Sony DAV-HDX500/i BRAVIA Home Theater System

We bought the Sony DAV-HDX500/i. For those who don't yet know the /i on the end means the Sony DAV-HDX500 WITH Digital Media/iPod Dock, TDM-iP1 INCLUDED. This was to replace our old Panasonic SA-HT640 (which after only 13 months bit the dust with the dreaded f61 error). Now I realize that you really can't compare one wireless rear speaker with two wired rear speakers BUT...the difference in the sound just blew me AWAY! It's soooooo easy to set up, even for those non-tech do-it-yourselfers like us ~ we were happy to see the instructions were written in REAL English vs. "translated English"! The overall sound is incredible and DVD player, perfect. Remote has LOTS of buttons but can't really comment on that since we're using a Harmony 720 remote. The ONLY downside causing the 4-star rating is a couple wiring issues. We had originally wanted to use a higher gauge speaker wire to increase the sound quality and bought some Monster 16 gauge Speaker Cable at the same time we got the Sony system. When they both arrived we quickly learned that it'd be really difficult ~ at least for US, to use anything other than the speaker wiring that came with the system. There are clips/plugs on one end of all six Sony wires similar to a phone jack (heard someone describe it as a 4.2mm OEM clip). These clips are hard to find and seem to be a proprietary product. Not only would we have to buy them and attach them to the heavier wire, we had to FIND them first! So although this could be an issue for those with a discerning ear, our going with the wires provided by Sony was no problem ~ we are NOT disappointed with the sound at ALL. One other wiring issue...the length of the wire for the rear speakers was MORE than adequate for us (LOTS to spare), center and sub wires were fine, but in our case had a bit of isuue with wiring for one of the front speakers. We weren't putting these wires within/behind walls, instead opted to drill holes in our hard wood floors and cover all the holes with speaker stands. So the wire routing was still fairly direct...just a hole, straight across the basement ceiling, and up. The front LEFT wire was too short missing the mark by about 6 inches...and that speaker just ISN'T all that far away. After a lot of stressing, and just on a hunch we un-routed the front right wire and as luck would have it, found out the front right wire was indeed a few inches longer than the front LEFT! So we swapped out the two front wires and only by then putting the receiver on a lower shelf got the job done ~ BARELY got the job done, but DID get it done! So that ALMOST was a big issue in our household. Heard you can buy sets of all six wires through Sony but at least at the present time, you CAN buy individual replacement wires on eBay for about $20 each. Had it not made it we would have just bought one of the longer (aka rear) speaker wires to replace the front wire that was too short. So those wiring issues are the ONLY downside. Bottom line is that with this one, for not too much money you have a really GREAT sounding system and so far we LOVE it!

Excellent deal, It's everything and more.
Pros: Self Calibration, DVD up-sampling, Sharp clean sound, Price
Con: It's not as loud as I would like.
Nitpicky
I haven't had to max it out, I just would like the power to be there if I wanted it.

I am always fascinated by Sony products and here it is again proved Sony is the best. This home theatre is really good. I enjoyed the sound effects.

My wife wanted wireless speakers, and I wanted to be able to hook my 360 to it through the optical cable, so we went with this system. It does a good job with the surround sound and upconverted DVD's look a little better. The only negative I can think of is that a seperate device is needed to have wireless rear speakers, but what can you do? Recommended.

I am very pleased with the Sony DAHDX 500i surround sound system. I checked many different systems,and was very pleased with my choice. The Price of the Sony theater was considerly cheaper from Amazon .com than other venders. The sound quality is excellent,and you will not be disappointed by choosing the Sony. I would reccomend HDMI cables for both the audio and video for your home theater; which are not supplied by the vender.