-Compact -Abundant I/O -Powerful -Progressive Scan

-Limited viewing/listening options. Unable to look at a DVD and listen to the stereo, etc. -Muddy mids(?) -No EQ

As this was my first entry to a 5.1 home theater system I am limited in my listening and viewing experience. Before purchasing the Onkyo I had a $100 Apex DVD player plugged into a 10 year old Aiwa bookshelf stereo. Not exactly high tech. After a year with this device I've come to know and love it in a way that I never though possible. When I began researching home theater equipment it was important to have something compact with as much I/O as possible and decent quality. After testing my friend's Sony home theater it was clear that I wanted an all in one system. Enter the Onkyo LSV950. From the moment I viewed the rear panel of this box I knew it must be mine. After auditioning the unit at Circuit City I brought it home and set it up. Initially, I was blown away. This system was the upgrade from God. The bass boomed (a little too much, I hadn't tuned it yet and the sub was fully knobbed) and the highs were as clear and crisp as I could've imagined. Watching movies was a dream (and in surround too!). Once tuned there seems to be a little lacking in the mids. They're a little muddy, but this may be more to do with the location of the stereo speakers. The cross over to the sub is very clean and blended. It's difficult to tell where the sub picks up and the sats drop out. With the volume cranked, playing a CD you'd be hard pressed to find distortion from anything, but the highest highs and the lowest lows, although, it will distort at max volume. The remote is very intuitive and controls almost everything in my cabinet (not the Turtle Beach AudioTron). The configuration menus are clear and easily navigatible. The player came out of the box set to display at 16:9, but changing to 4:3 was a snap. There are two video inputs, Video1 and V2. I have my PS2 connected via RCA for video and SPDIF for 5.1 surround. My VCR is plugged in via RCAs and my computer via SPDIF and S-Video. Ocassionally switching from Video1 to the FM Tuner will still show video from the VCR to the TV while playing what's on the radio. This is not always recreatable and not really a gripe, but an observation. There are short comings, however, as there would be with any all-in-one solution. The inherent shortcoming is the lack of options regarding listening/viewing. If, for instance, I want to listen to a CD, I can't watch muted TV at the same time. Or, if I want to watch weird, art DVD's with terrible music (The Brothers Quai), I can't choose to listen to the radio or some other input while watching said DVD. The lack of an eq, even preset, is also kind of annoying. Not being able to raise the lows for a boomy song and then lower them for a movie is something I find I wish for regularly. However, for anyone looking for an entry level system, suffering limited living space or in need of a compact bedroom 5.1 setup, this would by my first suggestion. This is, by far, better than any other all-in-one system I auditioned and researched while on my quest.

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Bunch of Sony all-in-one type stuff.

Strong bass. Crystal sound and super video quality

Stock speaker cables (if I have to find some weaknesses)

This is the best home theater system for the price range under $1000.00. The video quality from the progessive scan DVD is great. The sound is crystal clear. And the setup was very easy. The sound from these speakers fill the room so well that they make themself transparent. Excelent blending between the sub and speakers that make them sound like one. I am very happy with and enjoy this system so far. I am planning on upgrade the speaker cable for better listening experience

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Superb sound quality, ease of use, durability. Its an Onkyo.

Single dvd/cd player, low-end wiring that is included.

After several months of research & testing, I bought the Onkyo Envsion LSV950 and have had it for almost 4 months now. I can't say enough good things about it. -The satellite speakers are all full-range bass-reflex with a solid build to them. Don't be fooled by the low wattage rating. This system has big, full sound with clarity to match, even at low volumes (I have 12 ft ceilings in a 15 x 20 living room and there is more than enough to go around.) There is even a "latenight" feature that will narrow the dynamic range of the sound in Dolby Digital mode making it easier to hear if someone is sleeping or if you have annoying neighbors. -The center channel is also full-range bass-reflex design and offers a very clear and accurate signal. -The subwoofer is incredible... far superior to any other "all in one" unit I listened to (in and around that price range) and rivals many high end subs you would add to a component system. The Envision has many great all around features. The progressive scan dvd player offers Dolby Digital, DTS, & Pro Logic 2 and is a must for any HDTV. I have it hooked up to a new model 53" HD Panasonic widescreen and the picture is immaculate. (I used an in-depth calibration technique for my tv and use high-end component wiring - both of which I highly recommend.) The cd player will play anything I have - cd, cdr, mp3 with no problem and excellent sound quality. It offers several different programming features to listen to the songs in a particular order if that's your thing. You can also choose from several accurate sound effects including Orchestra, Unplugged, Studio-mix, and TV Logic. I tested a cd for each and they are impressive...Charlotte Church wailing opera tunes will give you chills while a John Digweed mix will have your neighbors pounding on the walls in fury. There are several other nice, little tweaking adjustment like listening angle, individual speaker volume control, bass/treble boost, and separate subwoofer volume to name a few. Set up is a breeze and the overall visual design is very impressive using a modern approach incorporating silver & grays with a vibrant, blue display and an offset front side panel highlighted with a blue light for effect. If for some reason you don't like it, there is a feature that allows you to dim it or turn it off. The remote is great and functional. All in all, you can't beat this system for the price. For those of you that have been looking in the $300-$500 range, I know there is a wide selection of systems offering many of the same features, but it boils down to sound quality & durability...spend a little more and go for this one. For the rest of you looking at high-end systems (i.e Bose, Nakamichi), save your money for wiring. You'll need to spend about $200-300 for good wires/cables. I use/recommend following (all Monster Cable/THX certified): Component cable-$70 Subwoofer cable-$40 100-150 ft of 16 gauge speaker wire-$100-$150 RCA wires-$35 Banana clip speaker connectors-$20-$40 Hope this helps.

