good value

remote
cheap/small speakers

This setup gives decent home theater sound. As the other reviewer noted, it does lack DTS, but I haven't seen many movies with this feature. The sub kicks out a respectable amount of bass. The tiny satelite speakers are good for theatre, but I just blew the front ones. I was playing Garbage 2.0, at about 5.5 on the volume , and both front speakers blew out. I'll be buying some decent front speakers to handle music at good volume levels, I can't recommend this system to anyone except for home theater applications.

Similar Products Used:

none

Price, quality of sound, subwoofer

No DTS decoder in receiver, no S-video connections, remote

This is a great value for the buck. At less that $600, you get a full HTS full of great sound. The VERY small, yet clear crisp speakers really do a good job with the mids and highs. I was really impressed with the subwoofer. The subwoofer really pumps out the bass nicely. The receiver has a good amount of power and a boatload of presets, BUT the only drawback is it only has a DD 5.1 decoder and NOT a DTS decoder, plus it does not have any S-video connections(although it has plenty of composite).

The only thing I found horrible about this setup was the horrendous remote. Sony calls it a remote commander, yet it could hardly command its own receiver, nevermind other components. The function keys are off-white keys with light green lettering...absolutely impossible to read. Plus, I had to sift thru(very thoroughly) the manual in order to find out how to change the function of the standby button. This button was preprogrammed to turn everything off but NOT turn it back on... what were they thinking(after reprogramming, it turns things on AND off)! None of the codes worked for my Magnavox CD player and most of the other components it did control, only had limited functionality. VERY pathetic attempt at a remote. If you look pas the remote(or get a Radio Shack 15-1994 for $30, like I did), this system delivers great sound for the buck.

Receiver, Digital Fiber Optic Jacks for DVD Audio

Speakers

Fantastic home theater Receiver and with horrible speakers. With such a high quality receiver, it's a mystery why Sony would throw in such cheap little speakers. The front, center and rear speakers have absolutely no bass and the subwoofer is expected to provide all of the lows. Listening to the system with the subwoofer off is like having five transistor radios scattered around your living room.
After listening to my roommate's Boston Acoustic speakers for three years, I'd become accustomed to high quality sound in a home theater package. I moved out and bought my the Sony system and was initially let down by the sound and was thinking about returning the system. Luckily I had an extra set of KLH bookshelfs that my father got free with a TV that he bought. I hooked them up and realized how fantastic the receiver was. Now I just need to replace the center channel and I'm all set.
I would recommend buying the receiver and other speakers separately if possible.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustic