Sony HT-DDW750 Home Theatre System
Written: Feb 18 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great DTS sound, small speakers
Cons: Interface is clumsy, subwoofer buzzes
The Bottom Line: If it were not for the menu system, I would give this 5 stars.
|
|
|
| phungus's Full Review: Sony Sony HTD-DW740 Home Theater In-A-Box System |
Having recently moved into an apartment, I wanted to get a surround sound system to fill my 16x20 foot living room. I used to own a Sony 5.1 system and was very happy with it, so when I found this system at a great price - I decided to give it a try. I also purchased a Sony 5-disc carousel DVD player to go with it.
This receiver supports Dolby 5.1 surround as well as Dolby Digital DTS Sound. It also features a digital coaxial connection in the back for DVD audio, plus several more connections for your cable, VCR, tape deck, CD player, and so on. You can drive six different A/V components with this system. To get the most out of your DVD player, you should connect the sound using the digital audio cable, which was included with my DVD player.
Installation was easy enough. The most difficult part was finding ways to hide the wires. I do wish that Sony had color-coded the wire tips because they get to be a cluttered tangle in the back of the system. You have 1 center channel speaker and 4 satellite speakers, each with a positive and negative connection. This means you have 10 different individual wires to connect in the back. The included wires (@ 10’ for the front speakers and @ 30’ for the rear) were adequate for the size of my apartment, but additional speaker wire would be needed for a larger room.
Hooking up my DVD player was very easy. For the audio, I just connected the digital coaxial cable to the input on the receiver. For video, I used an S-video cable to connect directly into the back of my TV. When connecting a DVD player, you should always connect directly to the television, because due to copyright protection technology, the picture might be distorted if you connect it through a VCR or Cable box.
The receiver itself is the same width as my DVD player and most other Sony brand A/V products. However, it is only about 8 inches deep, meaning that you can’t stack anything on top of it. I would prefer to have my receiver on the bottom to help keep all the wires from getting tangled up in other components, but you just can’t do that with this one.
Adjusting the audio settings on this unit are a pain in the butt. Instead of including separate buttons or knobs for settings like bass, treble, or individual speaker volume, Sony decided to bury all your sound options into 4 little buttons. This means that if you want to turn up your center channel, you will need to sort through a menu with a dozen other options. My old Sony System had buttons to where I could adjust the volume for the center channel and rear speakers, and I didn’t have to go through all this hassle. Maybe Sony was trying for a more modern look with the receiver, to keep the front end nice and sleek without a whole lot of buttons, but all they did was make this product more tedious to use.
On top of the headaches with making sound adjustments, Sony decided to make the remote control silver. Not that I am all about color-coding or anything, but I found it a little annoying. The buttons do glow in the dark, which is helpful when watching movies in the dark.
Audio performance is superb with the DTS (Digital Theatre Sound). I watched The Lord of the Rings Two Towers special edition in DTS and was blown away by how good it sounded. However, I noticed some DVDs encoded in regular Dobly 5.1 require me to turn the volume up abnormally loud just to be able to hear everything clearly. I was watching an older movie where the original print was never intended for DVD, so this could explain the volume issues. I also watched the Star Wars trilogy special edition through my Sony HiFi VCR and it sounded very good for a VHS movie. The sound on VHS seems louder than on most DVD, but the clarity is not as good. Remember, volume does not equal clarity.
The included speakers are more than adequate for an average size living room. The 4 satellite speakers are surprisingly small, but deliver excellent sound performance. The center channel speaker delivers crisp voices and sound effects, while the thunderous 75-watt 8” subwoofer will surely upset the neighbors. I did notice that on some videos and with music, you don’t need to turn the sub all the way up or else you’ll get some flutter and distortion. With DVD’s, I usually turn the sub volume up to about 75%. In fact, I often get the impression that this system is capable of pushing a much larger subwoofer. Sometimes the sub will rattle and buzz under certain bass frequencies. I am not sure if something is loose in there or maybe something on the shelf next to it is rattling, but it can be annoying.
With what you get for the $350 price tag, this Sony home theatre system is a good deal. My only two real complaints about it are the clunky interface and the rattling subwoofer. Most major A/V component manufacturers have home theatre systems at comparable prices with nearly the same features, so be sure to take the time to play around with the other models to see what you like best. I purchased this system based on my satisfaction with a previous Sony home theatre system, but the next time I am in the market for a surround sound package, I am going to look at other brands. This newer unit did not impress me as much as the one I purchased several years ago.
Also, remember that if you purchase this setup and later decide to upgrade your receiver, you can hook any other receiver up to the included speakers. At least that way if you decided to upgrade, you won’t have to buy an entirely new system and you can always unload your old receiver on eBay.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
phungus
|
 in Games |
 in Movies |
 - Top 200 |
|
Member: William Fulks
Location: Biloxi, MS
Reviews written: 2240
Trusted by: 407 members
About Me:
...the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.