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Sony HT-SS2300 Component Home Theater System

September 9th, 2009 by cannon

This day I’ll introduce you about Sony HT-SS2300 Component Home Theater System from amazon and I read about that ,I think that wonderfull.

BuZZ from Customer Shopping

Sounds like a $1,000 system at a fraction of the price – Brilliant!5
I purchased a $1,200 system but returned it because it sounded horrible after it was home and connected. For that much money I expected a “Wow” effect, but was very disappointed.

So, back to researching what one store told me was not possible. I just bought a Blu-ray player that I am very happy with and a Sony 46″ Z series LCD TV so I didn’t want a system with a DVD player or Blu-ray player. I also didn’t want a big receiver, big speakers, and a big subwoofer.

I found this system on Sony’s website and came here to check the price. After much consideration I selected this system because of the sleek and small receiver and speakers.

After several hours of hiding speaker wires, splicing the subwoofer wire to add a segment of additional speaker wire so I could hide the subwoofer, adding OmniMount Satellite speaker stands and hooking up all the speakers I turned the system on.

I must admit I was very skeptical because this system was only a fraction of the price I’d spent on the system I returned. I put a DVD in and sat listening thinking this sounds great when all of a sudden the back surround speakers belted out sounds from the scene playing causing me to jump in shock. This was the “Wow” effect I was looking for when I first starting looking for a surround sound.

The TV, stand and components all look sleek and clean, not cluttered with a big receiver, big center speaker, etc. Set-up was easy and understanding the remote and receiver is very straight forward. If you have a Sony Bravia TV and/or DVD/Blu-ray player the receiver interacts with all of them and makes the operation brainless.

Oh, I also used very high speed HDMI cables to match the 120 Hz refresh rate of the rest of the system. My HD cable box has a regular HDMI cable on it and the picture and sound is incredible compared to what it was before I added this system.

I can’t say enough about this system…definitely give this one a try before you buy a system three times this price. Hope this review helped if you are considering this system.

UPDATED AFTER ALMOST 3 MONTHS:

I have now been using this system for 3 months and still love it. I play Xbox 360 on this system and really appreciate the small nuances I get from the background…like in Bioshock which scared me even when I was expecting it.

Granted I don’t run my system volume up over 23 – 25 (which I think also speaks to the quality of this product) so I don’t hear the static mentioned in other reviews.

Seriously, I honestly believe this purchase along with the TV and Blu-ray is one of the best decisions quality and value wise I’ve made in a long time. Regardless of what you get if you can sit back and feel good about what you’re seeing and hearing you made the right choice.

Great System for the Price4
I spent a night looking around Amazon for a surround sound system and decided to buy this one based on price, and mainly because it had three HDMI inputs, and one HDMI output. But that is also all it has besides a few Audio inputs (Red and White). However for me this wasn’t an issue, for I only needed to plug in my Set-top Box, Xbox360, and Blu-Ray player, and the HDMI output going to the T.V. with my computer (used for playing music) plugged into one of the audio inputs. But for some, the lack of A/V or Component inputs may be a huge reason not to get this system.

Now on to the sound quality. For the price, this system is great for a bedroom, personally I don’t think it can stand up to a large living room compared to other sound systems, but for me and my 13 ft. by 13 ft. bedroom it works great for gaming and whatching movies. The lows come out very well, and the base is powerful even on a low setting. Music sounds amazing on it, being able to here every note and cymbol clearly and clean brings a whole new experince for the music I have been listening to for a long while now. Set-up took no longer than an hour, for each speaker only needed one screw to hang up with the center speaker needing 2, and they weren’t that heavy so nothing else was required. another con against the system is no volume control on the subwoofer, which isn’t a problem, the volume can be controled through the menus, but having a control on the sub has become standard for most surround sound systems. It should also be mentioned that the system does not come with an HDMI cable, so be prepared to purchase an extra one if needed.

