14 DAY TRIAL // Onkyo is a really well known brand among home entertainment enthusiasts, so many will rejoice hearing the company has just released two new audio mini systems both of them coming with iPod/iPhone docks as well as integrated amplifiers making these some of the nicest “docks” available out there.
Really well suited for filling an average sized room with sound, these two Onkyo offerings come with a pair of two-way bass-reflex loudspeakers with 1 inch soft dome tweeters and the company’s signature OMF (Onkyo Micro Fiber) woofer cones as well as powerful 40-watt stereo amplifier sections that should pack enough power even for the most demanding home entertainment enthusiasts.
Remote controls are also bundled with both units, although this is where the similarities between these two systems actually end, the CS-V645 featuring slightly bigger two-way loudspeakers as well as an integrated DVD player that adds quite a bit of functionality to the unit.
A USB connection is also available, as the CS-V645 supports MP3, WMA, JPEG, and DivX files, besides DVD and CD optical discs, all the video content played back through the integrated HDMI output being upsampled to 1080p for improved image quality.
All these features however are lost when going with the CS-445 since this doesn't come with any sort of video support, being limited to CD-audio, MP3, and WMA files that are fed trough a CD drive as well as the top-panel dock for iPod/iPhone.
Both of these units come with radio tuners built-in, although the CS-445 fares much better in this regard compared to its older brother coming with FM/AM support as well as 40 presets while the video enabled CS-V645 can store only 20 radio presets and lacks an AM tuner.
The Onkyo CS-445 will reach dealers in early November with a suggested retail price of $329, while the CS-V645 will be available in early December with a suggested retail price of $399.
Considering these price tags, the CS-V645 is pretty much the better option since its added features will most certainly make up for those $70 that separates these units.