[Hassan Rashid]

Hi guys, newbie here.

I have a decent gaming rig and I plan to hook it up to a home theater system. I have two choices right now.

1) Onkyo HTS S4505 5.1
2) Onkyo HT-S6200 7.1

My rig is equipped with a Creative SB0880 sound card, it has an optical out so I plan to hook my HT through the optical port.
I watch a lot of movies, listen to music and play a lot of video games but my main reason for getting a HT is to watch movies.

Please help a newbie out in making the right choice here. Thankyou!

 

[DqMcClain]

I've had issues getting multiple channels from an optical out. TOSLINK is capable of delivering up to 7.1, but I think in my case I couldn't get my PC to deliver anything other than stereo PCM. If you have that issue worked out, then either should work... but a quick search for purposes of comparing them shows me they are both discontinued. Do you have some source for buying them?

 

[Hassan Rashid]

Yes they are older models but I'm getting it from someone I know.

 

[DqMcClain]

Well, that takes care of the sourcing problem.

From what little I can find, I'd say it's probably worth it to go for the 6200 instead of the 4505. You get 7.1 as opposed to 5.1, and more robust speakers. The subwoofer alone ( 10" vs 6") is probably enough to sway my opinion.

 

[MattNA]

To get 7.1 you will have to configure your sound options (speakers) in your OS.

With mine, Win 10 and GeForce video card I just right click on the desktop and choose the Geforce user panel (personalize). Where you choose your output there should be a "configure" option where you can choose you speaker setup. (2.0, 5.1, 7.1 etc..)

Use the HDMI in your video card if you have one. A hdmi cable is cheap and will pass the uncompressed HD sound encodements. Optical does not and is old school. >