The setup process was very simple with the included mic for auto adjusting the speakers, and after using the system for a bit going through the menus and adjusting minor things, like the volume of each speaker worked out great and added up to a great surround sound experience. the remote and menu system are all pretty simple and user friendly, the auto function for determining the best setting for the current sound source works great too. One con about the menus is that the display dims randomly when switching options, still readable by me, but for some it may be a nuisence. A quick note, is that the receiver itself looks great and classy, it’s a little big when it comes to length, but the thin nature of the product is worth it.

So to sum up, if none of the above cons bother you, then this is a great buy for the price. Plus the seller Etronics is very dedicated to customer service if any problems should arise. Hope this review helps, for reviews in the first place is the reason I choose this system over some more expensive samsung models I was looking at. Thanks for reading.

Great Product, Great Service! FANTASTIC!5
I purchased this item to accompany my Sony Playstation 3 and my 52″ Sony Bravia TV. Let me tell you that I am thrilled. With the graphics and now HD surround sound, you feel like you are there!!! I opted to go for this 5.1 system over a 7.1 system because of the price difference (3-400 dollars), thefat that only a handful of movies/games support 7.1 and the room I put this is is small and we didny have room for 7 speakers plus a subwoofer. Regardless, it sounds fantastic. Setup is easy, you simply colors of the wires to the colors on the back of the receiver. Now it is important to note that this is the newer model of the old HT-SS2000, which was the best for PS3. Now this model is out and WOW. Its great. The only issue some people may have is using the ‘auto-calibration’. Its a nice feature if you are in a big open room with just the TV/stereo. But with furniture and such it has issues. And so after ‘auto-calibrating’, the speaker levels were way off. But this was easily fixed manually by adjusting individual level speaker volume (which is so easy, it took 2 minutes). So, if you have a PS3, dont go anywhere else for this product. And, I saved about $20 by buying from Amazon merchant ETRONICS. I was skeptical, but the item arrived in 2 days (I selected standard shipping 4-14 days), in perfect condition. I HIGHLY RECOMMNED THIS PRODUCT!!!!!!!!!!!

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Sony BRAVIA DAV-HDX285 5.1-Channel Theater System (Black)

September 9th, 2009 by cannon

This day I’ll introduce you about Sony BRAVIA DAV-HDX285 5.1-Channel Theater System (Black) Yes, I think that interesting .

BuZZ from Customer Shopping

Loss power after a week3
I’ve own previous Sony HTIB systems and decided to upgrade to this system to increase quality and sound. You’d think the newer the model the better the upgrades, but I didn’t see any improvements to the last model. See the reviews for the hdx275, both systems are basically identical. The only thing Sony decided to do was give this line of product an aesthetic make-over, a tried and true marketing gimmick. Anyway, I just wanted to be the first to say that after a week of use, the receiver all of a sudden loss power in the middle of normal DVD play. It’s been sitting at one of Sony’s “certified” service centers for over 3 weeks while they’re still trying to figure out what went wrong. Pretty frustrating especially after having to pay postage out of pocket to send it there! I’m rating this system 3 stars because when it was working, it produced great sound and picture for the price you pay; budget system for a budget price. My only other complaint is that the sound level needs to be set pretty high for normal volume. On my older models of the same line, the sould level never needed to be set as high for the same amount of volume.

impressie sound5
I bought this product but am not using it for any kind of video display so I can’t speak to it for that. I’m using it as a sound system for my ipod and computer and it hasn’t let me down. The sound really packs a punch and is really nice if you use the right equalizer to get the proper balance in sound. The only drawback is that it doesn’t put out any sound when using these functions through the center speaker so really its just like having a 4.1 system unless you use it as a surround system for a tv. It goes pretty loud considering i haven’t really gone above 22 volume even though it goes up to 34. The balance is really good, although I tend to like a little more bass in my music, which it offers plenty of. Great system that isn’t too pricey. Would recommend to anyone who wants an easy way to get out of having to use a 2.1 system on a laptop.

