Sony DAV-S500 Home Cinema System

Plug the main box into your television and you've a complete audio-visual entertainment system, radio and all. The picture quality is up to Sony's usual fine standard, the colour purity is patchy in places, but otherwise it's stable and crisp. There's no zoom or other fancy playback features, although few people use such trickery after the first week or two anyway. There is no SCART output, which is a disappointing omission, it's composite or S-VHS instead. Sound purists will complain that the tonal purity has been sacrificed a little to get a full sound from the modest speakers. The bass and mid ranges are a touch overly boosted. This does enable it to fill a room well, despite modest power. The front speaker channels are rated at 40 W, but it didn't feel like there was that much power available.

Buying a music centre generally means you compromise in places and you can't upgrade any aspect of the system, something to bear in mind before you start. Where they score heavily is value for money. Just trying adding up what a comparable quality system would cost you in separates and you soon see why the DAV-S500 is such an attractive proposition. It does each job well and it makes for a clean and stylish installation, ideal if you don't want a mass of boxes and connectors and a small heap of remote controls. It looks pretty cool too. --Miles Berkeley

Product Description
The Sony DAV-S500 is a complete, ultra-modern hi-fi and home cinema system in an almost miniature format. This multi-talented package with compact satellite speakers and a subwoofer not only plays DVD-videos, CDs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs, but is also capable of reproducing high-resolution multi-channel Super Audio CDs. The built-in two-band tuner with RDS can store as many as 20 FM and 10 MW stations. The DAV-S500 makes an impact by way of its appearance as well. The solid aluminium front panel of the silver-finish chassis creates a striking impression with unadorned elegance. The brushed front accommodates only a few, slim buttons in a row alongside the volume control and headphone output. Its design enables the unit to enjoy visual prominence, while merging easily in any modern domestic landscape.

The system's core component is the S-Master digital amplifier with a resolution of 20 bits. The high accuracy pulse generator, similar to the one used in Sony's high end SCD-1's S-tact, reproduces the audio signals with natural, crystal clarity. Very frugal power consumption, high efficiency and a low heat output rank among the further special attributes of this system.

The DAV-S500 belongs to a new generation of devices with the capacity to reproduce high-resolution multi-channel and stereo SACDs. The two-way speakers and the passive subwoofer are designed to fully exploit the potential of this new audio format. This latest model offers program, shuffle and repeat functions and, with the appropriate disc inserted, can also read in DVD-Video/SACD and CD Text. By way of decoders for Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic, the DAV-S500 is well equipped for all the principal surround sound formats. In addition, DVD-video fans with Digital Cinema Sound have access to a surround option for an audio performance that comes close to that of a real cinema. The audience has the impression that the sound is being produced by many more speakers than are actually installed. The receiver delivers 5 x 40 Watt to the supplied satellite speakers, and 80 Watt to the subwoofer. You don't have to be an engineer to install this package. Colour-coded plug-in connectors for the speakers and control unit make it easy to set up the system. All the functions of this compact system can be operated simply and conveniently from the small, sleek, pre-programmed remote control.

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