The charm that Onkyo's HT-S990THX, their very first THX certified 8-channel home-theatre, had surrounded us with. That's why when their HT-SR800 entered our door caged in a box large enough to house a little man, it didn't take us longer than a quick glance to know that we were about to see one of the most tightly packed 'almost' HTiB (DVD excluded) systems that we've encountered in recent times.

First came the metallic jet-black receiver, very much akin to the S990's, with that large gleaming volume knob on the right of its front panel. With it were the black, wood encased SKC-550C (Centre), two SKF-550F (Front Left and Right) and four SKM-550S speakers (Surround Left and Right, Surround Back Left and Right). But what took our breath away was the black cubical SKW-550 subwoofer. Individually, each of them seemed quite ordinary but together they were like our different sized earth satellites orbiting this one, large and magnificent planet (that's the sub).






Technology
If there was anything like the fundamentals of home-entertainment, you can bet your hard-earned monies Onkyo has one hell of a firm grip on them. Which is why the heart of this system, the SR800 receiver, comes packed to the brim with DSP effects such as Pro Logic II Music or IIx Music which has a Panorama parameter to move the soundstage forward or backward depending on your desire. There's also the standard onboard encoding facilities like Dolby Digital, DTS-ES Discrete/Matrix (for true 6.1/7.1 channel playback) along with this neat feature called Cinema Filter that monitors levels of a movie audio stream if it seems to be too bright (too much treble).
Alongwith that wooden cabinet, all the speakers and drivers in this set are very similar to those in the 5990, equipped with an impedance of 8 ohms, a maximum power input of 130-watts and spring type terminals. This doesn't quite make sense when the receiver they've paired them with comes with banana connectors, making those thin strip wires a real challenge to connect. The surrounds are given their due importance in the surround environment with their diminutive size when compared to the taller fronts. Plus, that 11 kgs, nO-watt, bass-reflex subwoofer makes up for all the size and weight of this system.
They're ergonomic, well built and equipped with a wider range than you'd ever need. Just by touching the plastic buttons you can tell they won't get lodged in after a couple of years of use. And that's what makes a good remote from a bad one: durability.

Performance
The only real big problem about these 7.1 systems is the set-up time. If you aren't equipped with enough space, like us, then you'll have to come up with innovative ways of placing those extra two channels. Preferably, right between the other surround channels. So, we were set to go, and again, there haven't been any 7.1 DVDs that've come out and made it into our collection so we're going with a Surround EX version of it. We plopped in 'Chak De', and from the very first scene when captain Kabir Khan slid the ball across the grassy field for a goal, the slide panned from right to left without any frequency response changes between the right, centre and left speakers. It was smooth and given as much importance as was due. The dialogues were crisp, clear and well spread across the listening area from the centre channel. And when the crowds cheered during the final Indian vs Australia match, we caught ourselves cheering as well due to the realism those extra two channels of surround added to the wide soundstage.

We decided to give 'Omkara' a spin, trying out this octopus's ability to render a stereo soundstage. And besides a somewhat empty centre, it was all there with the subwoofer providing the necessary low frequency base. There was not a moment no matter how loud the kick drum went, where the sub sounded like it was being pushed around nor did it sound overwhelmed with the plentiful bass that we fed to it. But what was the greatest part about the SR800 was its willingness to not give up on the quality of the sound by upping the mid-range or the low-range to cater to all the middle class.

The SR800 is a much more promising system then the 5990 even though it isn't offering anything new, in terms of features, than the 5990. It sounds a lot more refined and authoritive for approximately the same moderate price, which is why it comes highly recommended by us. It may not be the best thing you've laid eyes on, but it does its job dutifully.