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Recently got a Sharp 3D LED Smart TV and could no longer stand limiting myself to DVD. I went into my research with quite a few requirements the most important being the speakers needed to be hung using my existing threaded speaker mounts. This is the only sub $300 systems i could find that can be hung using threaded speaker mounts. Unfortunately in Sony's quest to make set up as easy as possible the speaker wires are hard wired to the speakers. I have surround sound pre-wired in my house and was forced to splice connections for it to work. Just kind of silly that they would have threading to mount but then have the cables hard wired. Sony's easy set up is great for novices but can cause some extra work for those with a bit more experience. This wasn't a deal breaker but it is the reason I only gave it 4 stars.
The next requirement I had was to leverage the HDMI linking functionality (BRAVIA Link by Sony, AQUAS Link by Sharp, Viera Link by Panasonic) which allows you to control TV and surround sound system with 1 remote. Before I found a killer deal on my Sharp TV I was going to go the Panasonic route, but I cannot pass up a good deal. This meant I would have to either use a sharp surround sound or pay $$$$ for a harmony remote. Getting a Sharp surround sound was out as they do not offer Blu-ray/Surround sound in 1. Before dropping a whole bunch of money for the Harmony remote I decided to see what would happen when I hooked everything up and to my great surprise the link function worked. This allows me to control the volume and power on and off the system. It also automatically switches TV inputs when I put in a Blu-ray or DVD. Essentially my surround sound system has become my TV speakers without me having to push any extra buttons, ever! I can control everything I need using the DirecTV remote.
I am very pleased with the quality of sound produced by the system though audio from the TV link is at a lower level than audio from the Blu-ray or other sources.
Comparing with my new Smart TV the GUI overall does not seem quite as polished. Despite this, I am very pleased with the huge amount of streaming options available on this system. There are at least double the options compared with my new Sharp Smart TV (including Amazon). I'll take content over polish any day!
I am still trying to work out exactly how to utilize the NFC connection for streaming audio. I've been able to do it a few times but I have not been able to wake the system out of standby mode using my NFC Smartphone. Generally I'm pleased with the Bluetooth audio streaming function. It is much more convenient to than using the native Pandora or other streaming music players allowing you complete control without requiring you to have your TV on.
Great Job Sony!
9/25/13 Update
So I've had my Sony for a few months now and am still very pleased with it. Just a few things that I have experienced: Sometimes the audio link between my Sharp TV and the Sony gets confused (audio will play from both TV and surround sound or no audio from either). It isnt really a big deal I just have to turn both TV and Sony off and then restart and the issue is fixed. Happens maybe once every 2-3 weeks (usually because my kids are playing with the remotes).
Because my Audio is linked with my tv the receiver is never really "off" it just goes into standby mode. Start up is very quick but the shut down into standby mode seems to take quite a while, sometimes 30 seconds or so. Not a huge deal, just kinda annoying when my 5 year old turns off the sony while i'm still watching TV. Takes almost a min to get everything back up and running.
A month or two ago I had an issue with the Sony not being able to connect Netflix. It would error out even before getting to a log in screen. For a few weeks I ran netflix through my Smart TV but it really sucked as there was no way to route the sound to my sony. Tried a few things and finally got it fixed by resetting my TV to factory specs. I'm not sure why re-setting my TV fixed my surround sound netflix connection issues but it did. I have not had any Netflix issues since. works great!
Very pleased with the TV SideView: Remote by Sony app for my android phone. Recently the Sony remote was lost (yes my my 5 year old hid it; are you sensing a theme here...) spent about 10 min looking for it because I wanted to watch netflix (my direcTV remote will do everything i need for watching tv and blurays but will not navigate very well in the streaming apps) and then I remembered that I had the remote app. It works perfectly and does everything the real remote can do and allows you to enter text. Used the app for the next week until I was able to get my 5 year old to tell me where he hid the real remote.
Overall I am still very very happy with the Sony. Works very well streaming, playing BluRays and DVDs and even 3D blurays/directv 3d content (haven't done this too much). Still a wonderful unit!
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