4D sony Home Theater

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Sony DAV-FR8 5-Disc Progressive Scan DVD Dream System Sony’s DAV-FR8 Dream System home theater will grace small- to medium-sized spaces with high style, high power, and amazingly space-efficient components. The system features a slot-loading 5-disc DVD-Video/SACD changer with built-in surround-receiver abilities and color-coded speaker terminals, 2 floorstanding speakers (left/right front), a slim center-channel speaker, 2 bookshelf surround speakers, and a stand-alone subwoofer designed to work in concert with the rest of the components to deliver exhilarating, full-bodied surround sound from DVD, CD, MP3 CD, and Super Audio CD (SACD) music sources.

The system’s 800 watts (total) are routed through its 7-channel S-Master full-digital amplifier/tuner and enhanced by the Digital Direct twin-drive subwoofer and its dual 6.25-inch woofers. (The amp pumps 114 watts x 5 for front, center, and surround speakers, with 115 watts x 2 for the passive subwoofer). Sony’s exclusive S-Master digital amplifier delivers high power and low heat while occupying minimal space–merely 25 percent of the space required by a conventional amplifier.

Surround decoding and processing includes Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital EX (6.1), DTS-ES, and Dolby Pro Logic II (which generates discrete 5.1-channel surround sound from any stereo/2-channel source).

Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you’re merely thinking of “someday,” the DAV-FR8 is equipped to deliver the full potential of your DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts. Choose from progressive-scan component-video outputs, composite-video, or S-video outputs. (Older TVs may require an RF modulator or video switcher to convert composite- or S-video to a threaded RF coaxial jack.)

Depending on the disc, SACD music releases provide super high-fidelity multichannel and/or stereo sound, using a high-resolution 1-bit converter to exceed the quality potential found in the standard 16-bit compact disc. The system also offers JPEG image CD slideshows so you can get the most from your favorite digital media right in the comfort of your living room.

Enjoy the DAV-FR8 from the repose of your easy chair with the supplied easy-to-operate Remote Commander remote control. Auxiliary connections include secondary composite- and S-video sources for a camcorder, gaming console, or VCR, and a headphone jack for private listening.

The DAV-FR8 system’s design is sure to be a visual centerpiece. Glazed with a metallic frost, the system will illuminate any room with its slim, elegant speakers and attractive, brushed-aluminum chassis.

What’s in the Box
DVD player/integrated surround amplifier, 2 floorstanding satellite speakers, 2 bookshelf satellite speakers, a center speaker, a passive subwoofer, a remote control (RM-SP350), remote batteries, a user’s manual, all requisite cabling.
Customer Review: junk
We have had to send the unit in 5 times to be repaired, will not play most DVD’s, it had been a constant problem every 2-3 months. It may look nice but it is a dresses up piece of junk.
Customer Review: Sony DVD FR8 - Too finicky to be practical?
The picture and sound quality of this product is over-all very good. My unit was purchased primarily for viewing DVD’s in a theater type atmosphere, surrounded by sound, at least from those DVD’s which provide true surround sound. However, a problem with the laser reader has turned my “Dreamtheater” into “Nightmare theater”.

To expand on the comments contained in the review by Michael Morgan, the system has trouble with certain DVD’s. Specifically, they will start out fine and then at some point the unit will totally lock-up. When this happens the unit needs to be unplugged and plugged in again to unlock it. This happens with perhaps 20% to 30% of the DVD’s that I have played in it. However, contrary to Mike Morgan’s comment that you have to be paticularly careful about disc quality (especially if renting), I am having just as many problems with brand new discs fresh out of the box. I am also beginning to suspect that it is having a harder time reading dics with the complex audio data found on many of the discs heavy in surround sound, which leads me to believe that the problem isn’t specifically related to minor scratches or imperfections seen on the disc. Any of the DVD’s that I have had problems with in the FR-8 will play perfectly in any one of the other generally inexpensive players that I have scattered about in other rooms of the house.

I have had this unit into Sony for service three times for a total of three months out of the eight months that I have owned it. The problem has not yet been corrected and will be going in for a fourth time. I will be urging Sony to replace the unit with a new one, even though I have doubts (based on comments by other owners) that a new unit will function any differently.

So while the system generally looks and sounds good, the problems with the laser reader may turn a quiet evening of watching a movie into a frustrating experience. What should be a 4 star review can be given no more than 2 based on this significant problem.

Tags: Center Channel Speaker, Channel Source, Component Video Outputs, Conventional Amplifier, Digital Amplifier, Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Pro Logic Ii, Dream System, Drive Subwoofer, Floorstanding Speakers, Inch Woofers, Motion Artifacts, Passive Subwoofer, Pro Logic Ii, Rf Modulator, Sharper Images, Sized Spaces, Slim Center, Sony Dav Fr8, Subwoofer Sony

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 3:02 pm and is filed under sony home theater dvd. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.