews on amazon. Bad timing I guess, chances are you probably would've been satisfied with a properly functioning unit.
Click to expand...

Probably, i don't think he ever disagreed. Probably a bad production run.
 
Huh, I had no idea on the recall. For whatever reason that does make me feel better about having bought another Onkyo. I figured it was just a bad unit, not a bad product line. And I must say, my new HT-S7409 sounds AMAZING! I thought the S3400 sounded pretty good, but with nothing to compare to it other than my desktop speakers... Well, long story short, the new setup has been running without issues for weeks now and we love it. Hopefully this one doesn't have a recall associated with it as well ;) Besides, I've already committed to it with confidence, since I just threw the box for it away last night. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top