Tag : dream system, sony dav, home theater, fx100w wireless

Company : Sony List Price : $1,000.00 Amazon Price : Used Price : Average customer review :

Features

• Complete home theater system with 5-disc DVD changer and integrated AM/FM receiver
• Wireless DIAT system to rear speakers ensures pure audio reproduction without deterioration
• Provides 1000 watts of total power (143 watts per channel, 285-watt subwoofer)
• 2 composite in, 1 composite out, 1 S-Video out, 1 component out, 1 HDMI out, 1 coaxial audio in, 1 optical audio in
• Compatible with DVD movie, CD audio, SACD, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW, and VCD discs; MP3 and JPEG

Product Description

The ultimate question in setting up a home-theater surround system is how to track the wires to the rear speakers. Among couples, this wiring is often a dispute. So Sony has developed a wireless way of connecting the rear speakers. Sony introduces DIAT as a means of keeping everyone in the family happy and to introduce an easier method to appreciate home-theater surround sound without the mess of all the wires. Front, center, and subwoofer speakers are wired to the main unit that consists of a 5-Disc DVD CD Changer and Player, as well as an integrated AM/FM radio. At 1000 Watts of power and with DIAT, this Sony Dream System is truly a dream come true. Coaxial / Optical input Precision Cinema Progressive Multi Stereo and Virtual Surround modes MP3 / JPEG Playback on CDR or CDRW discs DTD (Digital Direct Twin Drive) Subwoofer 4 Floor-standing Speakers (2-way height adjustable) with Nano-Fine Tweeter for Front/Surround Speakers DIAT (Digital Infrared Audio Transmission) Wireless Front-to-Rear Speaker System - Total 1000W (143W x 5 +285W) Aluminum top plate Pre Programmed Remote with THEATRE SYNC (SONY TV Direct)

Customer reviews

Looks good …. BUT….
As with the other reviews, I bought it for it’s design and wireless rear speakers feature, and it’s a Sony, so it must be good! Ha!

The CD/DVD player is in fact the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve had a few over the years. I would much rather have a single disk system that works well, instead of this 5 disk system that gets ‘lost in space’… It’s extremely s.l.o.w and frustrating to use. I’ve owned this unit for over a year and my wife still won’t touch it, as she see’s the frustration I go through everytime I use the CD/DVD player (or try to anyway). The sound is only middle of the road … not worth what I paid.

Sorry Sony … never again, there’s too many other units on the market !

Basically junk
I bought this system a year ago, a family gift for Xmas. Christmas Eve this year, it swallowed a rented DVD and wouldn’t let it go until I attacked it with screwdrivers. Now it seems to work again, but I’m going to dump it in the trash anyway.

Basically, it’s a piece of junk:

1. The sound is like it’s coming up from a pool of mud.

2. The DVD player is slo-o-o-ow, and the control over DVD playing poor. My $69 Toshiba DVD player is worlds better mechanically.

3. The whole system is made up of proprietary components, so if you decide on a new amp/receiver/DVD player, you’re out of luck. The speakers have to go too. Maybe it’s all for the best.

Mine is out the door tomorrow morning. I’m only afraid this may be a discontinued model, and no one will have the chance to benefit from this opinion.

I can’t believe they call this junk “Sony”
I have had this system for 9 monthis now, and I am sure this is the worst piece of AV equipment I have ever owned. Sony is usually known for quality products, but it this case I am afraid they rested on their laurels and delivered a poorly designed and poorly manufactured piece of equipment to the market.

The worst part is that I have had numerous problems with it. Occasionaly it fails to recognize CD/DVD inserted after you turn it off and back on. On other occasions it completely locks up. The first time it happened I had to call Sony customer support and find out the secret combination of buttons to press to unlock it. Now, after about 9 months of use, it has taken on a habit of completely shutting down with a message “PROTECT UNPLUG”. The only way to bring it back to life is to unplug it and plug it back in after a few minutes. There is nothing wrong with my electric wiring — I have checked, and the system is plugged into a fairly expensive surge protector/power conditioner. I am not sure whether to go through the trouble of fixing it — at this point it’s just not worth it because of all the other things I despise about this system.

