Onkyo 570 vs 780 ???

[Disneyland Fan]

Hey all. Newbie to the boards looking for a good (If there is a good one) Home Theater in a Box. I've heard plenty of good things about Onkyo but I'm not sure if the 780 if worth the extra couple hundred bucks for the 10" sub and the 5 1/4" speakers, as opposed to the 570 that has 4" speakers and an 8" sub, for a good amount less. The 570 is also a 5.1 system, while the 780 is a 7.1 system. I own a house and have a "medium" size tv room, so I don't think finding space for the extra two speakers will be too hard. I guess what I want to know is, with the 780 make that much more of a noticebale difference in sound for the couple extra hundred bucks, or am I just better off saving some dough and getting the 570??? Very much thanks in advance for any help/advice given!!!

~Disneyland Fan~

[davidb]

780 is definitely worth the extra. It seems like a lot now, maybe, but it'll seem like like a hell of a lot less later when you're wishing you'd spent it. The 570 is a good system (last year's model btw, 580 is current) but for a smaller room and slightly less descriminating ears. The 570/80 sounds very good by HTIB standards, while the 780 sounds like an entry level component system. If you can accomodate the larger and slightly more numerous speakers, it is absolutely worth it. Down the road if you feel like upgrading you've already got a perfectly respectable 7.1 reciever. 780 also has three optical inputs to the 570/80's single one, so if you multiple sources that don't have digital coax then you're still okay(both recievers have a single dig. coax input).

In short, both systems are good, but the 570/80 should ONLY be chosen over the 580 for size reasons. If size isn't an object, the price difference is more than justified.