Onkyo HT-S3200 Home Theater System

Performance
Once speakers were setup we started with a movie straight away, watching Final Fantasy Advent Children, audio being connected via optical from our HTPC to the receiver. The movie has some insane sound effects, very metallic and cutting edge high frequencies flying around, intermingled with thuds which require serious control on the sub’s part.

We were very impressed with the bass of the system, it was low and wholesome, with better than average timing. Not once did the lows distort or ‘fart’. The overall sound was very loud, from such small speakers to get a sound that can fill a 400 square meter room is commendable. It wasn’t as open as floorstanders, but very loud and large none the less. But there was a catch, I was not too happy with the highs, as in it wasn’t as good as the rest of the audio performance.

It can tend to be slightly jarring, but only in a movie like this one or Animatrix, Blade etc. where the effects are accentuated. We also saw Ratatouille Blu-ray, then heard Jamiroquai and Miles Davis Sketches Of Spain CD (in normal stereo). Here we applied the Audyssey Dyanmic Volume setting, which consists of 3 presets: light, medium and heavy, of which ‘light’ works OK in movies, as its job is to even out sudden volume changes in background scores.

There is a provision for manually setting EQ and crossover points for the Subwoofer, which we kept at 100 Hz, as that suited our room. In music the best is to keep all EQs and presets off — the speakers sound very nice the way they are. The Dolby Prologic 2 and DTS Neo 6 modes work fine though (they create artificial surround sound from stereo source), it’s just that there is nothing like good stereo music for me. �

Conclusion
The Onkyo HT-S3200 has an MRP of Rs. 33,000 and an MOP of Rs. 24,990. The MOP is a really nice price for this system, as there is no real flaw except a little brashness on the highs, which can be EQed out from the receiver if required. It has a good build, and very loud and powerful sound, a good entry level Home theater.