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Overall Rating

Disappointed
We already have a Sony 52 "plasma and was ready to enter Blu-ray and 5.1. Setup was not a problem and the sound was reasonable. The receiver back channel Wireless stopped working after one week. After a system reset several times, I found the instructions were incomplete on how to re-connect signal S-Air wireless. Best Buy Geek Squad wanted to send more than $ 150 and Sony wanted me to ship the unit back to complete my expense. I returned the unit for my refund … disappointed by Sony. The wireless industry has been an important factor in choosing this product.

Overall Rating

Excellent Surround Sound System
I recently bought this system [ASIN:B001EWEXOC Sony BDVIS1000 5.1Ch Blu-ray Disc/DVD Home Theater System] to replace a very old first generation system I put together about 10 years ago which included a Marantz SR4000 AV Surround Receiver, a Panasonic S52 DVD/CD player, JBL J2060 series front speakers, a Technics SB-C22 series center speaker, Infinity Sterling Series 2001 rear speakers, and a JBL PSW1000 series subwoofer.

I liked the idea of a Receiver/Blu-ray player all-in-one system. I
was also intrigued with (and a bit wary of) the wireless S-AIR rear speaker technology. I ordered the system on line and when it arrived I was very pleased at how quick and easy it was to set up and connect. But as feared, I had no luck in getting the wireless rear speakers to work. (By the way, they’re not totally wireless. Although no wires need to be run from the main receiver, each rear speaker must be connected via speaker wire to the S-AIR surround amplifier, which itself must be placed near the rear speakers, be plugged into an electrical outlet, and have an unobstructed signal view line to the main receiver unit. That was OK with me since I could place the small amplifier on a lamp table next to my sofa and hide the rear speaker wires connected to the amplifier behind my sofa located in the back of my living room.)

The “paring operation” that must be performed in order to wirelessly connect the rear speakers with the main unit via a radio signal transmission was very frustrating and failed every time I attempted it. I ended up calling Sony’s Customer Service and spent about an hour and a half on the phone with a representative trying to get the speakers to sucessfully “pair” and work properly - to no avail. By the way, there’s no way to “hard wire’ the rear speakers to the main unit. After trying everything possible the representative said that he was going to send me a “signal booster” cable (Sony part #: EZW-EC10) that I could attach via the wireless transceiver slot on the back of the main unit. To say the least, if this booster cable didn’t work I was ready to pack the system up, ship it back, and look around for a different system! I received it in a couple of days, hooked it up (very easy) and presto!, I was able to sucessfully perform the “paring operation” and receive a strong signal between the speakers and the main unit. The speakers now work fine and sound great! I don’t know why Sony doesn’t include the signal booster cable in the box with the system! It would save alot of time and frustration for someone who is having trouble getting the rear speakers to work.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the performance of this system. I would have given it 5 stars if it wasn’t for the frustrating rear speaker problem. But after being corrected, the resulting sound from the 5 tiny speakers and subwoofer is awesome and powerful! I believe wireless technology in surround sound systems needs further refinements.