Onkyo has announced two new home theater in a box (HTiB) systems: the 7.1-channel HT-S5400 and the 5.1-channel HT-S3400. The receivers feature four HDMI inputs and one output plus support for 3D video.

The receivers of both systems also support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio plus an Audio Return Channel. Both receivers also support Audyssey Dynamic EQ and Audyssey Dynamic Volume, which automatically level the volume of loud TV commercials.

The HT-S5400 7.1 system has the most extensive feature set of the two systems. Thanks to two extra audio channels it can support Dolby Pro Logic IIz which improves surround sound performance plus has better quality audio circuitry. The HT-S5400′s receiver also has a USB port on the front for direct connection to an iPod/iPhone. Both the HT-S3400 does not include the USB port. Both systems include a subwoofer.

Pricing and Availability

The Onkyo HT-S5400 and the HT-S3400 will be available at retail in April for MSRP $599 and $379, respectively.

Onkyo USA Website

Onkyo SR608 A/V Receiver

Onkyo USA today announced its first 3D-Ready home theater receivers and home theater in a box (HTiB) systems. The company announced three new A/V receivers and three HTiB systems. All of the new products support the HDMI v1.4 connectivity standard for 3D video displays and Audio Return Channel capabilities.

Additional features of the new products include the ability to decode lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreams and a new 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown PCM1690 DAC with a 113dB dynamic range. Lastly, a new HDMI Thru feature allows content to pass to the TV when the receiver is in a standby state.

The three new receiver models are as follows:

• TX-SR608 7.2 channel
• TX-SR508 7.1 channel
• TX-SR308 5.1 channel

The SR608 is the highest-end receiver; it features a power amplifier and is THX-Select2 Plus certified. It also has Audyssey DSX dimensional sound processing and 1080p upscaling support for all inputs.

The SR608 and SR508 will be available in April for $599 and $399, respectively, and the SR308 will be available in March for $299.

Onkyo HTX-22HDX HTiB System

The HTiB systems consist of a receiver, subwoofer, and speakers. The following models were announced:

• HT-S5300 7.1 channel
• HT-S3300 5.1 channel
• HTX-22HDX 2.1 channel

The high-end S5300 model includes an iPod dock. The 22HDX uses just two speakers and a subwoofer but employs 3D sound processing to create simulated surround sound effects.

The S3300 will ship in March for $379 and the S5300 will follow in April for $599. The 22HDX will ship in May for $349.

Netgear EVA2000 Set-up

Initial setup of the Netgear EVA2000 was very simple. Just plug in an ethernet cable to a wired network connection and use either the included a/v cables or a not included HDMI cable to direct output to your TV. Disappointingly there was no coaxial or toslink output for connecting digital output to a surround receiver.

While the device was updating its software I installed the the PlayOn software. I signed up for the 14-day trial offer to test out this service. After launching the PlayOn software you are able to enter your logins for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon-on-demand, and Youtube. This allows you to see the same playlists and queues you have at those services on the Netgear EVA2000. Interestingly, the Netgear product is the only one to date to come paired with the PlayOn trial.

Using the Netgear EVA2000

After accomplishing the basic set-up I sat down to begin initial tests. I turned on the Netgear box and was presented with a home screen allowing me to start playing media. I selected the PlayOn server running on my Windows PC and browsed over to my Netflix queue. I fired up the movie at the top of my queue and without much delay I was watching the movie. I found this to be quite impressive. From my perspective a media streaming device should be exceedingly simple. Programs such as Windows Media Center, XBMC, or Boxee all provide a more robust solution for delivering Internet content to your TV. That greater power and flexibility comes at the cost of being complex, and often requiring a more expensive and loud, dedicated computer in your theater. Small, affordable media streamers should fill a need for people who want something simple, that just works.

Internet streaming

The Netgear EVA2000 really excels with the wide array of Internet media streaming options. It can receive streams from all the major Internet players. Netflix, check. Hulu, check, Amazon-on-demand, check. Youtube, check. This ability is the devices greatest asset. However, to get to most this device you must be running the PlayOn server software on a Windows PC on your network. The purchase of this software allows streaming from these Internet sources on others supported devices as well, including Xbox360, PS3, and Wii. In short, this service just works. You press play, and you have a movie, TV show. Additionally, there were even options to stream live TV channels.

While the vast array of Internet sources was admirable, Netgear left out the ability to stream HD from these sites. There are no quality settings for these downloads, and despite my Internet connection being speedy I was getting a lower quality stream from both Netflix and Hulu that I received when streaming from these sites using the Windows PC or my Xbox360. Other devices in this price bracket, such as the Roku HD and the Asus O!Play are able to present Internet streams in HD.

One other negative with some of the Internet streaming is the user interface can be clunky here. While its a clean looking interface, and responsive, there is not a good search option for many of the content sources. For example, navigating among the many Hulu videos can be cumbersome. Youtube (one of the non PlayOn services) does not suffer from this problem, and the search button on the remote will bring up an on screen keyboard for finding videos. I wish this functionality was extended across all the content providers.

Local Media

Playback of media on my home network proved to be much less simple. I have both a large media server where I store flac music files and video_ts and dvd iso files. I also have a Windows 7 PC which I can place video and music files in several formats for testing purposes. Unfortunately, I have been totally unable to even get the Netgear to see the media storage. The netgear device doesn’t work with flac or iso or video_ts files (not that they claim to) so I didn’t spend a whole lot of time trying to get networking to this server working. With storage being as cheap as it is I would imagine all three files are relatively popular, and competitors media streamers in this price range offer support for these formats.

I then turned to trying to stream media from my Windows 7 PC using two methods. First by selecting the Windows PC as a content source I was able to browse files in the My Videos and My Music and My Pictures folder on the PC. I selected an MPEG4 encoded file. I was greeted by an “Unknown Error” . Trying again resulted in an unknown file type. This was a standard file, supposedly supported by this device. I loaded this same file on a USB stick and it played fine. I encoded some Family Guy files using MPEG4 and H264 as a test. I placed this in the My Video folder and tried to play them on the Netgear. For some reason these files didn’t show up on the Netgear device. I was able to find them using the PlayOn server. While it could play both file types, the H264 encoded file was badly pixelated, and re-encoding at a lower bit rate did not help. Coupled with the only being able to play MPEG2 encoded 720p files and no 1080i or 1080p files it seems that this device just doesn’t have the horsepower to play these files.

Final Thoughts

This device excels in one specific area, the vast number of Internet sources available. Few devices currently available offer the sheer range of Internet sources the Netgear EVA2000 does. This is, however, almost entirely based on the purchase of the reasonably priced PlayOn software, the purchase of which should be considered a requirement. For a customer who values amount of source material over picture quality this device makes a lot of sense.

While this box gets you access to a wide range of Internet entertainment this device is not a the lack of HD and optical outs the high MSRP ($149.99) prevent it from being a great value. I would also like to see much better trouble shooting for local media and a wider number of supported formats – randomly some files and certain formats are unplayable. Unless you need access to all these Internet sites and are fine with giving up HD playback, another streamer may be a better choice.

Pros

• Wide array of Internet streaming sources
• Easy setup for the online sources

Cons

• Price
• Lack of HD our digital audio out
• Buggy local media streaming
• Few supported formats

Rating – 3 out 5 stars