Sony BRAVIA DAV-HDX587WC 5.1-Channel Theater System (Black)
by Sony
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List Price: Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony BRAVIA DAV-HDX587WC 5.1-Channel Theater System (Black)
Customer Review: Great system; minor flaws to know about.
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this system to:
1. Save space! Its footprint is so much smaller than my gargantuan TEAC receiver with KLH speakers and Polk subwoofer.
2. Improve the home theater experience with the update as well - going from a franken-system to a streamlined one-brand approach.
I was so skeptical while taking out all the big components from my old system, and replacing them with these tiny speakers. So skeptical in fact that I left both systems in place to compare. I shouldn't have wasted my time: For the price (under three hundred at dell), this system far exceeded my expectations. Sound was full and rich, the subwoofer handled REALLY well even though it's not powered, and the highs were spectacular. Watched the newest James Bond to hear rattling explosions, whispers, glass shards falling... everything came through really well.
Pros:
- After setup, there's a microphone that you can set where you would listen - then press a button and the stereo will calibrate the sound for the theater setup. I did this right away after reading the suggestion on many reviews, so not sure how well it worked but sounds fantastic.
- The iPod dock will work with newer ipods and iphones - and would even play Pandora off my iphone. Sounds great. Also it charges the ipod/iphone. Bonus!
- Much less clutter for a lot of sound.
- The included s-air speaker works great so long as you are not going through too many walls. Someone could be watching a movie on the main unit while the s-air speaker is connected to radio. Haven't used it too much yet, but will be handy.
Gripes:
- Expect to read through some of the manual during installation and initial setup. There are some great features to the system but they aren't presented very well.
- The s-air speaker that comes with this system seems to fool some buyers into thinking this is a wireless home theater system. It is far from that out of the box - it has only ONE wireless auxiliary speaker that is not home-theater quality. You can of course purchase more wireless technology from Sony.
- The s-air feature seems like it may be interfering with my internet wifi. Need to investigate more. Allegedly, you can change 'channels' for the s-air units, so may not be a problem.
- Biggest gripe: The wires. No one ever seems to get this right... They are not long enough, especially the front L and R speakers and subwoofer. Yes, Sony does use their own 'proprietary' connection from the rear of the unit, but you can splice somewhere in the middle and add a few feet of wire. It's kind of ridiculous design and some setup time I'd really rather have avoided.
- You have VERY limited options of feeding anything else into this system. There is a optical digital audio input, only one RCA audio input, and a 1/8 audio aux plug in the front.
- DVD changer. NOT blu-ray. Not a problem for me, but worth mentioning.
All in all the system sounds incredible and saved a lot of space. The tower speakers in the front look really nice. But - if you happen to have a few components you expected to plug into this system (well, anything more than one component really), you might look somewhere else. Sony seems to want this to be the 'all-inclusive' system and for some reason you don't have the option to plug much else into it.
Hope this helps some potential buyers.
Customer Review: Not impressed.
Summary: 3 Stars
Lots of people rate this receiver highly because of all the features. I suppose if you are a real audiophile, these might be important to you. But I am an ordinary Joe, and all I want to do is to be able to watch TV and listen to an occasional CD or watch a DVD. I thought that buying a Sony system to go along with a new Sony Bravia TV would let me do these things easily. Not so much. The system certainly works and does what is advertised, but forget about a "one remote system". You need both remotes and have to navigate through a series of menus on both systems just to make a simple change from TV to CD, for instance. Oh, the included wireless air speakers work fine if you are within 10 feet of the main unit. Try going 25 into the kitchen and forget it. Technically, this sytem is good, but from a consumer usability standpoint, it lacks a lot. I'm looking for another system already.