Customer Reviews
The best cost/benefit ratio 
2008-03-29
I have lived with this system for a couple months now and my enthusiasm remains for its DVD performance and its associated sound effect on movies. For comparison sake, I took the same DVD (Lord of the Ring) to my friend's home to play with his BOSE 321 system. The SONY unit actually provided richer sound. The only drawback is its performance on music CDs and its sound was inferior to that of the BOSE. However for a fraction of the BOSE price ($999 vs $200, I definite can live with it. SONY's newer model, DAV-X1v has more power with multiple disc play capacity, sells at about $600, still substantially lower than the BOSE. Why people want to buy BOSE is beyond me.
Great value for great sound plus upconverted video 
2008-03-28
After buying a Sony Bravia LCD TV, we decided to eliminate our clunky 5.1 system and replace it with a sleeker two speaker/sub system. After extensive research into the various Bose options as well as other brands such as Phillips and LG, we chose this great system. The sound is wonderful and really does replicate a surround experience, without the extensive wiring and speaker placement. The sub really thumps in action movies and the dialogue through the satellites is crisp and clear.
The system is sleek looking and allows you to replace the dvd component in your setup, as the dvd player is incorporated. Even better, the dvd player upconverts to 1080i for a great digital image. I looked at Blu Ray and HDVD units, but the convenience and simplified look of this system overshadows any minor picture enhancement with the higher end video players.
Now for a couple of quick cons. First, there is only one HDMI output, and no HDMI inputs if you were to hook up a PS3, etc. The speaker cables are a bit short, and their propietary designs make it impossible to add additional speakers if you choose. That's it for the negatives.
Net net, if you buy this product for less than $500.00 you are getting a great value for a superb A/V experience.
Watch your wallhangings !! 2008-03-26
Gives you the movie theater experience you want for your home.A must for action movie fans.Secure valuables and pictures before cranking it up!
Priced good but doesn't play blue-ray.
In a word....... 2008-03-18
FABULOUS! So what does an electronically challenged person do? Look for the simplest, yet best the market has to offer. I admit I am not a "audio guru", but the sound this system produces for the price is great! I compared it with the Bose 3-2-1, and this system wins hands down. My goal was to not have obnoxious, obtrusive speakers and wires overtake my room, and this absolutely fit the bill! It is a small, attractive system with great sound.
I purchased the system for sound with my LG 47" 1080p LCD HDTV (which I should have purchased from Amazon for a much lower price...my bad!) and am totally enjoying the sound with DVD's as well as CD's and FM radio. However, because I am electronically challenged, I have not yet been able to figure out how to make the sound come out of the TV (which was the whole point for the system). Nonetheless, I am enjoying this amazing system and look forward to enjoying it even more when I can get it to work with my TV!
Great for the price 2008-03-14
I used to have a 5.1 surround system that was good but the room it was in just wasn't built for sound (two story open above). When I decided to upgrade my TV to a flat screen LCD I wanted to clean up all the "boxes" under the old TV. This Sony Dream system is just perfect for our needs. I bought the Sony Bravia 40 inch LCD HDTV and it is a perfect match with this system. I connected them with an HDMI cable and yes the Theatre Sync does work. I had to read the directions a couple of times to make it work. "Hold down a button WHILE pushing another button at the same time".
One thing neither the Sony site nor the Amazon site mentioned was weather it works with an iPod. Well it does. All you need is a heaphone to RCA cord. Plug the headphone into the ipod and the RCA plugs into either Video 1 or Video 2 audio inputs. Then when you select Video 1 on the reciever the music from the ipod will come through the surround speakers. I went from 5 boxes (reciever, VHS, CD player, DVD player) to the Dream Reciever and an iPod. Very nice.
The sound of the Dream system is pretty good. Of course not as good as 5.1 but I didn't expect it to be. The sound quality is also good but not great. My old system was a nice mid-grade audio/video system and it did sound better. However I never get to sit and listen to music much anymore and the convience of this system is much better.
HDMI output broke twice 
2008-06-24
The HDMI driver or whatever was repaired once when it was covered by warranty (1yr) but broke again within a couple of months. I get all red or red and white dots now. I wouldn't recommend this or any other sony player with HDMI output. Perhaps they use the same part everywhere. The audio is great and component video works, hence the 3 star.
sony platium 2008-05-15
is as good as u can get for 2.1, beats the bose in price and quality, no problems and great sound
Cheaper Elsewhere 2008-05-05
5/5/08: I just ordered this from WalMart (online) for $356.54 (it isn't in any of my local stores - you can check on the website). They'll even ship it to your local store for free. I'm not promoting WalMart but I think we should help each other out. Another benefit is, if you hook it up and don't like it, just repack it and bring it to your closest WalMart and get a refund.
Hard to beat.
5/10/08: I was looking for a small AVR for my master bedroom. I didn't want 5.1. Normally we'll just watch TV in there, occassionally a DVD and possibly the radio. We have a full blown home theater in the family room that's used for serious audio/video.
This unit certainly hits the mark for "small". The main unit is unobtrusive and the speakers are small. The subwoofer is a bit on the big side, but aren't they all? We have it tucked away next to a dresser.
Setup was very easy. I only referred to the manual once. I have a high def. cable box connected to it and I have the X1 connected to a Panasonic Plasma TV via the HDMI cable (which isn't supplied by the way). When I powered everyting on it all worked just fine out of the box.
The DVD loaded quickly and the playback was great. The TV is 720p and the DVD I loaded was 480; the X1 did a nice job of upscaling the picture and the audio was awesome (it was StarWars 3, lots of light sabers, things blowing up).
Is it surround sound? Of course not, it only has 2 speakers and a subwoofer. While I was never fooled into thinking the sound was coming from all directions I didn't expect it to. If you're looking for the full surround sound experience, go buy a 5.1 or 7.1 system. If you're looking at the X1 and the Bose 321- give this one a serious look. It's a lot less money (I got it for 350 on WalMart's website) and it sounds great.
A note on the remote. I only used it for a few days and it was OK but not great. I use a Harmony Universal Remote so I just programmed it to handle the X1.
Unplug protect 
2008-04-05
Many Sony home theater systems appear to have problems managing the power circuits controlling the woofer. The result is that they lock down into protect mode with the display saying "Unplug Protect"
And this with the volume set at 18....
My experience with this will not allow me to buy a Sony DVD/audio system again
SUPER SYSTEM 2008-03-29
Very nice system, I think sony's dream system
is as good if not better than the bose for
the money.
