Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I had been in the market for a set of inexpensive bookshelf speakers when I stumbled across this brand new model Sony system at a local retailer. For the price, this unit is pretty hard to beat, with a fairly extensive feature list and only a few drawbacks.
This unit is the brand new "step up" to the popular HDX265 model system. The speakers are the same, but this unit adds digital dolby decoding, additional digital input capability (important for decoding Digital Dolby from satellite or cable boxes) and support for the new "S-AIR" system that allows wireless connectivity to other rooms in the home.
Sound quality from this setup is good, although not impressive if you are used to higher end sound from seperate components. Certainly good enough for use in a bedroom or other application (I put this in a small workout room). Sound quality is better than most shelf systems in the same price range and should give most other all-in-one-box systems a good run for their money.
Setup is extremely simple with color coded wires for all of the different speakers. Unfortunately the wires terminate to special connectors that plug into the back of the main unit. This would make extending/replacing the wires a pain. The unit includes a microphone and a nifty auto-calibration feature that sets all of the speaker levels correctly with a few taps on the remote control.
The remote control itself is handy, but on the cheap side.. it's pretty basic but gets the job done. It will control all of the unit functions and even allow for basic control of an iPod that is connected to the included iPod dock. The remote control can also be programmed to control most model TVs.
DVD output from this unit is very good and the HDMI output is great for quick and easy cabling to an HDMI equipped flat panel HDTV. DVD startup and controls were quite snappy and the unit can hold up to 5 CDs or DVD in the built in cartridge. The unit will up-convert DVD to 1080P resolution over the HDMI output. While not nearly as good looking as my Blu-Ray player, it will still look quite good on most small to medium sized TVs.
The best features of this unit are the HDMI output, extra inputs (one digital and one analog), iPod dock (which works with the remote control) and DVD up-conversion.
There are drawbacks, as there always are with these all-in-one deals. The iPod dock doesn't have any onscreen output or control, which is a bit of a drag since you can't see what's on the iPod screen from across the room. The main unit is physically quite deep (about 15 inches) which means it won't fit on smaller shelves. Also annoying is the lack of any bass or treble control.
The unit has two sound modes, "movie" and "music" and a bass enhancer (which I turned off as it made the bass sound boomy and obnoxious for music listening). There is no stereo 5.1 mode which would allow for output to all 5 speakers from regular stereo sources like an iPod. Instead the unit has a 4 channel matrix mode that uses the main, rear and subwoofer speakers for stereo. This is kind of a shame since the center channel speaker is the clearest sounding one of the bunch. The center channel does sound decent when watching or listening to TV and DVD sources.
Overall I can safely give this system 4 stars. The sound is quite good for a sub $300 system, the DVD player with up-conversion is great, and the unit has just enough flexibility through the extra inputs and wireless add-on options to be useable for quite some time. Certainly it fits the bill as a stereo/DVD-player for my workout room.
//update as of 4/23/2008.
A couple of other little nit picks discovered with this sytem. I've discovered that the sound mode, bass and other settings aren't memorized per input. In other words if you are watching a DVD and have the sound mode in "movie" and have the bass turned up and then switch the input to the one for the iPod it is still in the same sound mode. This is a bit inexcusable considering that even dirt cheap budget AV receivers can remember the settings for each input seperately.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony DAV-HDX275 BRAVIA 5-Disc DVD/CD Player 5.1 Channel Home Theater System, Black
The Sony DAV-HDX275 BRAVIA Theater System includes an integrated 5 DVD / CD changer, 1000 watts of home theater power, and an included iPod dock. Using exclusive Sony technology, S-AIR brings the promise of multi room audio distribution that most anyone can set-up, it's that easy. DAV-HDX275 comes equipped with Digital Media Port that works with various accessories (sold separately). The DAVHDX275 can control a select number of BRAVIA televisions with BRAVIA Sync via the HDMI interface. With "One Touch Play," operations that took several steps have been reduced to one. Also, HDMI interface upscales DVD media up to 1080p. This BRAVIA System optimizes speaker placement in just 30 seconds with Digital Cinema Auto Calibration.
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