Sony DAV-S500 Theater System
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- Front Speaker: 2 Way
- Main Speakers Power Output: 40 Watts
- Included Components: DVD Player
- Number Of Speakers: 5 Speakers and Subwoofer
- Subwoofer Power Output: 80 Watts
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Exceeds my expectations!
Pros
Great sound at a great price.
Cons
Slow load speed.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
You can't buy a better home theater experience for the price.
Let me state this right off the bat: I love my Sony DAV-S500 Dream System. We paid $480 for the system, which comes with a subwoofer, two front speakers, two rear speakers, one center channel, a remote, and of course the main component itself.
The main component plays not just DVDs, but CDs and SACDs as well. It's also a receiver (and thus includes an antenna), for those of you who listen to the radio. Personally, we don't use our radio so we can't speak to its quality, though we do run our DirecTV digital music channels through the system and they sound great.
Frankly, I expected the system to be an improvement over our VCR, but not much in the way of a DVD/home theater system. Boy was I wrong (thankfully)! While no package system can compete with individually selected high-end components, it would take an audiophile to materially distinguish the experience this system offers from the experience offered by much more expensive systems (with the exception, of course, of available wattage).
The system puts out surprisingly rich sound, an experience that improved even further once we tailored the dimensions of our listening area (the Dream System allows you to log the dimensions of your listening area so that the system can optimize the sound distribution).
While the remote looks daunting at first, it becomes quite easy to use after one or two DVDs. The main functions are adjusting the sound fields (e.g. "Live House" for driving, thumping CDs, "Cinema B" for action DVDs, "Cinema C" for musicals, etc.), adjusting the functions (e.g. receiver, DVD, auxiliary), and navigating within the DVD itself (the DVD menu, arrow keys to select whether to play movie or view special features, etc.). Lots of buttons (which, once you learn them, means lots of functionality), but lots of ease in a very short period of time. Don't let its appearance fool you, you'll be using it flawlessly in no time.
The only knock on it, and it's a tiny one, is that it seems to take forever for the DVD tray to open to insert/remove a DVD. Once you've got the DVD in place, however, the system just rocks. I wouldn't have expected this much joy from a system costing twice as much.
If you're in the market for the best available DVD system, don't buy this one; buy a $10,000 or $20,000 system instead. If, however, you'd love an excellent home theater system but are on a budget, the DAV-S500 is the choice for you. Highly recommended.
The main component plays not just DVDs, but CDs and SACDs as well. It's also a receiver (and thus includes an antenna), for those of you who listen to the radio. Personally, we don't use our radio so we can't speak to its quality, though we do run our DirecTV digital music channels through the system and they sound great.
Frankly, I expected the system to be an improvement over our VCR, but not much in the way of a DVD/home theater system. Boy was I wrong (thankfully)! While no package system can compete with individually selected high-end components, it would take an audiophile to materially distinguish the experience this system offers from the experience offered by much more expensive systems (with the exception, of course, of available wattage).
The system puts out surprisingly rich sound, an experience that improved even further once we tailored the dimensions of our listening area (the Dream System allows you to log the dimensions of your listening area so that the system can optimize the sound distribution).
While the remote looks daunting at first, it becomes quite easy to use after one or two DVDs. The main functions are adjusting the sound fields (e.g. "Live House" for driving, thumping CDs, "Cinema B" for action DVDs, "Cinema C" for musicals, etc.), adjusting the functions (e.g. receiver, DVD, auxiliary), and navigating within the DVD itself (the DVD menu, arrow keys to select whether to play movie or view special features, etc.). Lots of buttons (which, once you learn them, means lots of functionality), but lots of ease in a very short period of time. Don't let its appearance fool you, you'll be using it flawlessly in no time.
The only knock on it, and it's a tiny one, is that it seems to take forever for the DVD tray to open to insert/remove a DVD. Once you've got the DVD in place, however, the system just rocks. I wouldn't have expected this much joy from a system costing twice as much.
If you're in the market for the best available DVD system, don't buy this one; buy a $10,000 or $20,000 system instead. If, however, you'd love an excellent home theater system but are on a budget, the DAV-S500 is the choice for you. Highly recommended.
