Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Onkyo Home theater

Hello everyone,
This is my first post here and I just want to say that this is an awsome and very informative message board!!
Well for starters I just sold my old Onkyo tx-915 receiver(stereo) not to long ago and replaced it with an Onkyo 760 home theater from circuit city. I already know that you guys are laughing at me but I am on a budget. The home theater system I purchased consists of an Onkyo HT-R510 6.1 receiver (110 watts per channel), a front center speaker ,front left and right speakers, rear satelite speakers with a rear center as well. I love the system, especially for the price which was 449.99 before taxes. This is originally a 750.00 system . Oh yeah, it also came with a 8" sub but i sold that to my friend and kept my old 12" MTX psw101B amplified sub. This system is in my bedroom which is 9ft X 11FT with marble floors. One of my buddies is a hardcore audiophile guy and he got me into this hobbie after I bought my new 27" Sony flat tube, so I blame him for me starting to spend money on all this home theater stuff, but I am having a blast!! I am already looking at upgrading all of my speakers to Paradigm monitors. My questions were, what do you guys think about paradigm? Will my receiver power these ok? Also, what do you think of my setup as far as the size of my room? What are the ups and downs about my room as far as sound goes? Sorry for the novel. Thanks in advance!

Franco,
I have a friend around here who was also on a budget.
He bought a surround system from Future Shop. It was a Sony setup which cost around $750.
To keep a long story short, his Sony "500W" receiver cannot power so much as a watch. With the volume cranked to around 95%, he could barely reproduce a 60dB loud talking level. The included Sony subwoofer has been in for fixing twice b/c of loose screws. One year after he bought it (bringing us to about today), he has now invested in a new (demo model) Denon receiver and will be buying speakers for it in about another 2 months having become fed up with its rather poor performance.
In the meantime, he is using the Denon to power the Sony speakers and already has realized just how huge the difference is.
It literally is like comparing a peddle bike to a motorbike.

I briefly reviewed the specs for that Onkyo system but specs do not always tell the whole story. Although i'm not one to parade around expensive gear, there still is a point where cheap is cheap for a reason. Companies have to cut corners to cut the cost and it will start to show the more you grow your system such as updating to the Paradigms.

That being said, i don't think too many people will be able to tell you for sure if your receiver is capable of driving larger speakers or not. You can only give it a try (carefully) and see. Onkyo usually makes decent products.

As for your question about Paradigm, quality or opinions, try doing a search first on these forums. Several people have already reviewed and compared some Paradigm speakers. These posts may give you the answers you seek.

Hope that helps.

Franco,

I'm not laughing; I think the Onkyo package is very respectable among the numerous HTiB offerings, some of which are really crap.

With regard to the Paradigms, my impressions have always been that their tonal character is quite similar to the Axioms. If you like the Paradigm sounds, you will likely be very happy with the Axioms as well. It is fair to say that Axiom, as an internet-only brand, offers better bang for the $$$ compared to the Paradigms.

Well... you came to the Axiom message board. So here it is!

Franco,
I just upgraded my Kenwood HTB-504 speakers to Axiom's and I am very pleased. If the Kenwood receiver can drive the Axiom's I'm sure the Onkyo will too. I was advised to listen to some Paradigm speakers as a similar sounding speaker to the Axiom's I bought. I liked the Paradigm speakers (forgot the model #), but went with Axiom. You will be happy with either.