Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DAV-FC7 Dream Home Theater System with 5-Disc DVD Player

Set up was a breeze; the speaker cables are color coded and it took almost no time to get the system set up to hear a DVD. But, if one has poor eyesight or large fingers, the very small remote will irritate you. I have two SONY electronic items, and both have a larger remote than for this SONY. Setting up the speakers is rather straightforward, although the distances one can select are fixed multiples. One can, however, increase or decrease the decibels to compensate for each speaker. However, in setting up the speakers, the system hits a tone on each speaker in sequence, and if there is a way to stop the sequence, I have not found it.

I have a SONY TV (Wega XBR) and could not figure out how to get the TV sound through the new speakers. A teenage boy (neighbor) gave me the clue as how to do so, and changing settings in the TV menu and the correct hook up solved that easily.
Since I have the TV sound through the new speakers, if one is viewing a DVD and then switches to the TV mode (from DVD mode to Tuner mode on the system), it is the same as stopping the DVD so beware (it is not a pause, it is a stop!)

The bottom line is that I am very pleased with the sound and the system is very compact. Having an AM/FM radio also built in will allow for diversity in listening to the system. SONY is offering a lot of value for the money. A slightly larger remote would have allowed me to give this five stars.

Sony knows that this Home Theatre System has a problem. I posted earlier that this system works only for a short period of time and then doesn't eject discs, doesn't turn off and flashes `standby' for ever. This is my second unit, which I got replaced within 90 days after purchasing, with the same problem. Several others have mentioned they experienced the same problem with this system. Practically this system becomes useless once this happens. I took it to a service center of Sears where I bought the system. The technician says Sony has alerted them with a `Service Flash' with a clear instruction of what part to change when this unit comes in for repair. He says the voltage inside the DVD player is not properly regulated and unable to handle the discs and hangs up in the middle something like a computer crash. He replaced a resistor for my unit. The technician said he had been doing that for many of this particular model that keep coming in, and that he had not seen the repaired ones back again so far. My system seems to be working well now. It's an obvious problem that Sony knows very well. However, we have to pay for the repair. Fortunately, I bought service protection for three years by paying $60 more when I bought this unit. Otherwise, it costs about $150-$200 to get the system back to working. I really wonder why should we customer pay for an obvious manufacturing defect. If Sony wants to maintain their reputation and integrity, they should recall this unit and replace the part free.

Need another source of stress and anxiety in your life? Like the challenge of taming an uncontrollable electronic appliance? Has it been too long since you last payed astronomical late fees to Blockbuster because your DVD player refused to eject a long-overdue disc? Well, have I got a system for you!

With the Sony DAV-FC7 Home Theater System, you too can experience entertainment like never before, with a DVD drive that dies a quick and asymptomatic death after only 4 weeks of moderate use, and the warm glow of an eternally blinking "STANDBY" display of your soon-to-be-non-responsive system. If that's not enough, you have at your disposal hours of fun with the world's most unintuitive voice response system. Just dial 1-800-222-7669, and let the fun begin.

Not recommended if you're pregnant or suffering from a stress-related heart condition. Consult your doctor before purchasing.

I wrote a review below, where the unit freezes up and I have to unplug it overnight to make it work. Just an update: Sony has had my unit for a month, can't fix it, and can't send me a new one back because "We don't have any DVD players" according to Eric." And by the way, we can't tell you when you'll get one. I have literally had a broken unit since January, and no estimate when I'll get one. I pay Netflix $20/month for... nothing.

Why would you want one of these in your home, when Sony doesn't even have any?

Just look at all the reviews below, this is a piece of junk, and the service is beyond horrible. As one Sony customer support person explained to me: "Mr. Vaughn, life is full of inconveniences"

This was a rebound system for me as I was burned with my previous one. After an easy set-up, the first thing that hit me was the amazing quality of the picture. I had read some good and bad reviews for this system, but nobody bothers to mention the picture. With component cables and running progressive scan, hooked up to my projection HDTV, the picture is amazing. This is with out a doubt the best DVD player, picture-wise, I've ever had and I've had many.

I've read several people complaining about the sound, but it sounds great to me (although I must admit, I am not a hard-core audiophile). Sony has made this as user-friendly as possible and as a result, they sacrificed all but the most basic fine-tuning capabilities. However, it does offer you the choice of several pre-set "sound-fields". You are bound to find one that suits your needs. The remote has buttons devoted to this function so as you are switching from action movies to drama to music CDs, you can easily adjust the sound to match.

A minor complaint would be that, while cool, the slot-loading disc loader is a little slow. However, the "coolness" factor and the overall design of the system more than make up for this.

Personally, I couldn't be happier. Thank you, Sony.