Customer Reviews

Sony DAV-HDZ273 DVD Home Theater System

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a graduate student on a limited budget. After spending a week researching home theater systems, I decided to purchase this Sony HTS, because of Sony's stellar reputation and the simplicity of not having to buy separate components. I've had the system for several days now, and I just LOVE it.

If you follow the owner's manual step by step, the system is easy to set up. The speaker wires are color coded which makes that part of the set up very simple. I have the DVD/Receiver connected to my cable box/DVR; so, I had to buy an RCA cable & an HDMI cable. These cables cost less than $10 each if you buy them online.

I'm not an audiophile; however, I enjoy watching movies and listening to music channels on my TV. I think the system's sound quality and bass are excellent. I'm very happy with my purchase and highly recommend this HTS.

After researching for months, I (31 yr old guy who likes technology) bought this system ($210.79 out the door) using site to store. It arrived early and in perfect condition. This is my first real (5.1) home theatre system and I have to say I am very pleased after only a few days.
The system is hooked up to a 40" Samsung LCD TV. Set up (which is conveniently run through the TV) was a cinch including running surround cables under the baseboard around the room. The two surround wires are about 33' long and easily made it around my average-sized living room. My previous upconverting DVD player (Phillips) doesn't even touch the quality of this one, although the PS3 is still the way to go if you want the best picture quality. If you told me I was watching a Blue Ray, I probably wouldn't argue unless of course they were side by side. It has really nice darks and lights and very sharp lines (especially after the comparison to the old DVD player). The DVD player itself is a little deeper than anticipated (17"W x 14.5"D x 2.5"H). Don't forget to allow extra room for wires in back. I actually had to carve out the particle board backing to the bottom of the TV stand. Luckily my wife and I are purchasing a real TV stand very soon.
As far as sound goes, I have nothing to really compare to coming from an old two-speaker system. The auto calibration seemed to do the trick for now. I tested (and cranked up) a scene at the end of "The Rock" that has a mix of voice, deep lows, and crisp highs and the system performed flawlessly. It was cool to hear bullets bounce of the walls to my left and right. The bass is not overpowering, but certainly possesses some kick and settings can be changed to suit. The two front and two rear speakers are all identical. The subwoofer measures 8W" x 12.5D" x 12.75H".
Unfortunately, I think some companies adjust their prices according to review ratings, but I couldn't resist giving it 5 stars. I highly recommended this system for the price and quality unless you are a home theatre guru or something and need a million dollar system.

I had no doubt that this Sony system would be good when I chose it. This very reasonably priced unit turned out to be better than I expected. I have it set up in an average sized room but the clear sound can fill my entire house. I have it hooked up so that anything that I can see or hear on my tv comes through this unit; including the cable set top box, my existing DVD player, my tv's tuner and an additional music source. I used HDMI cables to hook up my existing DVD player and cable box and a Toslink Optical Cable to connect it to my tv for the best picture quality. DVD soundtracks are very theatre-like with resounding bass. It has all the power you need to turn up the volume with no distortion. Very impressive for such a compact speakers.

My first surround sound system purchase and would highly recommend this product. I hooked it up to my big screen and watching a football game is like you were there. Very simple to hook up and it is great to have the built in am/fm tuner as well as the ipod dock.

This system has definitely made my living room more like a theater. I love it. My only problem was in hooking up the speakers. The speaker plugs are specially shaped for the back of the receiver. My house was already wired for surround sound under the floor, so I had to splice the existing wires to the new wires in order to use the plugs...the wires with this system are VERY thin, which made it a bit of a pain.
This problem won't effect everyone. Five stars otherwise. The system is virtually idiot proof to put together, sounds great, and is wonderfully low profile. If I hadn't had to deal with splicing, I would have been watching a loud flick within 45 mins, including mounting the rear speakers.

A decent 5.1 system for $200. Lots of options and features. Easy set up, well if you've done this sort of thing before it is. The instruction book is almost pointless. Actually a couple things were just wrong. Like is says to hook the cable box up through the TV first and it'll magically go the wrong way through the cables back up to the system. Well, obviously if you want sound through the system, that doesn't work. At least for me it didn't. So I ran sound RCA cables from the cable box to the system and now I can watch regular TV with the surround system sound. I did use a HDMI cable to the TV for watching DVD's. Again, for the price, you won't find a better system.

I guess for the money you pay it is okay. Sound isn't audiophile quality but by the time you're immersed in whatever movie you're watching the sound is passable. Has a really bad habit of getting the sound out of sync with the TV program you're watching. I haven't,however,noticed it doing this with a movie.Possibly because I always use the built-in DVD player. To fix it you have to shut down both and restart.This is VERY disconserting.Over all,if I had to do it over,I would save my money and go with a different system/method of building a home theater sound system.I would buy what I know for sure is a quality receiver/monitor/amplifier and,seperately,a high quality set of speakers.For VERY casual viewing I guess it is okay. On a scale of one to ten I would give it a 6.5.

I first bought a crappy system from Radio Shack. After taking that one back I was on the net looking for this one. I found it at Wally World for $189.00 it had rave reviews so I ordered it. It arrived packaged nicely with all the parts in the box. After a easy installation the book goes step by step. I was totally impressed by the sound and features. I'm not a over the top sound person, but I do like the things I pay for to meet my expectations. The sound is awesome. They give you a good bang for the buck with this one. I set it up like the book advised and I can hear wind, rain and cheers. Now here is the best part it plays my iphone 3g, remote works with it and it sounds great, it even charges it. It does put it in airplane mode so you wont be able to accept any calls, but that wasn't a problem for me. So if you looking for a good system for a low price this is it. I have this set up to a 50' plasam Sanyo (which is also great for the price $598 black friday). Also I don't think Wally sells this anymore haven't been able to locate it since i ordered it. Good luck

Great sound and easy set up. Was very disappointed that it held only one CD/DVD. I thought 3-5 was just about standard on most units and didn't even think to check. I prefer to put in 5 CDs/DVDs, hit shuffle and that to me is Home entertainment.

It is working nicely. We have DVD recorder in another room. We record all our favorite progams there and play them on this system. The only drawback is trying to connect multiple devices to the speaker system.