First off, CDs and DVDs take forever to load. To insert a disk one has to press an “Eject” button and then listen carefully for about two minutes while the system rearranges itself and lets you finally insert the disk. If you missed your chance — tough luck, start all over. Second, it is a royal pain to use — any configuration apart from the basic settings is as convoluted as it can possbly be. On screen menus, a standard on most systems, now do not exist, and the manual is a joke. Third, the FM radio is awful. I went out and spent money on an expensive FM antenna — still, my cheap clock radio gets better reception. Fourth, there are other annoying little things about this system which are too numerous to list in this review.

Finally, I don’t share people’s opinion that the sound is all that great. It’s average. Out-of-the-box it is way too heavy on bass. The wireless feature is nice — I admit, and that was the reason I bought it. But I would not buy it again (or probably another piece of Sony equipment) in a million years now. I could live with wires running around my room, or even just a two-speaker system rather than deal with this piece of junk. Shame on Sony for slapping their name on this lemon.

good speakers, many inputs/outputs, poor controls, slow changer….
SPEAKERS: The speakers have good sounding quality, especially the bass module. The system has a bass boost feature (and they really mean BOOST) that would rage any ghetto parties you may happen to throw. Mid-range frequencies are decent, but high-end is only ok sounding. Rear speakers seems decent, but sometimes weak, though you can change that by experimenting with combinations of DTS sound settings and speaker range/ distance in the menu. Sony’s proprietary wires make connections easy, but if you ever need a replacement, it would really be a hassle to get one or splice one yourself. To summarize the speakers:

Pros: wireless rear speakers, great bass module, adjustable stands for the speakers

Cons: proprietary wires, just-ok high end frequencies, rear speakers need customizing for better sound

CD/DVD PLAYER: Loading a disc is really not intuitive and really slow - I have changers that are 5 years older and they change much faster than this one! Also, the changer can NOT accept commands while a disc is starting up/ initializing. Unlike Sony’s, most players will queue your commands so that they are executed as soon as the disc has started up. For instance, say you load up a disc and want to skip to track #3 right away; the Sony changer will not accept commands until AFTER the disc has started up, which usually takes 8 seconds. My other changers, which are 5 years older, will accept commands and initialize in half the time! 8 seconds may not seem like a lot, but when you use the player every day, you’ll find it to be quite annoying.

Pro’s: HDMI output, optical audio input

Con’s: slow changer, slow disc start up, poor command queuing

REMOTE: The worst feature of the system! The remote is really non-intuitive and lots of features need to be accessed via an on-screen menu, which means you need to turn on your TV just to customize your music selection. It provides buttons for rarely used features, while has none for useful, common functions like shuffle, disc selection, memory selection, etc. Whoever designed the remote functionality is mentally deranged!

Pro’s: slim & clean profile; controls basic functions of TV

Con’s: non-intuitive interface, lots of features need accessing via a TV menu, no buttons for useful common functions, buttons for rarely used features; this remote SUCKS!

Overall, I got this system because of its decent sound and wireless rear speakers. I can tolerate the ridiculous remote because I have a much better one which I can program the functions. Also, I have a secondary changer just for CD’s so that I don’t have to use the changer’s convoluted menu system. If wireless rear speakers and inputs/ outputs are not important to you, then this system is not the right fit and overpriced.

Broken within hours. JUNK!
I ordered this item after reading the positive reviews here. BIG MISTAKE. Upon setting everything up, it all worked great for about two hours… then the dreaded “UNPLUG/PROTECT” screen came up. Now it won’t turn on but for a few moments before returning to protect mode. (and no, it’s not a short in the wires or overheating… it protects even when stone cold, and with no speakers plugged in) I called sony and they say it is a short in the box. So now my two options are to unhook everything, repack EXACTLY the way it came to me and reship back to the online store I bought it from (with enormous hastle and expense) or take the receiver in to a sony authorized service center (which happens to be across town, and only open monday-friday, 9-5pm. So much for being convenient). This thing is brand new and already needs repairs!!

On top of that, even out of the box, NONE of the video inputs worked. Audio was fine, but video was dead as a doornail, right from the start.

And even on top of the fact that this machine CAME broken… it sucks even when it works right! The DVDs take forever to load, and it comes with HDMI out, but NO HDMI IN! So if you’re an HDMI user, I hope you have multiple HDMI inputs on your television… one for your cable box, one for this crappy system.

This is a piece of junk. For the love of god, don’t waste your money.