Sony Home Theatre System

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gerhardd

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Hi guys

I am planning on buying the Sony HT-DDW885 (see here).
I am quite happy with the specs, however, I would appreciate to hear from anyone who has an opinion on this system, whether good or bad. I know this is an entry level setup, but it fits my budget. Any other recommendations in this price class?

Thanks!
 
its a good setup, but all depends on your dvd-player/xbox/dstv-pvr/ps3 that will input into the amplifier :)
 
I was thinking about the DVP-NS76H (link here)
Don't have a PS3 yet, but still enjoy my trusty PS2. I might want to hook the thing up to my PC as well, but need to get a proper sound card first.
 
gerhardd said:
I was thinking about the DVP-NS76H (link here)
Don't have a PS3 yet, but still enjoy my trusty PS2. I might want to hook the thing up to my PC as well, but need to get a proper sound card first.
Click to expand...

for a little bit more you get a DVD-HDD...:confused: your choice... go play with these toys in audio-vision and hifi corp! Its the best way to know what you want! :D
 
Hmmm.... you're right. I haven't thought about that. I'll think about it some more. Thanks
 
actually, for dvd i'd go with the philips 5965K, @ R490 from hificorp, it's pretty much unbeatable value for a HDMI upscaling dvd player. Plus, it does divx and has a usb port, both of which the sony lacks. The sony will have better pq, but it will only be noticeable on a 1080p TV. After extensive research, I bought the philips, and I love it. you can even hack it to be region free.

As far as the sony system goes, it's not a bad one. You can get last year's yamaha 5.1 setup for about the same price. You'll have better sound qualtiy with the yamaha, but the sony will probably go louder because it has bigger speakers. If you might upgrade the speakers later, rather get the yamaha. 6.1 is not really important, because the number of disks with 6.1 soundtracks out there is negligible.

Then there is this year's yamaha 5.1 system. bit expensive @ R4.5k. lovely sound, but the sub is a bit small. Again the sony will be louder and more impressive in a home theatre setup. Until you change the speakers, because the yamaha receiver will kick the the sony receiver's ass.

there ya go.
 
dotVIBE said:
actually, for dvd i'd go with the philips 5965K, @ R490 from hificorp, it's pretty much unbeatable value for a HDMI upscaling dvd player. Plus, it does divx and has a usb port, both of which the sony lacks. The sony will have better pq, but it will only be noticeable on a 1080p TV. After extensive research, I bought the philips, and I love it. you can even hack it to be region free.

there ya go.
Click to expand...

Sold :) Thanks dotVIBE
 
dotVIBE said:
the number of disks with 6.1 soundtracks out there is negligible.
Click to expand...

You must be dreaming, there is many 6.1 videos and sound DTS es and DD ex and THX, also the modern systems will upmix any proper stereo sound 0r 5,1 to 6.1 using codec as selected

The new BlueRay and HDTV formats both specify 7.2 channels so NO anything less than 6.1 or even 7.1 is money wasted.
 
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Personally i would never add that 6th speaker in my setup. Most of the time it is only a matrixed sound for the 6th and when listening to a 6.1 vs. 5.1 it didn't do enough for me to warrant the purchase of another speaker.

As soon as you start with the ht you start upgrading aswell (;)) I would also suggest going for the Yamaha
 
I've a 7.1 system with only 5 speakers ... don't feel the need to add extra speakers. I don't have a subwoofer either. I've also hardly found 6.1 or 'ex' DVD titles. I take 5 of the latest titles out every month (60 latest releases in the past year) and have seen one title with 6.1. Which titles are 6.1?
 
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Yep. I also have a 6.1 Yamaha receiver, but never saw the need to add a 6th speaker. Sure the receiver can matrix the back channel, but what is the point? You can matrix a 2 channel track to 5.1, and it sounds crap. Rather stick with all channel stereo then. Dolby DTS on a good 5.1 is as good as it normally gets.

7.1 will be usefull when we start watching blueray and HD-DVD movies. For that you will need a receiver that will process HDMI audio, with either the receiver or the source decoding the TrueHD lossless bitstream. A receiver like that won't cost you less than 10k in SA, clearly not the budget gerhardd has in mind. I wish I could afford it.

Point is, 6.1 or 7.1 audio on standard def dvd systems are a nice to have, but a bit of a waste.
 
So much going on in home theatre at the moment, I'd rather not buy anything ...

Yes, people will say there is no ideal time to purchase because something is always changing in the industry - but not nearly as much as now! I mean in the last 2 years we've had plasma vs LCD, HDMI and all it's versions, 5.1 > 7.1 speaker systems and competing versions :/
 
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