Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good for the price......., 27 Dec 2007
Having just bought this unit recently I am surprised with the sound quality for the price. Although the sub woofer is massive, the 5 satellite speakers are quite small, yet I have not come across a situation where they have distorted. This unit is perfect for most size homes where the cinema is in one standard room such as a lounge. In my opinion:
Pro's:
Great Sound
Easy to setup
Future Proof as other items such as a DVD player aren't integrated
Very expandable (lot's of connections)
Con's:
Surround rear speakers are wired
The AV processor unit is large by today's standards
MP3 "portable" function not very good
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, 17 Aug 2007
I was recommended this by some people on AVforums when looking for a new surround system for my PC/PS3. I was looking at the Logitech Z5500 series and was told i would be better looking at this set for around the same price.
I am very glad I took the advice and find this system stunning.
Although it is very hard to find on the internet this system does have 2 x HDMI inputs, it also has 3 sets of RCA, 1x Optical and 1 x Coaxial,1 x line/mp3 player in(on front) and a 1/4" standard headphone jack (front) not the largest number of connections in the world but don't forget those all important HDMI.
The amp is in stack form so can be added to to make the system into a seperates stack in the future.
Configuration is easy, comes with a microphone that plugs into the front multi purpose jack (doubles as portable audio input and line in as well as for the micrphone.
All speaker cables are NOT attached except for the sub woofer. So they can be changed/exchanged for better quality/longer/shorter cables as you wish.
The remote can be used as part of the Bravia Home Theatre package and as such has a fully functional remote to control the entire system. Somewhat of a waste if you have other branded Home threatre equipment which means I have a jam packed remote full of buttons 95% of which i will never need to use, unfortunately since the PS3 uses bluteooth for it's remote, it is no use there either.
Sound quality is stunning, in a medium sized room, this is replacing a previous surround system and it's 800W amp is ample enough to fill the room with sound. I do not yet know the maximum volume of the unit as i couldn't get it past 50 without causing things to shake in the room and comfortable listening level is around 25-30 volume units in the day time.
The sub is a nicely (read: rather large) sized sub, quite capable and I have sound tested it all the way to down 20Hz, and it can be noticeably felt (although not really heard) even this low with sub trim at only 4 (on a trim scale of (-10 - +10))
The display of the Amp allows for input naming (I have "Vibez", "PC" and "PS3" on the display) It is an L.E.D style display lit in a blue/white colour (only the text/symbols are lit, not the background so unnecessary light output) the display can also be dimmed via a button on the front of the AMP although it is not noticeable at night anyway (if you did leave it on) and is absolutely not noticeable over the output of my HDTV so even if near the TV it will not even catch your eye on maximum brightness while at the same time still being clearly readable from a distance)
The Amp also remembers the last input used and will switch back on in the sate it was last left.
Support for DD and Dolby PLII upto 96(?)kHz and also has plenty of Sound modes (Home Cinema EX - Modelled after the actual sound characteristics of various Sony theatre studios), dynamic range compression (variable) and stereo audio upmixing for playing stereo audio through all channels. All beautifully configurable.
In terms of the build quality, the Amp is a heavy, brushed steel chassis, clear display and large heavy volume knob ( you won't accidently turn it up too loud because it offer a smooth yet controlled resistance to your turning) and then entire top of the amp is vented to let out the masses of heat the unit produces. The unit is definately relay driven as their clicking on and off can be heard when switching.
The sub is a solid wooden box, approx 35cm x 25cm x 30cm (HxDxW) This is just anapproximate guess as i don't have anyhting to measure it with handy. The sub is a front firing and front ported passive driven 20cm subwoofer and it does pack a punch.
The speakers are small, cuboid, although tapered to the rear (imagine a cube going into the distance on a page, smaller as it gets further away) I would say approx 9cm x 9cm x 10cm. These are single full range driver NOT ported but still capable of a decent sound output even without the sub enabled.
Of course, the amps auto calibration will adjust for distance and height above hearing level for all speakers and adjust accordingly but every options can still be manually calibrated from within the menu for the anal amongst us.
an FM/AM Tuner is featured, and the sound from this system is the best I have ever heard radio broadcasts.
There is a portable audio enhancement mode when connecting mp3 players via the front jack, this mode will enhance the sound from the compressed audio (MP3 is mentioned). I have tried this personally and have heard a noticeable difference with low bitrate tracks (128kbps) in MP3 but could not hear a noticeable difference with 320kbps MP3 and certainly made no difference to FLAC audio.
Otherwise, I can personally find nothing (other than the over populated remote control) that I would change with this system. Power consumption is 220W rated at 240V. and a mere 0.3W in standby mode.
Unlike my previous sound system, the speakers emit NO hiss when the system is on and no sound is being output, which i find an amazing help. Also the entire system only uses 1 power socket since the sub is passively powered by the amp(but significantely more powerful than the actively powered one in my previou setup)
I was certainly recommend this system to anyone looking for an entry level home theatre system, and having tried several other cheaper and nasty systems in the past i find this system perfect. And I couldn't ask for more for the price.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Does the job nicely, 13 Dec 2008
I bought this system maybe a year ago now. I use it for connecting up my Humax hard drive recorder (a bit like Sky Plus) via the phono inputs and for playing games and watching movies through my XBox 360 via an optical cable. It works perfectly well with crisp clear sounds and decent bass. It's certainly miles better than the sound from my TV's tinny speakers! I've not set up the rear two speakers because I haven't yet faced the horror of trying to conceal wires around the edge of the room! The sub can at times be a little overpowering, but for movies I really like the floor to shake. I bought this kit because it was pretty cheap and it had quite good reviews. It does everything I want it for - no complaints at all. I have another surround sound system upstairs for use with my PC - that one is a cheap Logic 3 system and the Sony one is definitely better.
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