Cheap, remarkably good sound for the money, simple, small, remote control, subwoofer out

Doesn't play MP3s, no digital radio. Wire clips happier with tiny gauge wires. The cd mechanism crapped out within one month but was reparied quickly under warranty for free - no problems since.

I am using this CD/receiver/speaker combo in my office and I am having a hard time keeping the sound level low enough not to disturb my neighbors because it is so good it makes we want to TURN IT UP. I shopped around at various local hi fi shops and found that Onkyo offers the best value in these small all-in-one units. Denon makes some nice pieces, but they are fairly dear. If money is no object and you want a small desktop system, buy the Arcam Solo. I latched onto the Onkyo CS 210 because it was simple and has extraordinarily good sound for $200. Problem was, they were on back order everywhere I went. I found it on the web for less than $170 US including shipping – sorry local folks, didn’t want to wait.

The reciever/CD unit itself is small and fits innocuously on the corner of my desk. The speakers have a fairly small front profile but are also fairly deep providing extra volume. The added volume shows in the bass response which is good for a 20 watt p.c. system. The first thing I did was throw away the high gauge speaker “threads” supplied by the manufacturer and replaced them with some decent Audioquest X-2 bulk stranded speaker cable, about 14 awg. I didn’t even bother listening to the system with the supplied wires, but I am very happy with it running through the X-2s. A side note, the 14 gauge wires choke the cheapo spring clip connectors on the head unit and the speakers (cost savings had to come from somewhere), so I attached inexpensive Radio Shack gold plated pin connectors to the wire ends, problem solved.

How does it sound? OK, it is not as good as my mid-level hi fi and HT systems at home. But it doesn’t sound more than 10X worse as the cost might indicate. In fact, it sounds extremely good for the asking price. I use mostly with cds (very good) and streaming internet radio (just OK). I cannot vouch for the tuner section because I am in the dungeon of our office building. Now that the speakers have loosened up, I would describe the sound as fast, accurate, clean and somewhat forward in the upper mid range, with fairly good sound staging. Voices and saxophones are very well rendered, and the highs continue to open up as the various parts break in. The small front ported speakers are an excellent match for the receiver, and it appears that Onkyo spent a great deal of effort trying to match the drivers to the character and available power of the CD and amplifier sections. I have the speakers placed in the corners of the room up on a shelf, and the bass is adequate without being muddy. The system will play remarkably loud without compressing the sound appreciably. One local retailer recommended pairing the head unit with some better speakers, but I wonder about the value of doing that. It may be difficult to top the factory in terms of tonal balance and power matching, and better speakers might start to expose the corners cut to produce electronics for a system this cheap. The idea of adding a small sub has crossed my mind, but my office mates would probably not appreciate that.

Overall, the CS210 is a terrific value that could serve as the main system in a dorm room, bed room, small apartment or house. The overall rating of 4 assumes system being compared to other systems in same design class. I would give it a 5 except for early problem with the cd drive mechanism that was repaired locally for free under warranty. Its all good now.

Customer Service

Product came within time alotted, equipment appeared to be in good shape. Onkyo warranty service by local repair shop was excellent.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, JVC, Magnavox

Cheap, remarkably good sound for the money, simple, small, remote control, subwoofer out

Doesn't play MP3s, no digital radio. Wire clips happier with tiny gauge wires. The cd mechanism crapped out within one month but was reparied quickly under warranty for free - no problems since.

I am using this CD/receiver/speaker combo in my office and I am having a hard time keeping the sound level low enough not to disturb my neighbors because it is so good it makes we want to TURN IT UP. I shopped around at various local hi fi shops and found that Onkyo offers the best value in these small all-in-one units. Denon makes some nice pieces, but they are fairly dear. I latched onto the CS 210 because it was simple and has extraordinarily good sound for $200. Problem was, they were on back order everywhere I went. I found it on the web for less than $170 US including shipping – sorry local folks, didn’t want to wait.

The reciever/CD unit itself is small and fits innocuously on the corner of my desk. The speakers have a fairly small profile but are also fairly deep providing extra volume, and it shows in the bass response which is good for a 20 watt pc system. The first thing I did was throw away the high gauge speaker “threads” supplied by the manufacturer and replaced them with some decent Audioquest X-2 bulk stranded speaker cable which is about 14 awg. I didn’t even bother listening to the system with the supplied wires, but I am very happy with it running through the X-2s. A side note, the 14 gauge wires choke the cheapo spring clip connectors on the head unit and the speakers (cost savings had to come somewhere), so I attached inexpensive Radio Shack gold plated pin connectors to the wires, problem solved.

How does it sound? Not as good as my mid-level hi fi and HT systems at home, OK. But it doesn’t sound more than 10X worse as the cost would indicate. In fact, it sounds extremely good for the asking price. I use mostly with cds (very good) and streaming internet radio (just OK). I cannot vouch for the tuner section because I am in the dungeon of our office building. Now that the speakers have loosened up, I would describe the sound as fast, accurate, clean and somewhat forward in the upper mid range, with fairly good sound staging. Voices and saxophones are very well rendered, and the highs continue to open up as the various parts break in. The small front ported speakers are an excellent match for the receiver, and it appears that Onkyo spent a great deal of effort trying to match the drivers to the character and available power of the CD and amplifier sections. I have the speakers placed in the corners of the room up on a shelf, and the bass is present without being muddy. The system will play remarkably loud without compressing the sound appreciably. One local retailer recommended pairing the head unit with some better speakers, but I wonder about the value of doing that. It may be difficult to top the factory in terms of tonal balance and power matching, and better speakers might start to expose the corners cut to produce in the electronics to produce a system this cheap. The idea of adding a small sub has crossed my mind, but my office mates would probably not appreciate that.

Overall, the CS210 is a terrific value that could serve as the main system in a dorm room, bed room, small apartment or house. The overall rating of 4 assumes system being compared to similar systems in same class. I would give it a 5 except for early problem with the cd drive mechanism that was repaired locally for free under warranty. Its all good now.

Customer Service

Product came within time alotted, equipment appeared to be in good shape. Onkyo warranty service by local repair shop was excellent.

Similar Products Used:

JVC, Denon, Sony

size and power, very dynamic speakers for the price more crisp then bose sound. bass is smooth and the treble sounds like it never wants to stop... way beyond human hearing capabilites

for an onkyo amp i was upset with the fact u cant fine tune any settings just the volume of course and a 4 preset eqs.

first of all for the money, you can't go wrong it's onkyo so you know what your buying. not only killer sounding speakers but they look great with my maple furniture and the reciever is silver colored like the knobs on my furniture.