Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony HT-IS100 - 5.1 ch - Home Cinema Upgrade kit - Black

I recently purchased the Sony HT-IST100 and I must say, I was very impressed with the quality of the sound from this unit.
The size of the speakers is as described, the size of golf balls.
The ease of setting up this system makes it a must for non-tech types.
BUT, BE WARNED, the woofer control unit is very large and heavy (14kg). If you want this system because you are limited for space, the small speakers aew fantastic. The control center? Forget it. it is large. I looked long and hard to find information on the base unit, but there was now on any site visited.
I must say however, the quality is up to SONY's usual standard. And the multiple inputs are great.
GO FOR IT!

II purchased this system as my new home cinema setup to replace the Logitech z5500 system (This had some bad features including moment of speakers etc). So far the system has been tested with just the PS3 and I have to say the sound is crisp and clear and with a little help from the avforums you can get True HD sound out of the system.

The speakers were ideal for my setup i didn't want anything to intrusive on the wall or a sub like the Z5500.

I did think the sound might be affect as the speakers are so small but the mid range is fine if you place the sub in correct location as stated by the manual , if any thing like most films I used have to turn the volume up to hear them speak then my ears would bleed with the music....The small speaker are great to solve this.

Setup is fairly easy but might need some slight adjustment again avforum can help with this.

You can also purchase a so called wireless kit....don't be fooled all this does is moves the speaker cables to another box in the room so it's not wireless really.

Also another slight issues is the display almost points upto the ceiling so you will have to remember the number time you need to hit a button to change to movie mode, Sports etc.

The sub I would say is around the size of a large PC case and has a good kick of base...note mine is on a wooden floor with plenty of cables to hide in the wall and around my skirting's.(added bonus is both ends are removal so you could add extra cable if needed)

Another slight pain is all the cables are located at the bottom of the sub so you have to keep lifting it to place cables in..Suppose this will only be done couple of time once the system is setup 100%.


Overall if you have heard the z5500 you will be impressed with the sounds (THX) but the Sony i think beat's this hands down and with out loss of the cinema experience.

Simply, stunning - so much sound available in a small package. Keeps the wife happy with its small physical imprint whilst providing excellent cinematic sound. Simple to configure and you'll be up and running within 30 minutes maximum.

I tried to get this through Sony and they let me down, Amazon delivered pre-10 the next day (Sat) and not regretted it since.

I bought this unit as my first home cinema system, main reason was the excellent reviews and the small unobtrusive speakers. Unfortunately, I am having problems getting it to output 5.1 surround sound! Still waiting to hear from Sony...

Sony HT-IS100 - 5.1 ch - Home Cinema Upgrade kit - BlackThe best ever!