The Onkyo HT-SP908 just flat-out works.

This year I have upgraded my home theater from "have not" to "have". I bought a new Samsung 61" DLP and surrounded it with this Onkyo system.

Being basicallly a total noob to home theater I wanted dollar for dollar high quality and forward adaptability, but I didn't want to spend months poring over every audiophile website.

What I did find out is that the Onkyo SR605 receiver that comes with this system is a good entry-level receiver that will perform. Its forward adaptability is what initially attracted me to it. Its ease of setup sold me on it.

The SR605 has two HDMI ports in and one out. It will also do upconverting from from RCA/S-video sources to head to the TV through the HDMI cable.

The Onkyo SR605 has the Audigy microphone that will auto-balance your speakers. This is a pretty nice feature, though, I think I could manage it with one of the Setup DVD's I bought. It is still a neat, no-brainer setup for lazy folks like myself.

The HT-SP908 is a 7.1 surround system. This means hiding LOTS and LOTS of wires. I bought a ton of plastic trunking from Menards in order to get the wires to the 4 speakers on the sides and rear of the viewing position and keep it neat.

It takes a while to setup, even with the trunking. And I had to supply my own wire for the very back speakers. The wire provided just wasn't long enough.

Those are really the only cons in my opinion to this system.

Everything is color-coded so setup is actually quite easy. The "making it look nice" was the time-consuming part.

The satellite speakers are actually pretty big. That makes for better sound, but nobody is going to look around saying, "Where is that coming from". The speakers sit flush to the wall and are obvious but inobtrusive as they are mounted pretty high.

I have a "smallish" room that I have this hooked up in. I think 10'x 20' or so. This system delivers plenty of sound in a room this size. There is plenty of bass from the sub.

The HT-SP908 comes with an upconverting DVD player. This is quite nice as it matches the receiver perfectly. The DVD player is the nicest one I have ever had, though, that's really not saying much. It is nice though.

I really don't have anything but praise for this system. The only cons I have are minor.

The SR605 will not upconvert HD Component to HDMI for some reason. I have no idea why Onkyo chose this. If you bring component into the receiver, it needs to go out to the TV via component. Not the HDMI you already have running to the TV.

I have an Xbox 360. I run the component to the TV component inputs, then run the SPDIF connector to the Onkyo. It works wonderfully with true, full surround. Everything else upconverts.

The other con is only 2 HDMI inputs. Because of this, I needed to get an HDMI switcher. It's not a big deal, just more remotes and more HDMI cables.

I got all my HDMI cables from Monoprice and my switcher two. You cannot beat their prices and I haven't had a single issue yet.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend the Onkyo HT-SP908 to anyone that doesn't want a crappy HTIB, but can't afford true "High End" home theater. The HT-SP908 fits right in that sweet spot. It is a good-sounding system with forward compatibility and matching speakers.