Price, Performance, Looks - What More Do You Want?
Written: Dec 31 '03 (Updated Dec 31 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Awesome sound for a great price. Easy to set up and use.
Cons: Not really a "system-in-a-box," hence the multiple remote contols. Aaargh!
The Bottom Line: For the price range this system delivers. Period. But seriously, get some better audio wire. And a universal remote. No, really.
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| evatar's Full Review: Sony HT-5500D Theater System |
First off, it is and it isn't an integrated system. While it seems designed to work together everything is separately packaged within the big cardboard system-in-a-box you take home. So everything comes with its own manual and remote. Luckily Sony provides a big, fold out connection & installation sheet, which I used to hook everything up. I referred to the separate manuals only for fine-tuning each component.
Likewise, it is kinda fat equipment with 1980s era dimensions--For example, the STR-K840P audio receiver is 5"x17"x10.5"--but not overly so. But the sound quality is far and away superior to every other system we demoed in the stores, especially in its price range. The few systems that sounded better (and louder) were easily $300 more and up. So while it wasn't as compact or as good looking as the smaller Sony DAV-C770, the audio quality was vastly superior. And we're not "audio people." It was just that obvious to us.
We're also very pleased with the DVP-NC615 five disc CD-changer. The picture is solid, and easy to use. Although it seemed silly at first, the auto-dimming front panel display is a big plus; in a dark living room the brightness can be distracting if it's facing you while watching a DVD. While the audio wire supplied is adequate it's very thin, around 16 gauge. That seemed pretty thin for a system designed to pump 100 watts. So I purchased two 100' coils of RCA's high quality 12-guage digital audio cable from Home Depot for about thirty bucks each (Take that Monster Cable!) and ran thru the walls to the back wall where I mounted the surrounds. BTW you have to purchase your speaker mounts separately, just like every other home theater system we looked at. The Sony SS-MSP2 speakers do come with stick-on rubber shoes that allow you to set them on a table or stand, but if you want them off the ground, keep this in mind. Once wired up I spent a half hour balancing the speakers using the built in tone, which allowed me to sit on the sofa and adjust the volume of each speaker so that the sound arrived to me at about the same perceived time. And that's it. All done.
Upsides:
It sounds great! Put in a 5:1 DVD, like "Lord of the Rings" or "X-Men" and crank it up. It'll literally blow your hair back. The dynamic range is extraordinary. The bass from the SA-WMSP4 subwoofer is solid, and adjustable with a built in volume knob on the speaker itself. Combined with DirectTV we're basically listening to everything in true stereo now. The sound is clean and undistorted even at a level of "50" which you can hear in the street! The speakers may be small but they've got muscle. The DVP-NC615 plays not only DVDs, but CDs with WAVs or MP3s as well. Whenever we have a party we fill all five trays and let it cycle all night long. Fantastic. The composite picture is solid; the component output is sharp as a knife.
The speakers got game. They're also small and unobtrusive. Most visitors don't even notice them on the wall. We think that's a good thing.
Downsides:
There are three Video Inputs on the STR-K840P--Basically for TV/Cable, VHS and the DVD player--But we realized when we got an Xbox that we're short one video input. Now, I just plugged the Xbox video into the back of our television and the audio thru the unused CD audio inputs on the receiver and it's fine. But it would have been nice to be able to get in and out of the game console with a single button instead of cycling thru the video modes on the television. Put this on my wish list, because we still are happy with this system. I'm just warning you.
When the DVD player swaps discs it sounds a bit chunky, making me wonder if we'll have problems down the road. But maybe that's what all multi-disc players sound like swapping discs. I dunno, I've never owned one before.
While the receiver does allow for AM/FM radio, you do need to hook up the BOTH of the extra AM and FM antennas. SO be forewarned, the built in antenna isn't very strong.
Once you add your television and cable/satellite controls, you'll find you have too many remotes. Buy the Home Theater Master MX-500 universal remote. Seriously, it rocks.
Hmmm, I just noticed I have more downsides than upsides. Weird. Because my wife and I both L O V E this system. It's so much better than what we thought we'd get for the price. Seriously, we wanted good sound without spending a thousand dollars. The HT-5500D cost us about $525 at Circuit City and we don't regret a penny of it. Here's how good it is: If there's a movie we want to see theatrically but by the time we get around to it and it's already moved into the small, crappy theaters at the local octoplex, we'll gladly wait until the DVD comes out a few months down the road. It'll look better and sound better in our home.
Bottom line: For the price range this system delivers. Period. But seriously, get some better audio wire. And speaker mounts. And for the love of God, and your sanity, buy the Home Theater Master MX-500 universal remote. No, really.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
evatar
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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