Good Product Good Price5
I recently purchased the Sony Bravia HDX285 home theater. I was looking for quality sound and a reliable product. The sound quality is very good. My living room is smaller and the Bass is impressive. I have not played with all the features yet but the system was easy to set up and the features I have used DVD, Ipod and Surround sound for my satellite TV all work great. I research multiple home theaters before I chose this one and I am glad I pick this system. I would recommend this system to my friends.

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Sony HTSS360 5.1 channel Home Theater System (Black)

September 9th, 2009 by cannon

To day I find introduce you this Sony HTSS360 5.1 channel Home Theater System (Black) from amazon and I read about that ,I think that wonderfull.

BuZZ from Customer Shopping

Great sound, good price and easy set up.5
When I recently bought a new Sony 40″ LCD TV I discovered the TV speakers were better than my old cheapie surround sound system. I then bought this Sony HTSS360. I’m a long way from an audio expert but I know good sound when I hear it and this system has it all the way from the high to the low pitched sounds. I can now hear even faint sounds/sound effects I never knew existed with my old sound system. Between the new TV and this surround sound system all my existing DVD’s are like watching all new movies. It may be a little on the subjective side but my movies appear to have better color and clarity than when the feed was direct from my DVD player. Very easy to set up and play using one remote with the Bravia Sync. In my case just two HDMI cables, sat box and DVD player, to the receiver and one HDMI out to the TV, easy.

Great system, with a couple exceptions4
I own a new 40″ Sony Bravia LCD that I hooked this system up to. I was very impressed with its sound and its wide range of features for the price! However, there were a couple areas that I feel need to be addressed.

PROS:
- Excellent sound, especially the Movie DCS mode which adds a ton of depth to any movie
- Easy setup
- Excellent integration with a Sony TV. I can fully control my LCD from the receiver remote after hooking up the HDMI cables.
- Full HDMI switching makes initial connection and switching between sources a snap. I can switch between cable and my PS3 with 1 button.
- Wide range of format handling, including Linear PCM.
- Wide range of sound modes.
- No color distortion issues when switching between HDMI sources. This seemed to be a problem in older models.

CONS:
- I found the bass to be a little lacking due to the fact that the subwoofer is passive. I swapped the included one out with this: Yamaha YST-SW216BL Advanced YST II Front-Firing Active Subwoofer and it brought the sound to a whole new level!
- Uses proprietary speaker wire connections. Sony makes it very hard to swap the subwoofer like I described previously because the receiver uses proprietary plugs for the speakers instead of generic speaker wire attachments. The system comes with 4 thin speaker wires with plugs to the receiver on one end, and bare wire on the other to hook up to the satellite speakers. However, the subwoofer’s is HARD WIRED, so it can’t be detached at all. What’s worse is that Sony only sells their speaker wires in packs of 5, for a whopping $55.
To use my new subwoofer, I simply found an aftermarket plug with a small length of wire on eBay, spliced it with some standard 18 gauge wire of my own and hooked it up to my new sub. Voila, it worked like a charm.

OVERALL:
Out of the box, the system is a solid 4/5. With a powered subwoofer and a little bit of handiwork to get around Sony’s greed, it can be improved to 5/5.

Just about perfect except for HDMI and center speaker issues4
As someone who was in the process of purchasing my first blu-ray player I was looking to upgrade my older Sony surround sound system as well. I was looking for a couple of things in a new system: One, that it had plenty of HDMI inputs and two, that it had a high-quality sound for the price point.

As for the most important item, the sound, this is a great system. People have said it is like listening to a $500-1000 system. I don’t know if it sounds as good as a $1000 system, but I would say it does sound wonderful like a $500-700 system so for the price it can’t be beat. The highs sound very clear and crisp and the bass is deep with depth without losing too much ‘punch’ or getting too ‘muddy’. The only minor issue I have with sound is that when dialogue gets loud the center speaker (on rare occasions) ‘flinches’ and has the slightest sound like feedback. It could be the case itself vibrating as I have it sitting against the T.V. base/stand so this could be the problem as well.

