Sony DAV-DZ770W DVD Home Theatre System

Sony's latest line of home-theatre-in-a-box systems shares a common similarity -- sleek silver tower speakers and a side-firing subwoofer. The rest of the system components are like a case of mix-and-match. Throw in a sleek five-disc changer and an infrared wireless module and you end up with a the high end DAV-FX999 (AU$1499). Swap it with a single-disc variant and in comes the subject of this review, the DAV-DZ770W.

Design
The centrepiece of the nine-piece ensemble is a 430 x 295 x 70mm DVD receiver unit. Though less flattering than the higher-end FX999, the sleek 3.6kg chassis still offers a couple of tricks under wraps for the fashion conscious. Up front, there is a mirror-finished panel-cum-disc tray and brushed-metal volume knob while an embossed S-Master logo takes centre stage on the top.

Taking care of the front and rear audio dynamics are the familiar two-way satellite speakers. Each is loaded with a 25mm nano-fine tweeter supplemented by a 70 x 100mm rectangular woofer. Installation options are aplenty with bundled accessories for either desk, floor or wall mount. There is even a speaker base to level your rear speakers in case you like to install the surround amplifier below the speaker stand (refer to photo).

Mount it any way you like with the additional accessories. (Click for larger image)

To go wireless for the surround sound channel, the DZ770W employs Sony's Digital Infrared Audio Technology (DIAT). As its name implies, this system relies on line of sight-dependent Infrared (IR) beams for transmission -- much like the way remotes function, albeit in a noise-resistant digital format. Radio frequency would have been a better alternative but Sony's offering will work as well, as long as the IR transmitter and receiver are mounted high up the wall.

You are not going to find a handsome remote control of FX999's caliber for this particular Sony. In its place is a whitish-grey variant decked with a set of intuitively arranged semi-translucent buttons. We were tricked for a second into believing they were of the glow-in-the-dark type, but a quick test in our Lab cleared the cloud of uncertainty.

Fiddling with the HTIB's user menu was a love-and-hate affair. On the one hand, you have access to just about every imaginable audio setting at your disposal. On the other, there is close to nothing for its video counterpart. Sure, you can perform video tuning on the TV but things will get sticky if it's hooked up to two or more video players -- since there is a high chance they will exhibit different video characteristics.

Features
The DZ770W's total power rating is 800W, split up into 120W for each of the five satellite speakers and 200W for the subwoofer. In addition to the usual Dolby Digital, Pro Logic II and DTS 5.1 decoding, there are also 15 sound fields driven by Sony's Digital Cinema Sound technology. We gave them all a go and found the Cinema Studio EXs and Live Concert particularly effective in creating spacious ambience without excessive reverberance effects.

Disc playback-wise, the HTIB can handle just about every silver platter available off the shelf. They include DVDs, Super Audio CDs, VCDs and CDs. The player will also readily accept MP3/JPEG/DivX-encoded CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. You may like to note that the set will playback only DivX for multiformat compilation and is compatible with only version five and earlier.

Route PC audio to the HTIB with this audio input socket. (Click for larger image)

To combat speech synchronisation problems due to delay introduced by an external video processor, the Japanese company has also included an A/V function which slows down the audio playback to offset the video lag. This will be particularly useful for those who are using video scalers, video transcoder (e.g. component-video-to-VGA) and signal splitters.

Rather than relying on a USB host to import music from portable media players, Sony has come up with a simple yet innovative solution to cater for the same functionality. Situated at the front-left corner of the DVD receiver unit is a stereo mini-jack socket which is compatible with virtually any device with a headphone output -- works with laptops, too.

While we wait for more HDMI-compatible HTIBs to reach our shores, you'll need to contend with the standard composite, S-video and component-video outputs found on the DZ770W's back. Besides the video outputs, the Sony also offers a digital audio and a pair of composite A/V inputs just in case you like to hook up a gaming console and set top box for surround sound.

Performance
The front and surround speakers were set up in a floor-standing configuration and the entire kit was calibrated within minutes. We did not encounter problems with the wireless speakers except for instances when audio was cut off when we were in the path of the transmitter/receiver pair. Initial impressions of the speakers were that of smooth and sweet vocals complemented with tight and strong bass.

Get tight and loud bass with this 200W subwoofer. (Click for larger image)

Surround panning and steering for the DZ770W were top-notch and on par with any wired HTIB. Playing Black Hawk Down was a joy ride like no other, teleporting us inside the chopper with roaring rotors overhead and rumbling bass from the engines. To test the agility of the speakers, we switched over to the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and were treated to a wildlife orchestra as Frodo and Gandalf trekked across the beautiful New Zealand countryside.

There was a distinctive laid-back feel when we test drove Sarah McLachlan's Angel in stereo sound. Here, her expressive voice was articulately reproduced, thanks to the height-optimised speakers, though we found the higher ends a bit too muted to accurately resolve percussion instruments. Having said that, treble belted out by the nano-fine tweeters was adequate for pop and rock or MP3 qualities.

Our review unit was hooked up to a Samsung LA32M51B LCD TV via a set of Monster Cable component-video cables at 480p resolution. Images displayed onscreen were generally grain-free and rock stable with strong shades of colours. The same went for DivX and JPEG playback thought some picture were pixilated at times.