Customer Reviews

Sony DAV-FR8 5-Disc Progressive Scan DVD Dream System

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

 

 

Only seven out of the ten movies I have attempted to watch would play in the DAV-FR8 dream system. The three movies that would not play, however, do play in my $30 DVD player on my computer. The laser system in the DAV-FR8 seems to be finicky. This is a big problem if you rent movies. When renting movies for this system, make sure the DVDs look perfect before you leave the store.

Other drawbacks include:
1. Very thin speaker wire. I switched to thicker speaker wire, more power was delivered to the speakers(**). If you purchase this system, you might want to consider picking up the Monster Cable Front and Center Speaker cable set for Kenwood systems. The gold plated Kenwood connectors in the Monster kit also fit this Sony dream system.
2. The user interface is very poorly designed. For example, you cannot change some system settings while a DVD is playing. As another example, when you power up the system with a DVD, the system will prevent you from doing anything until it reads the DVD. Consequently, if you want to change a system setting (e.g., progressive scan), you must wait until the system starts playing the DVD first, and then you have to stop it to get to the menu that allows you to reconfigure the television type.
3. Other user interface complaints: You will need to have the user manual in hand while using the setup features, as the menu system is complex and non-intuitive.
4. Although this system can hold up to 5 DVDs, disc changes are very slow.
5. The remote is thin. This might be a plus, as it is sleek and elegant. However, I prefer the bulkier remote that came with my Sony television.

Pluses:
1. Although not specified in the advertisements or broachers I came across, the DAV-FR8 system plays VCDs and SVCDs, even ones recorded on my computer. This is only a plus if you watch VCDs and SVCDs, however.
2. At the time of this review, a $200 rebate is available if you buy this system and certain Sony televisions.
3. The system is aesthetically pleasing.
4. The sound is perfectly adequate.
5. The EZ room setup works well, once you find it in the poorly designed user interface.

(**) Thicker speaker wire is lower resistance, and allows more power to be delivered to the speaker. In a qualitative comparison I performed while installing thicker speaker wire, thicker speaker wire seemed to provide a 2-3 dB gain in volume.

The picture and sound quality of this product is over-all very good. My unit was purchased primarily for viewing DVD's in a theater type atmosphere, surrounded by sound, at least from those DVD's which provide true surround sound. However, a problem with the laser reader has turned my "Dreamtheater" into "Nightmare theater".

To expand on the comments contained in the review by Michael Morgan, the system has trouble with certain DVD's. Specifically, they will start out fine and then at some point the unit will totally lock-up. When this happens the unit needs to be unplugged and plugged in again to unlock it. This happens with perhaps 20% to 30% of the DVD's that I have played in it. However, contrary to Mike Morgan's comment that you have to be paticularly careful about disc quality (especially if renting), I am having just as many problems with brand new discs fresh out of the box. I am also beginning to suspect that it is having a harder time reading dics with the complex audio data found on many of the discs heavy in surround sound, which leads me to believe that the problem isn't specifically related to minor scratches or imperfections seen on the disc. Any of the DVD's that I have had problems with in the FR-8 will play perfectly in any one of the other generally inexpensive players that I have scattered about in other rooms of the house.

I have had this unit into Sony for service three times for a total of three months out of the eight months that I have owned it. The problem has not yet been corrected and will be going in for a fourth time. I will be urging Sony to replace the unit with a new one, even though I have doubts (based on comments by other owners) that a new unit will function any differently.

So while the system generally looks and sounds good, the problems with the laser reader may turn a quiet evening of watching a movie into a frustrating experience. What should be a 4 star review can be given no more than 2 based on this significant problem.

we bought this system 3 or so years ago and had it professionally installed. sound is fine for our smallish living room, and even sounds amazing when playing DVDs with true surround sound - like a movie theater. but it is difficult to program for different attributes (sound type, "night sound" off or on, and myriad other functions i have yet to figure out). the buttons and their descriptions are tiny and often extremely unclear as to their purpose. also, as other reviewers have noted, the CD/DVD slots don't indicate when it's time to put a CD/DVD in when changing, nor is it easy to figure out which CD/DVD is in which slot. but the worst thing, as far as i'm concerned, is the incredibly LONG amount of time it spends in-between CDs - especially when played on random shuffle as i prefer to do. seems like it gets hung up and cycles almost endlessly. makes me actually reluctant to put a bunch of CDs in and try to listen for any length of time.

We have had to send the unit in 5 times to be repaired, will not play most DVD's, it had been a constant problem every 2-3 months. It may look nice but it is a dresses up piece of junk.

I got this system thinking that the quality would be very good to excellent. I was extremely disappointed and returned the item to Amazon.com within a month of my purchase. The CD's/DVD's take forever for them to play and the machine doesn't indicate when you stick a disc in and when you wait. There is no carousel for the 5 discs so you have no idea which CD is in which slot at the time. The sound quality is only average. If you are an audiophile, you will be very disappointed. If you don't mind average sounding music but like staying on a budget, this might work for you. It looks nice though.

I have this system for 5 months now and i am very happy with it. The audio and video quality it's great. A bit pricely but you get what you pay for.