Onkyo HT-S5205 Home Theater System

The first glimpse we got into the sound capabilities of this Onkyo were positive, we got a nice healthy bass response in single sine tone sweeps, going down nicely till about 30 Hz.  There was slight unevenness in frequency response at the crossover point of 100 Hz, but not so boomy. The upper end of frequency response unveiled a clear, but slightly forward sound , thick mid frequency band.

Finally highs were impressive but not beautiful. The satellites have their typical HF response.

In movie watching the critique pattern changed to see whether the system belts out sheer power and bass oomph, which it decently does. We were not disappointed in any way.

Bass was pounding enough to enjoy smashing SFX, while dialogues are rendered perfectly. The Onkyo is way better for movie watching, but then again a Blu-ray disc is not done full justice as the lossless TrueHD format is not decoded by this receiver. It’s a mid end unit as mentioned, thus understandably one does not get audiophile bliss, but there surely is power in the sense of adequate loudness and thrust in the sound. This is actually enough to kick back and enjoy a movie.  

Conclusion
The Price (M.R.P) is Rs. 40,000, which is a bit expensive. The bass is very wholesome and low, plus the frequency response overall is smooth, not so spiky in troublesome areas of the high mids. It is forward sounding and a little edgy at times, but not as bad as lower end harsh sounding models. It  works well for those looking to build a new HT, and need an easy to use, straight up HT system. But do not blindly pick it up, it should be auditioned, and maybe negotiated for a discount this Diwali.