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I have the previous model (HTX 22HD) and can honestly say, that unless you are a complete audiophile there is absolutely nothing wrong with this (or the older) system.
A friend has a Q-Acoustics setup that cost 3 times as much, and it is very difficult to notice any great difference in sound quality.
A major part of any sound setup (obviously) is more to do with how and where you setup the speakers etc.
This system has multiple hdmi and optical inputs, good quality and levels of sound, and (obviously according to taste) looks good and is unobtrusive. Not everyone wants great overbearing speakers in thier front room, so this fits the bill well imo.
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I may be resurrecting a Zombie thread, but I have to chime. IMHO, any $50 Craigslist DD/DTS capable AVR along with Monoprice 6.5" speakers and 12" subwoofer, are going to sound far superior to ANY of these mini systems even with DTS-HD and TrueHD decoding... and for $50 less. For just $20 more than this Onkyo mini-system you could pick up a refurb Onkyo RC330 AVR instead of a Craigslist speacial along with the same Monoprice speakers/sub and still have True-HD and DTS-HD decoding... and still have a far better sounding system.
The elimination of the AVR to save space and aesthetics of the slim speakers are the ONLY reasons I can see for considering this type of system. I'm not saying it's not a valid compromise to make if it's you're priority... it's just not a compromise I would make.
Even on extremely high-end audio systems it is extremely difficult to perceive the difference in properly encoded and equally mixed DD/DTS compared to TrueHD/DTS-HD. I can't imagine it even remotely possible to do so on such low-end equipment. For anyone interested in quality audio, PLEASE focus on your equipment, placement, and room treatment before you even consider spending ANY money to get the latest audio decoding formats.
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The two big differences I noticed between DD/DTS and True-HD/DTS-HD on my Onkyo TX-SR605 (part of a HTiB) is the center channel (better voice clarity) and the (I am not sure the terminology) feeling of space/dimension to the sound. I expected to not notice much difference but I definitely do.
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Do you have a BD player capable of manually outputting both DTS-HD and DTS Core of the same sountrack? I'd be really interested if you hear the same differences between HD and Core on the same track/mix. Just as was the case going back to comparisons of DD vs. Hi Bitrare DTS, the DTS track was often cooked or otherwise mixed differently than the DD track leading people to attribute differences to the Codec or Bitrate that were really differences in the mix... Saving Private Ryan and Jurassic Park were prime examples of this back in the day.
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I think MPC-HC will allow you to pick the soundtrack. I can give that a try.
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I too am one of those who think that people wouldn't notice if dts or dts-hd is being played.. and of course not with that kind of plastic speakers! Of course being the same mix
But hey, know what? I couldn't care less about those hd audio tracks, as the spanish track will often only be dolby.. not even dts at higher bitrates. If I had to refuse watching a movie because no hd audio I would never watch any movie!