Customer Reviews

Sony BRAVIA 5 Disc HDMI Home Theater System

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is for the HDX 501W.

We bought a Bose 321 and returned it to the store (see my review on it). We then bought this much cheaper system, fully expecting to be disappointed and exchange it for the expensive Bose Lifestyle Systems - the cheapest of which is 3 times the price of the Bravia.

However, we were pleasantly surprised, it has done well. The sound is good. The wireless rear speakers provide good support.

We watched a DVD - and I thought a neighbor had shot off a rocket; one of the speakers was near a window and was playing a rocket being fired!

- it has a 1080p upconvertor DVD player

- rear speakers connect wirelessly

- microphone + player configures speakers to acoustics of room

- front speakers have stands, there is an ipod connector

- hdmi output to connect to hdtv

If there is any con, it is that there is not too much control for the subwoofer. Some tracks have a thump even with dynamic bass turned off; my wife doesnt like not being able to turn it off; we shall read the manual someday to learn how to!

Otherwise, excellent value. I am quite satisfied.

Really a great system. Keep in mind those rear speakers hook to an amp that reqires 110v. I had a little problem finding 110v for these speakers. All together it took me about three hours to get the system hooked up and working. Really a unique way to balance out all of the speakers.

Picture quality is very good - upconverted DVD's have much better picture quality than with nonupconverted DVD's on an analog TV. Volume doesn't go very high - "normal" volume on DVD's is close to Max. Would have preferred faster single disk DVD changer to the slow, noisy multidisc changer provided. Not as many inputs onthe back as I would like. The large number of parts in the box were intimidating, however it went together easily.

I bought the HDX 501W and Im very happy with the sound and picture quality. (It is also compatable with a Blu Ray Player.) It upscales all of my older dvd's to look new again. However...a few of my older rewrite dvds are not compatable with this player. Set up took me about 3.5 hours and is very simple. Follow the owners manual step by step. Concert dvd's sound amazing! You can hear every note with a clarity that is similar to being there live. Before buying this system I had purchased a 5.1 Panasonic with wireless speakers and it was horrible. I returned it and found the Sony Bravia to be my new favorite addition to my home. Great system for the price. I love it.

I have to question whether some of the reviews posted about this product are real. The functionality of the sony bravia surround system is very poor. The only good thing about this receiver is the picture quality! it sounded ok for watching movies (maybe 3 out of 5 stars), but if you ever plan to listen to a cd dont bother! A $20 walmart boom box would sound far superior.

cons:

-doesnt use standard speaker connections(so you can only use the cheap speaker wire they included)

-no treble or bass control

-no night listening feature

-no phono plug

-only two rca inputs

-poor sound quality

-weak bass (compared to cheaper units with powered sub woofers)

-if your listening to music and you want to turn up the sub woofer you have to stop listening and scroll through the functions to find dvd, turn on your tv, stop the dvd from playing after you wait several seconds for it to load, go into menu and scroll to the bottom, then scroll through that menu to select sub woofer, exit, scroll back through functions several functions and if you pass it then you have to start from the beginning of the functions list.

-very slow cd changing

pros

-good picture quality

-remembers dvds when you eject

the bottom line is this receiver boasts about features, but in actuality the features that are useful are non existent. From a company like sony I would expect that they would hire a human factors engineer to help design their products (and if they did....he/she should be FIRED!!). Its clear that sony made a cheap product in order to make money instead of making the customer happy. I dont think this stereo even deserves a star! Other stereo systems in this price range are a thousand times better for sound, features, and usability. I paid $350 for my DAV-HDX501w, everything worked like new, but it still was not worth the price.

Picked one from local Sams club for 477. In my view this is below average home theatre system.

1. Not so many connections. It should be 1080P/24 and should have HDMI in. Then only you can connect any BD / HD player or PS3 for high quality sound.

2. Sound is fine but not many controls. Not so friendly Remote or on-screen display. Should have EQ displayed at least.

3. Bravia synchronization, Wireless speakers and iPOD doc are nice features I fell for. Anyway spent 3 hours to unpack, install & Learn. I wish to adjust with this system since I do not have much time to return / exchange.

I advise to go for a better BD/HD home theatre system even if you need to wait for. Do not care much for Bravia synchronization though the feature is nice.

Well, you'd think that a component with "HD" in its name would indicate that it would actually play HD format discs... NOT SO!!! 8-(

While the Sony DAV-HDS501W seems like it should play HD discs, it only plays the following formats:

DVD VIDEO

DVD-RW/DVD-R

DVD+RW/DVD+R

VIDEO CD (Ver 1.1 and 2.0 discs)/Audio CD

CD-RW/CD-R (audio data) (MP3 files) (JPEG files)