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All Bose, Sony, Yamaha, Panasonic home theatre systems, Nakamichi Soundscape series.

The mids and bass are great. Setup is a breeze, tiny sats are really cool.

The tweeter high are very annoying. I thought this system was sub par for the money based on this.

I bought it and used it for about a month then returned it. The bass was outstanding, the mids good, but I could not get past the high's. I just thought the high range was completely unsatisfactory. Maybe it is because I am used to the bigger speakers or I got a bad set, or maybe it was my living room, but I could not handle the high end. The bass will impress you though, just be sure the highs are up to par make sure you try it out. I returned got the Pioneer 7.1 channel DSV-811s and Infinity HTS-20 and two extra sats. You cannot compete with the Infinity highs. They are just crystal clear. The system I have now is completely clear, for about $70 less. I sure some people love this system, but there really is no way to tell until you get it home and set it up. Make sure you try it before you buy it.

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Infinity HTS-20 mixed with other amps

A TRUE Home Theater System. The crisp sound, small size, powerful subwoofer, dedicated center channel, attractive receiver, progressive scan feature, and price make the Onkyo LSV950 among the best of the best(and it is the best under $1000).

Not an intimidating appearance(wait till you turn it on; that's another story).

This system is really a knockout. To start, the Onkyo LSV950 is small...yet powerful, simple...yet full of up-to-date features, and beautiful both outside and within. I remember passing through Circuit City a few months ago and coming across this system. Wow! The Lord of The Rings sounded excellent! I sat down for a good hour and engulfed the awesome surround sound from these tiny speakers. The subwoofer was a blast as well. I loved the appearance of the receiver/DVD player. After much thinking, I bought several home theater systems, speakers and receivers. Nothing matched the quality I remember that small Onkyo system possessed. I forgot to mention the progressive scan feature-picture is top notch. So, I learned my lesson and just ordered it today. I can't wait for it to arrive!

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I tried the Infinity HTS20 Home Theater Speakers, Bose combo of 6012, VCS 10, and 161s. Don't waste your time with these.

sound quality; ease of set up; versatility;appearance

one disc rather than 3 or 5

excellent build quality; easy assembly; fine sound including (contrary to other opinions) CD as well as DVD; fills a fairly large room (with high ceilings) with ease; compared the HT-650 (nice sound, no DVD, TOO BIG!!) and all Bose (crap) and most SOny (OK)-outperformed all

ease of set up, sub rocks!

speaker wires that are included are short if you are trying to hide the wire.

The 950 is hands down the best in class for a home theater package. It is sleek, easy to set up, and rocks the house.

ease of set up, sub rocks!

speaker wires that are included are short if you are trying to hide the wire.

The 950 is hands down the best in class for a home theater package. It is sleek, easy to set up, and rocks the house.

Installation process is so simple because of the clearly marked colored wires. It took hardly an hour to install the complete system. The 120-Watts Sub-woofer is the one who is doing all the magic. I checked several DVD’s in which “Lord of the Ring, Fellowship of the Ring” just rattled all the pictures in my living room. Since this system has progressive scan, which improved the quality of the picture in the TV. The system distributes sound evenly to all the speakers. Almost all my friends liked my system. Since I bought the speaker stands for the surround speakers that enhanced the quality of music. The silver metallic front panel and the silver finished buttons give a wonderful look to my Entertainment Center. They provided couple of Digital and S-Video Inputs to connect your Satellite/Cable TV, PS2/Nintando/XBOX and Tape recorders. They gave options to program the remote for all the branded TV and VCR. I programmed the remote to control my TV and VCR. The best part in the remote is it can learn additional functionality, which are not transferred by the regular programming (for example, Menu button in my TV remote has not transferred in the regular programming. But the

One of the drawback is you need to have a digital cable output from either your satellite or cable receiver to enjoy your TV programs in the surround sound mode. If you still have a co-axial analog signal coming out of your apartment then you need to switch to digital receiver from your cable provider to connect the TV to the system. This way I need to pay $8 every month extra to the cable guy. The second one being the single disk capacity. I got irritated to keep going to the system to change the CD/VCD/DVD because most of the time I don’t properly secure the CD that I just took out of the System. In the future if ONKYO come up with 3/5 CD changer will definitely satisfy the customers like me.

I did research on the Home Theater System in web and every little electronic store in my town for almost 4 years (May be it’s too long...) and finally decided to go with this product (Onkyo LSV950). The very first day I assembled in the middle of the night and when I poped in my favorite CD, it just filled my living room with crystal clear music. I immediately tested my favorite DVD to get the best out of it on day one and it paid the price for my 4 years long wait.

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Sound is awesome! Easily the best home theater package on the market and comparable to many component systems that I've heard. Very easy set-up. Subwoofer will shake the house foundation. Interesting choice of built-in sound effects. Satellite speakers are smaller and visually more attractive, but sound better with more power. And love that cobalt blue display .....

er ....... haven't found any real weaknesses yet, other than perhaps the price. While it's not cheap, it's a heck of a lot better than Polk's $2400 home theater package.

This is the new 2002 year model. Much more powerful than the 925 (last year's model), and the DVD is now progressive-scan. By far and away, the best home theater package that I've heard! Blows the $1,000 Boston Acoustic Home Theater system out of the water.