AV SYSTEMS

SONY DAV-DZ1000

Solid package

eople generally want the quickest and simplest solutions to their questions. If, for example, Mr Average wanted a home theatre system, he wouldnt bother with separate components, wouldnt shop around for the best cable or even audition too many systems. He would look at his budget, find out what was available within the range he was looking at, and probably stick with a name brand that he knew. If he did this, he would more than likely have come across the system on review here, namely the Sony Home Theatre DAV-DZ 1000 that comprised an all-in-one A/V receiver/ processor, DVD player and a set of surround sound speakers. What makes this system that little bit different to many other competitors wares,

VITAL STATS

Formats supported..Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Pro Logic II,..Dolby Digital, and DTS Channels..5.1 Power output.1000 watts HDMI outputs..1 AV inputs.Two audio Video outputs..Component, Composite. Digital inputs.1 coaxial, 1 optical PRICE..RVERDICT The Sony System is good-looking and reasonable well priced, but does need careful set-up before it delivers sonically. SUPPLIED BY Sony SA 011-690-3200 www.sony.co.za
is that the attractive and gloss black front and surround speakers are floorstanding models. This means that the speakers are relatively easy to locate and you dont have to worry too much about mounting them on walls or getting them to look pretty when precariously mounted in a cabinet. The subwoofer looked pretty decent too, but the centre speaker was one of the smallest and thinnest Ive seen.This does, I suppose, mean that it is easy to mount on top of even a thin LCD TV. Another good aspect of systems like the Sony is that they are real easy to set up. The supplied speaker cables have colourcoded connectors on one end and likecoloured tags on the other.The speakers themselves are colour-coded and marked for their position front left, front right, etc. This means that you place the speaker where

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it tells you to, run the cable to it and to the main control unit, and plug in both sides. Within minutes your speakers will be wired and in their correct location, and all thats left to do would be to connect the HDMI cable to your television and to power everything up. Sony has even thought about the tiresome chore of calibrating the system, and provided a calibration microphone and an automated set-up utility in the systems menu, although I found that I could get the system sounding markedly better by doing calibration the old fashioned way, by ear. My calibration, for example, saw the rear speakers turned down quite a bit when compared to the auto setting, and bass response although never a strong point of the system was far better. Possibly one of the systems most surprising
aspects was that the tiny centre speaker didnt sound quite as small as it actually was, and it did a fair job of delivering audio from movie soundtracks. Its limitations were however more evident when listening to music DVDs. On the other hand, the tower speakers, while not the most dynamic sounding, did deliver decent audio throughout their frequency range.They were a little directional and this made the listening sweet spot a bit smaller than I would have liked, but all other things considered, they did their job well. I could however not get the sub sounding the way I liked. It was either too boomy, rattled and chuffed when Dynamic Bass was engaged, or it didnt play quite low enough with Dynamic Bass turned off. My preference was to keep the sub as balanced as possible, but some may like what the boom brings to movies.
The system did however deliver the goods on the video front, with clean, clear images, good movement and even video up-scaling to 1080i.This and the HDMI connection meant that the system would certainly deliver image-wise when connected to an HD television. Overall, the Sony system did what the majority of people who look at all-in-one systems want. It was easy to set up, easy to use, despite its busy remote, and delivered audio quality that was miles better than that delivered by the little speakers built into an LCD television. As long as you set it up correctly and you dont expect it to blow the roof off despite its crazy 1000 watt rating the Sony system should suit those that are looking for an easy A/V solution.

Joel Kopping

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