 "So-So product, not worth it" | 2009-11-12 |
| - Reviewed By faz_khan |
I purchased this system mainly because I wanted 5.1 sound for my gaming systems, and dvd/bd. The fact that the rear speakers were wireless and it comes with a separate little s-air unit was a bonus for me.
Let me talk about the good points first. The setup was pretty simple. The manual is not the best but adequate to get the job done. The wireless rear speakers are a great touch and I really like having the separate s-air unit as I can listen to the radio/music in a separate room.
Now comes the bad part, the sound. It's really weak and uneven. I daresay my TV's built in speakers were more consistent. When watching DVD's or Blu-Rays the dialogue is very hard to understand and I'm constantly raising/lowering the volume. With my games it's not as pronounced but still noticeable. The problem is that there really is no way to set the bass level, balance/fade or anything really. This unit lacks even one of those cookie cutter presets like "music," "movie," etc etc. I'm just thankful Sony was generous enough to allow adjusting the volume levels. As far as the wireless connectivity goes, my s-air unit works fine but the speakers started cutting in and out some time ago after working great for about 6 months. I haven't had much luck fixing the issue, and I really didn't change my home wirless setup in the interim so my best guess is that something from the apartments next door is messing with the signal. Last but not least the system's remote has one of the worst layouts I've seen in a while. Not much contrast in size/color, small fonts are a recipe for disaster.
I really want to like this unit. I love the convenience that comes with the S-Air unit and wireless speakers. But in the end it's all about the sound. While I wasn't expecting a state of the art sound system for a sub $400 price tag, I expect better than this. I really cannot recommend this system. The sound is just really not worth it. |
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 "Not Much Bump For Your Buck" | 2009-10-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A8OZNYFX85MFI |
| This system is ok at best. For the asking price you would be better off choosing a different product. The wireless system is not very reliable. This set up simply can not hit the low notes. |
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 "Review of Sony Bravia Home Theatre System" | 2009-10-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2WWP5MDMAYP8H |
| While I have not yet installed this purchase I will in the next two weeks and wonder if anyone has any advice on this installation? |
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| "Easy setup , great sound" | 2009-10-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1DK3VA4XLJLAW |
I bought this home theater after doing some research and reading all the positive reviews on this page.....
I had no problem setting everything up as shown in the user manual that came with the box. It took me over an hour and a half but the best part was that the whole setup worked without any problems whatsoever. I was replacing my Panasonic home theater which had given me too many problems in the past so I wasnt expecting the setup to be this smooth. The sound is great , the system looks sharp and the DVD player works great. I load all my netflix dvds in the dvd player at once so I dont have to keep replacing them when I am done.
I was also able to get my directv remote to work with the home theater. The only caveat is that you have to setup the audio and the dvd mode separately. But once the audio is setup, it works for any input ( tv, cable, av1,av2 etc. ) and I setup the dvd player on av2. So I am able to pretty much use 1 remote unless I am doing something specific ( like skipping discs ) in which case I have to use the Sony remote.
Having said that , here are the two things I am not happy with/ havent figured out yet.
1. I can hear the sound coming out of the rear speakers but its not loud enough. So the system setup using the mike worked but will require manual tuning to get them to be loud enough.
2. I was able to hook up my iphone into the DMPORT however, I can only hear audio and not video as the manual states. So no photos or videos from itunes can be played which would be a big step up!
Overall, I am satisfied with my purchase though. |
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 "Great Stereo" | 2009-09-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2KNO5UGRE2WT9 |
For the average joe this stereo more than delivers. Its simple color coded wires will make setup a breeze.
By the way, the stereo sounds great. It was cheap in price and offers enough features for an average stereo user. |
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| "Decent, but not the bees knees." | 2009-07-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2ODH0EC3LF41Z |
As a musician, and a recording engineer, I have some well-trained ears. While this system would sound great to someone who's never owned a surround sound system before, if you're someone who's got an ear for sound, then this system will be a little disappointing. While it does provide decent 5.1 sound, it seems to be lacking in the proper amount of head room required to get the job done. And while the rear speakers are "technically" wireless, you still have to wire them up to a little gizmo that has to be plugged into the wall. So if you were hoping to wire these rear speakers up to your wall without having to worry about wires, then I'm sorry to let you down.
It is nice that the system comes with a 5 disc DVD player, and it does it's thing, the only annoyance would be that it takes quite a while for it to switch between discs (I'd estimate 20 to 30 seconds), which doesn't seem like much, but if you have 5 DVDs in there and you're looking for a particular one, it can get annoying real fast.
The sound of the system itself is good but not great. The rear speakers actually perform better than the front speakers, which is a little unusual for 5.1 systems. The woofer does it's thing, but it isn't the best woofer I've ever heard, and seems to fall apart on the lowest of frequencies (in the 20Hz to 35Hz range). The DVD player can automatically adjust (with the supplied microphone) or manually adjust the output level of each speaker. This is where another annoyance with the subwoofer comes in. With some things movies and music the woofer will either sound too weak or too heavy, no matter how things are adjusted. This is what I discovered watching a DVD of some Sarah Silverman standup. The system sounded far superior however on more finely tuned productions, such as the newer Star Wars flicks, and V for Vendetta.
One thing that certainly seemed irritating was the remote, which seemed to be laid out in a nonsensical manner. And another thing that bothered me is there isn't any A/B'ing of video you're watching, as well as no zoom. Not the most useful of things to have, but one I'm missing now that I don't have it.
Setting the system up wasn't very difficult, but it was a bit time consuming. I couldn't see how it could be done in an hour. It took me about 2 and a half hours with the wife helping. The wires thankfully are color coded to help eliminate any confusion. One odd duck that comes with this guy is a separate box that you can take anywhere in your home and hear what your system is playing. Kinda useless for me, unless I'm watching some stand up and need to use the little boy's room and I don't feel hitting the pause button. However, I could see how this would be handy if you'd like to hear the evening news while you're washing the dishes, but you don't want to turn up the sound on your TV so loud that it'll wake the neighbors.
In short, I can't recommend this product, or not recommend it. It really depends on what your sound needs are. If you like mainstream action flicks, and you'd like to upgrade to your first 5.1 system, then this would be a great buy. If your a sound connoisseur who is expecting superior sound, then this won't be your cup of tea.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents. If you'd like to ask me a question about this product, then please feel free to e-mail me. I can be reached at GSFU (at) aol (dot) com. |
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