Sony HTD-DW790 Component Home Theater System

Sony HT-DDW790 Home-Theater Sound System is a 5.1 Channel Audio Surround System that provides an easy solution for adding great sound to augment your TV and DVD viewing. Digitally-tuned AM/FM radio receiver allows up to 30 station presets

Fill the room with quality sound from all angles with the Sony HT-DDW790 Component Home Theater System. The perfect companion to your television and DVD player is this six-speaker setup with its monstrous total output of 800 watts. And don't worry about wasting your time with calibration. An automatic feature adjust the levels for you, creating an optimum sound field for movie watching. The 8" subwoofer provides deep bass with dramatic effect and Dolby® Pro Logic® II decoding sends specific audio to individual speakers, delivering an incredibly realistic listening environment.

Great sounding system. A great value perfect to start up a second system. I was pleasantly surprised.

First off, there are a couple of bad reviews here about crap that's the fault of the user, and not the system. I highly suggest using digital optical cable as the audio input, as it will give you 5.1 surround sound (and you can use the same cable if you later decide to upgrade to 7.1). Plus, it's really fun to put one end up to light and see the other end light up :-D. Just remember, old receivers EMULATED surround sound with only two channel audio (which this can still do). True surround sound has a channel for each speaker, and you need a digital cable to transmit it. Second, NOTHING on this system will break from anything but misuse. I've moved the entire system twice and haven't even gotten a scratch on it. Anyway, I wanted surround sound for my PS3 online FPS games (so nice to crank it up on CoD4... you can actually hear people coming. Tip if you're playing it, put on Dead Silence... No one will ever catch you off-guard again.) This system performs beautifully for that, and regular TV. I haven't tried it with any DVD's that support 5.1, I'm not much for movies. I'm going to build an HTPC later this year, if I remember I'll update with how sound from that source is going. The included auto-level microphone worked pretty well. I ended up tweaking the rear speakers to make them a bit louder for my needs, it's all very simple and outlined in the manual. One irk was that you can't change the levels of the front speakers individually... there's a Center Level and Front Balance adjustment. In my case, my set-up is a little off center from the corners of the room where my speakers are, and the front right sounded a little weak. I adjusted the Balance to favor the right, and then boosted the whole center level... Sounds pretty good. I still wish I'd had an individual level adjustment. Could just be that I haven't found it, though. The only thing I'm taking off a star for is the lack of inputs. There's one digital in, one coax in, and one hdmi (I think. Better check me on that, I haven't used it. It could be hdmi passthrough... hell, it might not be there at all.) Luckily, my LG 32lb9d has lots of inputs. I'm plugging everything up to it, and then running a digital cable from the tv to the receiver. More convenient for me anyway. There are plenty of L/R channel inputs, if you're just plugging in CD players and the like. I can't think of any common use for audio without video that needs surround sound... so really plugging everything through the TV is a fine solution. A few additional things: ----The included remote is great for controlling the sound system. Not programmeable (I doubt many included with a receiver are.) Would have been nice it was, as I like to tweak my audio settings a lot. Unfortunately, my LG's remote can't control the audio (10 codes for a Sony audio and none of them work. Bah.) So I'm gonna pick up a universal as soon as I can find one that lets me switch inputs on the tv. ----The speakers are all very lightweight. I already had some extra speaker wire, so I used it... but I think the amount included was more than enough for my small room. You might need more, though. ----As complaints have listed, the speaker wire to the sub is integrated in the box. I really don't know why they did that. Just be aware of it, you'll be fine. That's about all I can think of.... oh, you might want a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter if you want to use headphones.

We purchased this as an entry-level setup just to be able to enjoy our new HDTV to the max. Until we actually hooked it up, we both thought the TV sounded fine. We will probably upgrade this system in a few years when we eventually get around to a Blu-ray or some other HD player but until then, it is very nice for the money ($137 with shipping from Amazon). Setup was very simple although, since we are newbies at home theater, it sat in the box for a week until we were sure which cables would be the best setup & not do any damage to the other components. A trip to a local electronics store eased our fears. Note that this system only comes with one short coaxial optical cable so we needed to get more cables anyway. I didn't want to have to have the DVD player on in order to hear the TV nor the TV on in order to hear the DVD player if used as a CD player so we have both the audio & the coaxial cables in use & it works well. I don't believe the receiver recognizes true DTS from my DVD player but what it does instead sounds very good. We may adjust our setups in the future but at the moment, all is well. There are several ways to adjust the speakers as well as several presets (music, movie, amp) which we are just discovering. I only gave it 4 stars because there are not a lot of hookups on the back panel for input or output - no HDMI, etc., and that would have made life a little easier. Setup was very easy and we had plenty of wire but our room is not huge. I would absolutely recommend this as an entry-level receiver, esp. in a smaller room. If you are an extreme audiophile or home-theater snob, this may not be for you but if you are just looking to start out with good sound & simple setup, you will be satisfied with this system.

AFTER YOU FINALLY GET IT HOOKED UP IT WORKS GOOD. I MAY HAVE MISSED THIS WHEN I ORDERED THE SYSTEM BUT YOU MUST HAVE OR BUY A "FIBER OPTICAL CORD" TO GO FROM THE SYSTEM TO THE TV, NOT A BIG DEAL UNLESS YOU DON'T HAPPEN TO HAVE CORD AVAILABLE AND YOU LIVE OUT IN THE STICKS..... THE "SURROUND SOUND" IS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED BUT MADE ALL SYSTEMS ARE THE SAME. I MAY HAVE EXPECTED TO MUCH. I WOULD BUY THIS SYSTEM AGAIN.....

The product performed as advertised, just be advised (as I was in previous reviews) that volume level has to be cranked up approaching max. I found using the TV audio in parallel with this receiver can enhance the audio in some instances. A very decent product for the price.