List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $348.00
Today's Bonus: 30% Off
Speaker Connections: This unit uses propitiatory plug-ins to the head unit, how ever the speakers them selves use the normal push-tab-insert-wire connection. While I understand why they uses funny custom connections, I suppose you could cut the cord and save the custom plug. I would not consider this a deal breaker.
DLNA: Works as it should, but I really wish it would simply support a network shared folder. But you have to have a DLNA server on your home computer (or compliant device), what a bummer, that just one extra process I need to have running on my server. I have had some audio codec issues Dolby DTS is sometimes trans-coded to base stereo (2.0) or just regular Dolby Surround 5.1. It plays .MKVs good at 1080 and file sizes > 9GB. (I use serviio as my DNLA server on my PC's)
Apps: There are a load of useless apps, and only have a handful of useful apps. Pandora oddly does not have a thumbs up or thumbs down option. I do wish it had Revision 3, but sadly it doesn't.
Remote: The included remote is slow, but the Android app is pretty good, however the qwerty seems flaky and does not work with Netflix, so searching Netflix is a pain!
Sound: Is robust for these little speakers and appears clean at full volume. However given that this is a 1000w system it is not that loud at full volume, and the sub-woofer is not 'heart thumping' I would say the sub-woofer is mostly there to make up for the lack of bass the left and right channels can't produce, and doesn't add too much 'rumble'. Despite the manual saying that it delivers 250w is VERY questionable. I have owned lesser woofers (100w) that delivered much better performance.
Setup: Easy because of the custom connectors.
Wireless Rear channels: Work as intended, only gripe is; I wished Sony would have put a 'flat plug-in' so the plug doesn't 'poke' my couch as it sits against the wall I will need to buy an extension that has a flat plug-in or I fear that in the long term one of two thing will happen, I will damage my couch, or the cord will fray and short out.
Speakers: Are small enough and will look okay in any set up. They are wall mountable, simply by removing a screw and re-positioning the speaker base.
Head unit: Are touch sensitive controls, and the display is lack luster, it sits at the rear of the unit so if you rely on reading the display do not tuck the head unit into a shelf put it on top and fully exposed. The head unit does not get hot when music is played a full volume for an extended period. The fan noise is audible, but not too bad.
Blu-Ray: Not tested (.MKVs)
WiFi: Not Tested (Ethernet)
These are my initial impressions after one week of owning the system. I may revise this review later with final impressions.
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ACQUIRING INTERNET CONTENT: Using some of the apps the unit will display on the TV 'Acquiring internet information' or something similar too often, this is a hassle and an extra step Sony should just automatically complete the acquiring process but, it will just sit there until you press 'continue' LAME!
NETFLIX CRASHES: Netflix will often crash and will result in you needing to restart the app, or sometimes it will require a power cycle (unit off then on).
BLANK SCREEN: When you are on a different 'function' (input) and you have turned off the unit and then later turn it back on to only see a black screen is a little confusing if the input device is also off. I have powered the Sony on and off a few times before I remembered that it was on HDMI 1 and the Xbox 360 was off so all I was getting was a black screen and thought the system had crashed or had become unresponsive although it hadn't. A simple solution press the HOME or NETFLX button on the remote.
SLOW SOFTWARE: Sometimes the system will hang or become confused/slow if too many buttons on the remote have been pressed sometimes it will need to be power cycled to get the unit responsive again. pressing too many buttons on the remote too quickly stems from the slow performance of the unit. You press a button and nothing happens, only to think 'oh it must not have 'seen' the remote, and you try again, and then one mote time to find that the unit has either froze or has become really slow. A power cycle will fix this (wait until the pulsing light turns all of the way off if you don't you will still have a slow or a frozen unit). Just be patient and wait about 5 seconds between button pushes and look for the pulse of light on the head unit to confirm that the unit did 'see' the remote and if it did see it and still did not do anything it's time for a power cycle.
SOFTWARE UPDATES: Are just like the PS3 they take FOREVER! And seem to fix or add nothing. It seems to happen about once every month. So I suppose (for now anyway) Sony seems proactive at updating the unit but as for what it does or fixes, who knows (probably add to the problems or extra stupid DRMs)
CONCLUSION: I'm tempted to revise my star rating to a 3/5, because once the 'new' wears off it really is only average. Should Sony fix the software/speed/responsiveness then it would be worthy of keeping 4 stars. But for now I will leave it at 4 stars. (3.5 would be a better estimate)
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I upgraded some components in my home theatre PC system that required Dolby Digital Plus (Netflix via Roko 3) and hooked the HDMI into the receiver and no sound, until I switched it back to stereo. After a little reading and despite the sony receiver being able to decode the sound sony does not decode many sounds formats from the HDMI inputs. There are many audio streams that can not be decoded from external sources so basically, in short, if you want surround sound the audio stream has to originate inside the receiver (on board app, blu-ray or DVD). So with this development it has eliminated a primary surround sound source via external equipment. What a bummer! I have downgraded my star rating to two stars. It should be able to decode any stream it supports regardless of the origin whether it be from internal sources or from external devices. I am considering replacing it, and sadly it isn't all that old.
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