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

I am on the second system after my first system was replaced. This product has caused constant problems. The system takes DVDs and CDs and does not eject them.

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UPDATE JAN 2005: It's been more than a 14 months since my wife bought this for me, and the unit has been "out for service" almost as much as it has been in our house. Our last repair cycle was in October 2004, but we have finally given up!! We have decided to quit the terrible cycle of service and some use and get a different surround sound system. Shame on you, Sony! Buyers - beware and stay away!
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My wife bought this unit for me as a Christmas gift. The shipment arrived about mid-November 2003. She wrapped it and put it in a closet for a month.

After Christmas I set it up and watched a movie. The surround sound was unimpressive. After about 2 movies the unit stopped working (would not play or eject from the CD/DVD trays). I called J&R Music. They disowned responsibility for repair since their obligation ended after 30 days (even though it was purchased as a gift and had been wrapped and sitting in a closet for that month). I called Sony (and I actually thought the automated phone support was terrific and very helpful), and they worked hard to make it right but there was some confusion about getting it serviced locally versus sending it to them, and I ended having to call them back several times. Finally, it turned out that none of the local service providers were authorized to work on THIS model and I ended up having to send the receiver part to Sony (with a $40 shipping cost).

Including transit time both ways, the unit was gone for about 6 weeks. When it came back, I found out that Sony had used some "peel the back off" stickers to attach service paperwork to the brushed metal surface, essentially defacing the unit. I ejected the DVD that had been stuck in the unit, and hooked it back up into my system.

Within an hour or two of use it stopped working again, so I called Sony again (save all the info they give you!). It was a weekend, so they probably had a second tier staff at the help desk, but the lady I spoke with actually wanted me to check speaker connections to troubleshoot an eject-DVD problem. I was not impressed.

The good news: Sony called me back a couple of days later and sent a shipping label to return the unit the second time (important: since it was the same problem), and I was able to repack it into the box they had used when they returned the unit to me just a week or so earlier. I also wrote a letter of complaint to Sony, J&R Music and Amazon.com (neither Amazon or J&R ever responded, although I sent the letters certified-return-receipt and did get the signed USPS return receipt cards back).

About a week later a compleltely NEW DAV-FC7 system arrived from Sony. I was extremely impressed that they decided to replace the unit instead of trying to repair it again. And I was amazed to get a complete system rather than just the receiver piece (which is all I had sent in for servicing).

The bad news is that the surround sound is still not all that great. But we have watched four movies on it now, which is more than we were able to watch with the first unit over nearly four months. I would still call this a terrible experience and an awful investment, even though Sony certainly impressed me in sending a new unit. Still, it was late April before this all got worked out and there were two times when I had to install and then uninstall the new system (and hook up the old DVD player that this unit replaced). Also, I have yet to hear anything from either Amazon or J&R Music. Good luck!

You couldn't possibly need more sound than this. "Sound Fields" give the options of "hall", "live" and several Pro Logic DVD surround modes for movies. Tuner, DVD/CD, AMP, a solid woofer with satellite speakers that have a great mid-range, for under 500 bucks. TEN times better than the Bose 5.1 system at a 1/3 the price. And it's all-in-one. If your in the market, look no further..

I happen to love Techno, and it has never sounded better.

Okay, we were so excited to get this new system. We hooked it up to our TV only to find out that the DVDs only play in Black and White with our TV. We were sent a multi system version and unless you have a multisystem TV then DVDs recorded in NTSC format (which is all US DVDs) only play in black and white. We have made repeated attempts to discuss the issue with the Vendor, J & R music and they have not been helpful at all! The Cds sound good but we are so disappointed with the service and DVD quality that we are returning the product and will never buy from this vendor again.

Many reviews have been slamming this system, but I have had this for 2 years now and not one problem. Let's be honest, this isn't a top of the line system but you're not paying for one either. For the price, the picture and sound quality is excellent. It make watching movies a great experience. For the people that have defective ones, that sucks, but for those who complain about the picture and sound quality, maybe you should get a better TV, or spend more that $400 buck if you want perfection. Don't complain if you buy a car for $500 bucks and expect it to run like a $30,000 car.

Downfalls - set length on speaker wire. Slow disc ejects/changes.