Sony DAV-HDX500/i BRAVIA Home Theater System
See it at Amazon.com for $419.25Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)DAV-HDX500 vs DAV-HDX500/I
For weeks I agonized over whether to purchase the HDX500 or the HDX500/I; having just purchased the brand new Bravia XBR4 I wanted to make sure I had the latest technology available. The HDX500 and the HDX500/I have the same retail price but are listed as different items and sell for different prices. I called AMZN's electronic dept and, while they were very helpful, they were unable to tell me the difference between the HDX500 or the HDX500/I. The speculation was that the HDX500 was the old model and the HDX500/I is new and being phased in as Sony isn't known for making little changes. I purchased the HDX500/I anyway because the price difference was minimal and after spending so much money on all the other components, what's $50? To my dismay, upon arrival the box says HDX500 not HDX500/I. I called Amazon, they said they'd replace it with the right product but I didn't have a lot of faith there because what if the box wasn't labeled correctly? At Amazon's suggestion I called Sony. I spoke to both their sales people and their technical support. Sony said that the HDX500 has been discontinued and that now they only sell the HDX500/I but no one could tell me if it states HDX500/I on the box, if it's packed any differently or what the difference between the two items are. So it looks like the HDX500 and the HDX500/I are the same product. I'm hanging on to the box for the next week unless I find anything out differently but thought I should post this lest anyone else be in the same dilemma. Great product; comes with the media port. Do yourself a favor and buy HDMI cables right off the bat, you're gonna need them.
(5 out of 5)"I" means it's Ipod Compatible
The new DAV-HDX500/I comes with the iPod Digital Media Port cradle (TDM-IP1) that allows you to connect an iPod device. With the old model DAV-HD500, the iPod Digital Media Port cradle was an option you had to buy separately. Other than that, both models are identical in features.
(5 out of 5)Very Pleased
Came within 36 hours of order. Shipper on east coast also. Set up with wiring, speakers, cable box and Logitech single remote took about 2 hours. All sound through the theater system produces great surround effects in a relatively large family room with open ceiling, even for selected TV channels! I have not tried the XM radio connection yet, still playing with the other functions, sound very good, DVD via HDMI excellent on a Samsung HDTV.
(5 out of 5)Great sound; easy to set up
Very pleased so far. Sounds great, plenty of power to rock your media room, and was easy to set up. There's an on-screen setup feature that lets you easily customize the setup for your particular room configuration. An included microphone lets you do a push-button fine-tuning of the sound relative to speaker placement. It's cool to see the system report exactly how far all the speakers are away from the microphone.
I also purchased the wireless surround kit from Sony. Setup for this was also pretty simple, and was supported by the HDX500 system.
Remote is typical Sony - lots of buttons. But fairly intuitive thus far.
The digital media port works well with the different generations of iPods we have in the house. On-screen graphics are very rudimentary, however, which is a big departure from the iPod interface.
There are a bunch of different sound fields that could be better described in the on-screen system or in the manual.
(5 out of 5)Best sound system for your money...
If you are new to sound systems and this is your first time buying one, and all you want is quality sound at a decent price this is definetly the system for you. took me about 10-15 min to assemble and place the speakers where i wanted them. the cords are all color coded so it makes it very easy to set up. it comes with the ipod attachment so i could listen to my music anytime. i got the HDMI cable for the sound and couldnt be happier with the quality. action movies shake the room and classical movies or music sounds great with deep bass and crisp, clear notes. if you are looking for a stylish system with great sound look no further, i would definetly recommend this product.