Out of the box the system takes a little time to set up (as does any surround system with the speakers, etc). This system looks sleek and is identical to the companion blu ray player I purchased to go with it; they have a matching black color, are matching in size and are similar in faceplate size and in overall sleek design. The receiver for this unit is about half the height and depth as my old Sony one, leaving me more space to add other components into my rack.

The speaker wires are thin and the speakers each have proprietary connections going into the receiver but it sounds so good I don’t feel any need to replace the wires so this is a moot point for me.

Once the system is arranged and the speakers all connected there is a little microphone you can plug into the back of the unit, place it in what would be the ideal listening spot in the room and using the remote you can access a little sequence of sound tests in the menu to have the unit self-calibrate itself. This is a nice feature to use to get started but I found tweaking was needed to get the best possible sound…the bass was way too loud using the self-calibration. However, in all other aspects as far as distance of the individual speakers and the volume level of each speaker, the self-calibration did very well and was pretty accurate in these areas.

The unit’s set-up and menu is all accessed by remote and uses kind of a branching mode in which to reach all of the individual settings. You have to look at the little screen on the receiver and this can be tedious but is easier once you are familiar with how to access the various areas of the menu. An on-screen menu would have been a great addition for this unit (but of course would also have raised the cost).

The HDMI connections for me were great. I have a blu ray player, a cable/satellite tuner and a 5-disc DVD upconverter/CD player all using HDMI cables for optimal performance…being able to run all 3 of those into the receiver and then running just one HDMI cable from the receiver to the HDTV cut back on the spaghetti of cables and gave me the best signal performance possible from all of my components. When you select the input on the receiver (blu ray player, cable, etc) that is what the receiver will play as far as audio and is the signal that will be sent to the HDTV as well.

However, there are two issues with this HDMI set up. First, you will not be able to use more than one component at a time. For instance, you can not listen to a CD while at the same time watch video from your cable or satellite because you will not be able to choose more than one input to play at a time UNLESS you connect them directly to each other instead of running them all through the receiver. Then you could play a CD through the receiver and play video from the cable or satellite box directly to the TV (bypassing the video around the receiver).

The second problem is that the audio and video does not always output correctly with the selection of the input on the receiver. For example, I have noticed that on occasion I may select the cable/satellite on the receiver and the audio will be there but I will not get a picture on the HDTV even though the TV is tuned to the right setting. If I turn the input on and off on the receiver or turn the TV itself on and off suddenly the picure miraculously comes on. Other times I will play a blu ray disc and I can get the picture on the TV but the audio will not be recognized or played back by the receiver (even though the picture and sound are going through the same HDMI cable) and I will have to either turn the receiver on and off or the blu ray player on and off to get the audio going. I can’t figure out any particular pattern this follows but it does happen frequently…other times it works correctly with no problems. Perhaps this would not happen if all of my equipment was Sony and the components all ‘talked’ to each other better (my HDTV is not a Sony brand). I’m still trying to figure this out as it is annoying. I am always eventually able to get everything working together-it just might take a couple of extra buttons to get there.

One other very important piece of info is that this unit will accept a linear PCM channel for audio. This means you can playback the True HD Dolby and HD DTS Master lossless sountracks on blu ray discs AS LONG AS the blu ray player you are using has the processing for those formats built into it. The companion Sony player (the S360) as well as many newer ones do have the HD soundtrack processing in them.

In the end the performance and sound far outweigh the rare issue with the center speaker and the quirky HDMI input/output problems. If the price of the system was in the $500-600 range I would have to move it to just 3 stars. But the price is great for the quality of sound this unit produces resulting in my 4-star review.

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