Sony AVD-LA1800PKG Theater System
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- Main Speakers Power Output: 50 Watts
- Included Components: DVD Player
- Number Of Speakers: 5 Speakers and Subwoofer
- Subwoofer Power Output: 100 Watts
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I took mine back
Pros
Not a bad price, Looks nice
Cons
Picture quality, Sound
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
If you want an entry level DVD/CD/AMP in a convenient little box with nice sound it could be the one. Otherwise build your system from pieces.
Recently my JVC DVD player died, the laser waved a last goodbye while playing some Disney movie to my daughter.
I took it in to be looked at and the verdict was not a good one, it's been sat on the back seat of my wife's car ever since.
So I started looking around for a replacement.
The long discussions over speaker size had finally made me think it could be time for a change anyway and yes I caved to the pressure of a woman.
The discussion in the store however was disconcerting because it led down the path of removing key stereo items (such as tape deck and CD player, the record deck has already been sent to the basement).
So with some fluttering of eyelids and the phrase "you can get whatever you want..." (yes the two and a half grand Bose Lifestyle did spring to mind :-0 ), but I chose the Sony 700.
Just to clarify things, when a woman says anything you want, they don't actually mean it, there are always conditions. And I'm not talking about "you can sleep with me but you'd better buy dinner and stay the night" type conditions, I'm talking you can buy that but you'd better get rid of all your stuff so you can "hide" the sub-woofer type deal and so it was.
OK so I have the neat if not weighty box in the living room and I eagerly unwrap the system and swap out my old system for the new. Just for your information I had a Yamaha Natural Sound receiver with 5 surround speakers (2 rather large front fellas), a Kenwood 5 disc CD and a Kenwood tape deck, the JVC DVD is dead (keep up).
Now I had been warned in the shop that if I didn't like the system I could bring it back for a full refund.
So "together" we set the system up and pull out all the old, down to the basement it went.
It really doesn't take a moment to set up, it's all color coded and there is plenty of speaker wire (so you don't have to run it under the rug).
It looks great, I have a Sony VCR and together it does look the business.
The remote is fairly straight forward though a couple of the buttons didn't seem to be in the right place but that could just be me.
This was the end of the fairy tale though.
I turned the system on and within the week I had a list of 4 or 5 issues (I have issues but you should have been able to tell that by now).
1. The picture quality is not great (between you and I, I'd barely call it good).
2. The system holds 5 films and/or CD's which convinced me to remove the CD player I had. The speed at which the system changes from one disc to another is frustrating to say the least, I have been caught shouting at it ! Yes it really is that slow. It will continue to play though while you swap a disc though.
3. This should have been #1 because this is the reason I took it back. It's just not loud enough ! I sort of knew this when I bought it but in a wide open store with high ceilings, who knew? I went for the 700 because it held 5 discs but also because it was rated 350W. My old amp was/is 280W so I thought I would be OK. I have had this system on full volume (40) and I can live with it, I had to run it at at least half most of the time and could easily put it up to 30 for DVD's. Living room is about 16ft by 14ft with high ceilings.
Now I have to admit that it does sound nice (the cubes had a bit too much treble for me but the subwoofer adds the missing bass). And the surround capability is really obvious.
4. The Subwoofer although adjustable annoys the hell out of everyone who listens to it. It vibrates way too much. This was especially annoying when listening to CD's.
So in short (not my way but here we go)
It looks nice
It sounds nice
It doesn't take up any space (speakers included)
It's easy to setup
It has a component output
It's not bad value at about $500
BUT
It's not loud enough
The picture from DVD isn't great
There is a severe lack of inputs on the back
The disc change is painfully slow
I took it back and bought a progressive scan DVD player -Picture and Sound - AWESOME.
And yes the Yamaha is back, so is the CD player and the big speakers and it sounds great !
I took it in to be looked at and the verdict was not a good one, it's been sat on the back seat of my wife's car ever since.
So I started looking around for a replacement.
The long discussions over speaker size had finally made me think it could be time for a change anyway and yes I caved to the pressure of a woman.
The discussion in the store however was disconcerting because it led down the path of removing key stereo items (such as tape deck and CD player, the record deck has already been sent to the basement).
So with some fluttering of eyelids and the phrase "you can get whatever you want..." (yes the two and a half grand Bose Lifestyle did spring to mind :-0 ), but I chose the Sony 700.
Just to clarify things, when a woman says anything you want, they don't actually mean it, there are always conditions. And I'm not talking about "you can sleep with me but you'd better buy dinner and stay the night" type conditions, I'm talking you can buy that but you'd better get rid of all your stuff so you can "hide" the sub-woofer type deal and so it was.
OK so I have the neat if not weighty box in the living room and I eagerly unwrap the system and swap out my old system for the new. Just for your information I had a Yamaha Natural Sound receiver with 5 surround speakers (2 rather large front fellas), a Kenwood 5 disc CD and a Kenwood tape deck, the JVC DVD is dead (keep up).
Now I had been warned in the shop that if I didn't like the system I could bring it back for a full refund.
So "together" we set the system up and pull out all the old, down to the basement it went.
It really doesn't take a moment to set up, it's all color coded and there is plenty of speaker wire (so you don't have to run it under the rug).
It looks great, I have a Sony VCR and together it does look the business.
The remote is fairly straight forward though a couple of the buttons didn't seem to be in the right place but that could just be me.
This was the end of the fairy tale though.
I turned the system on and within the week I had a list of 4 or 5 issues (I have issues but you should have been able to tell that by now).
1. The picture quality is not great (between you and I, I'd barely call it good).
2. The system holds 5 films and/or CD's which convinced me to remove the CD player I had. The speed at which the system changes from one disc to another is frustrating to say the least, I have been caught shouting at it ! Yes it really is that slow. It will continue to play though while you swap a disc though.
3. This should have been #1 because this is the reason I took it back. It's just not loud enough ! I sort of knew this when I bought it but in a wide open store with high ceilings, who knew? I went for the 700 because it held 5 discs but also because it was rated 350W. My old amp was/is 280W so I thought I would be OK. I have had this system on full volume (40) and I can live with it, I had to run it at at least half most of the time and could easily put it up to 30 for DVD's. Living room is about 16ft by 14ft with high ceilings.
Now I have to admit that it does sound nice (the cubes had a bit too much treble for me but the subwoofer adds the missing bass). And the surround capability is really obvious.
4. The Subwoofer although adjustable annoys the hell out of everyone who listens to it. It vibrates way too much. This was especially annoying when listening to CD's.
So in short (not my way but here we go)
It looks nice
It sounds nice
It doesn't take up any space (speakers included)
It's easy to setup
It has a component output
It's not bad value at about $500
BUT
It's not loud enough
The picture from DVD isn't great
There is a severe lack of inputs on the back
The disc change is painfully slow
I took it back and bought a progressive scan DVD player -Picture and Sound - AWESOME.
And yes the Yamaha is back, so is the CD player and the big speakers and it sounds great !
