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Review 2 of 3
Price Paid:
$335.00
from Insurer's World Summary:
Unfortunately, when this home theater system was delivered to my apartment, it had a slight scratch on the subwoofer from shipping. However, upon opening and setting it up, I found the system to be a very, very worthwhile purchase.
The system comes with the receiver, subwoofer, and the five surround speakers. All five speakers are identical, and can be placed upright or on their side, depending on your room's aesthetic setup. The speakers are large enough to produce a fairly wide range of tones, but not so large that they would appear intrusive. The design of the subwoofer is one of my favorite aesthetic qualities about the system - it's a slim-line design which fits quite nicely in small spaces, and complements the other speakers.
The receiver itself is a little larger and heavier than some, but at 100 Watts per channel (including the passive subwoofer), the power more than makes up for any spatial accomodations one might have to make. One of the selling points about the receiver for me was the number and variety of A/V inputs and outputs in back of the receiver. Very few of the other receivers I looked into had connections for component video, or more than one optical input (this one has 2).
Regarding the types of signals the receiver can decode, I've tested it with Dolby Surround, DTS, ProLogic II; the sound is great in each case. It even has some sound modes and effects which take basic mono and stereo signals, and play them in surround-sound. I love listening to my favorite music CD's with these features on; my favorite bands have never sounded so good, except maybe in concert.
The basic operation of the receiver is fairly simple, especially given the variety of inputs and sound modes. Some of the more advanced features were somewhat harder to learn, though; I still have to occasionally refer back to the manual to adjust some of the more technical features. I do enjoy being able to fine-tune the sound to my personal liking, however, and I'm still playing around with some of the features.
Overall, I'd have to say I would highly recommend this system. I love the way it looks in my living room and the sound quality is excellent. If you have the $300-$400 to spend, definitely consider this one. Strengths:
Aesthetic and spatial design. Sound quality in all audio modes. Power (100 Watts per channel is more than enough sound for any but the deaf, and even then the bass from the subwoofer is enough to be felt through one's shoes). Variety of audio/video connections. Weaknesses:
Size of the receiver (may be hard to accomodate in smaller spaces). Complexity of adjusting the more advanced features. Similar Products Used:
Sony HTDDW740
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