 I Enjoy This Tiny System! |
| Review Date: August 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Damon Johnson, Queens,New York |
I recently purchased this system, as well as the WAHT SA10 wireless rear hub and the EZW T100 transmitter, and I tell you small speakers or not, this sounds nice. I've had no problems with the rears being out of sync ( using wireless ) and this system pumps out a very clean sound for PS3 Blu Ray movie watching ( which is all I really use it for ). I use it for my 16 x 16 living room and have a 'heavier system' for the basement, ( onkyo 605 receiver/jbl 5.1 speaker sytem ). By no means am I an audiophile, but at $299. for the system, $137. for rear hub and $49 for the transmitter ( I know, why should we have to pay extra for wireless rears when it should be included with the system, especially when the system msrp's for $699. ), I thought I'd give it a try for HD lossless audio and am not dissappointed. Bought it for ease of use and reduced clutter.
Set up was a 30min breeze. I connected the speakers to the wall using 3M picture hanging strips, ( yes the speakers are that light, but seem very well made ) to avoid holes, and also you have to keep the sub inline with or very close to the fronts as its producing the mid range as well as some of the dialogue. Did auto calibrating, but did make adjustements to the bass,treble and mids. The bass really pumps on this system, especially when playing back High Def Audio so if you live in a apartment, remember the neighbors.
I know the audiophiles will tell you that you can't get a quality 5.1 surround sound with speakers this small, but I'm telling you that you can. If you make this purchase, be sure that when you set up the speakers though, try to keep all placement around or slighty above ear level, it makes a big difference.
Not gonna get too deep into everything else, since other reviewers have pretty much covered the rest. |
Love It
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| Review Date: September 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: M. C. Abad, New York |
| I've been in the market for a system that had compact speakers with a powerful output. I've found it in the Sony HT-IS100 system. I purchased the system to replace a system that we've had for over 5 years and I was amazed with the output. It was simple to set up. It took less than 30 minutes to get going. The speakers are almost unseen, yet powerful. I would recommend to anyone. I LOVE IT. |
After 12 Months of Ownership
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| Review Date: November 18, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Maxwell, |
Pros -
Includes AM/FM receiver
Excellent sound quality for both surround sound and listening to music and radio.
"Wireless" rear speakers work great once you get it up and running.
Bravia Link works flawlessly with Sony Z series LCD and Sony DVD.
Ipod Dock works excellent and has a decent interface.
Looks great
Good tech support available
Cons -
Kind of Expensive, especially when you add in the S-air unit and ipod dock to the mix.
Does NOT upscale output. A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!
A bit tricky to set up the S-Air features - required a 30 minute tech support call. HINT - Cold reboot after installing the S-Air components.
After the automatic surround sound setup was performed the system still required manual tweaking.
Other thoughts -
Comparing this to the Yamaha YSP-900 it replaced I would rate the Sony's sound quality a tad bit lower but the surround sound effect much better. When looking at the cost of both systems I think the Sony makes for a better solution if you don't want to run wires all over your room. |
Fantastic system!!
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| Review Date: July 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Pablo A. Decena, |
| I brought this about 2 weeks ago. I have it set up 5.1 with the rear speakers wired. I have a MOXI HD DVR, My iPhone and a Samsung BD-4600 connected to it. My Harmony one remote coordinates everything. The setup was simple and the mic calibrated everything quickly I was up and running in no time. HDMI switching is flawless, The sound is fantastic. I have it for my bedroom and it rocks!!! Now the only thing I would of like if it would came with DTS HD and all hi def sounds format but it still sound great. I was very pleased to see that it comes with a iPod dock, I would of like for it to be more compatible with the iPhone since it puts the phone in airplane mode and it function as a regular iPod. Sony did a great job on this, I highly recommend!!!!! |
beyond my expectations
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| Review Date: September 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ged, |
I was looking for an unexpensive, small 5.1 system for my 1 bedroom apartment. The main purpose would be to use with my PS3 system (gaming, watching movies, listening to my mp3s). I didn't want something really loud, but I needed multiple hdmi and digital inputs. All the all-in-one systems were mostly offering blue-ray or dvd player, which I didn't need. So this Sony was a good candidate, especially with small speakers, and lengthy cables for the surround speakers (12m of cables, so it was more than enough for me). So I ordered one. I was little anxious about the sound quality, because the speakers were so tiny, but I cannot turn the volume up so much as I am living in an apartment. Last week I've received it. Actually the small speakers were even smaller than what I was expecting! And the subwoofer unit was larger than my expectations. I did the autocalibrating thing, and it worked OK. However I strongly suggest to check the values after autocalibration. Autocalibration is calculating the distances for each speaker, and then setting the amplifier outputs accordingly for best performance. In my case, speaker distances were calculated little longer than actual values, so I corrected these manually. Running the autocalibration a second time would help though (Also, be sure that there is no additional noise sources when you are doing the autocalibration).
After setting it up, I put couple of blue-ray movies, and the sound was unbelievable! I was shocked by the sound coming from the tiny speakers! I put Bioshock, and played a little, it was whole new experience! Directional sound was great, the sound was crisp and clear, the bass was controlled, and balanced. Then I tried couple of music CDs. Again, the sound was great. Of course you shouldn't expect the same sound quality as a dedicated hi-fi system with a separate amplifier, and high quality speakers. However, It was really good! I increased the middle tones by +1 for better music experience. Overall, I am really happy with my purchase!
Pros: - great sound quality, especially from this tiny speakers
- 3 hdmi inputs
- night mode feature
- included iPod craddle
- compatible with s-air, so if you don't want to mess with cables, you can make the surround speakers wireless
- can simulate 5.1 on stereo sound input
- FM/AM receiver
Cons: - display is little difficult to see, especially if you are not close to the subwoofer unit
- no on-screen display
- no headphone jack
Some reviews state that the voices are low. I don't agree with that. However, you should double check the autocalibration results, as it affects the overall sound quality in a great extent. Also, when you connect your ps3, go to the sound settings, and redo the audio output configuration (you will choose hdmi as the sound output method, and it will automatically detect the system. After that, the output should be set to PCM. If not, you may not have 5.1 sound). Also, the placement of the subwoofer unit is important, as the midrange sound is coming from it (the midrange speaker is at the top of the unit, so do not cover it). So even if you cannot keep it between front speakers, you can put it to the sides of left or rear front speakers. I did it that way, and no problems so far. I put the surround speakers on the back corncers of my couch, and used a small needle to stabilize them. I didn't even open a hole in the whole.
Overall, if you are looking for a good 5.1 system with lots of inputs, without an integrated dvd/blue-ray player, and if you are living in an apartment, this is a great choice. Especially for this price, this is a bargain. |
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