Product Description

DVD Dream® System with 800 Total System Power- 114 x 5 (F,C,R) + 115 x 2 Subwoofer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #80853 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DAV-FR8
• Dimensions: 20.00 pounds

Features

• Complete home theater system with a 5-disc DVD/receiver combo, 5 speakers, a biamplified subwoofer, and 114 watts per channel x 5, 115 wpc x 2
• Includes front left/right adjustable floorstanding speakers, compact left/right surround speakers
• Compatible with DVD-Video, MP3 CD, JPEG image CD, and high-resolution Super Audio CD (SACD); FM/AM tuner with 30 station presets
• Dolby Digital, DTS ES, and Dolby Pro Logic II processing for dynamic, enveloping surround sound from movies and music
• DVD/receiver: 17 x 2.8 x 15.6; front L/R satellites: 3.5 x 43 x 3; center speaker: 14 x 3.6 x 3; subwoofer: 8 x 15 x 14 inches (W x H x D)

Amazon.com Product Description
Sony's DAV-FR8 Dream System home theater will grace small- to medium-sized spaces with high style, high power, and amazingly space-efficient components. The system features a slot-loading 5-disc DVD-Video/SACD changer with built-in surround-receiver abilities and color-coded speaker terminals, 2 floorstanding speakers (left/right front), a slim center-channel speaker, 2 bookshelf surround speakers, and a stand-alone subwoofer designed to work in concert with the rest of the components to deliver exhilarating, full-bodied surround sound from DVD, CD, MP3 CD, and Super Audio CD (SACD) music sources.

The system's 800 watts (total) are routed through its 7-channel S-Master full-digital amplifier/tuner and enhanced by the Digital Direct twin-drive subwoofer and its dual 6.25-inch woofers. (The amp pumps 114 watts x 5 for front, center, and surround speakers, with 115 watts x 2 for the passive subwoofer). Sony's exclusive S-Master digital amplifier delivers high power and low heat while occupying minimal space--merely 25 percent of the space required by a conventional amplifier.

Surround decoding and processing includes Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital EX (6.1), DTS-ES, and Dolby Pro Logic II (which generates discrete 5.1-channel surround sound from any stereo/2-channel source).

Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the DAV-FR8 is equipped to deliver the full potential of your DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts. Choose from progressive-scan component-video outputs, composite-video, or S-video outputs. (Older TVs may require an RF modulator or video switcher to convert composite- or S-video to a threaded RF coaxial jack.)

Depending on the disc, SACD music releases provide super high-fidelity multichannel and/or stereo sound, using a high-resolution 1-bit converter to exceed the quality potential found in the standard 16-bit compact disc. The system also offers JPEG image CD slideshows so you can get the most from your favorite digital media right in the comfort of your living room.

Enjoy the DAV-FR8 from the repose of your easy chair with the supplied easy-to-operate Remote Commander remote control. Auxiliary connections include secondary composite- and S-video sources for a camcorder, gaming console, or VCR, and a headphone jack for private listening.

The DAV-FR8 system's design is sure to be a visual centerpiece. Glazed with a metallic frost, the system will illuminate any room with its slim, elegant speakers and attractive, brushed-aluminum chassis.

What's in the Box
DVD player/integrated surround amplifier, 2 floorstanding satellite speakers, 2 bookshelf satellite speakers, a center speaker, a passive subwoofer, a remote control (RM-SP350), remote batteries, a user's manual, all requisite cabling.

Customer Reviews

My review of the DAV-FR8
Only seven out of the ten movies I have attempted to watch would play in the DAV-FR8 dream system. The three movies that would not play, however, do play in my $30 DVD player on my computer. The laser system in the DAV-FR8 seems to be finicky. This is a big problem if you rent movies. When renting movies for this system, make sure the DVDs look perfect before you leave the store.

Other drawbacks include:
1. Very thin speaker wire. I switched to thicker speaker wire, more power was delivered to the speakers(**). If you purchase this system, you might want to consider picking up the Monster Cable Front and Center Speaker cable set for Kenwood systems. The gold plated Kenwood connectors in the Monster kit also fit this Sony dream system.
2. The user interface is very poorly designed. For example, you cannot change some system settings while a DVD is playing. As another example, when you power up the system with a DVD, the system will prevent you from doing anything until it reads the DVD. Consequently, if you want to change a system setting (e.g., progressive scan), you must wait until the system starts playing the DVD first, and then you have to stop it to get to the menu that allows you to reconfigure the television type.
3. Other user interface complaints: You will need to have the user manual in hand while using the setup features, as the menu system is complex and non-intuitive.
4. Although this system can hold up to 5 DVDs, disc changes are very slow.
5. The remote is thin. This might be a plus, as it is sleek and elegant. However, I prefer the bulkier remote that came with my Sony television.

Pluses:
1. Although not specified in the advertisements or broachers I came across, the DAV-FR8 system plays VCDs and SVCDs, even ones recorded on my computer. This is only a plus if you watch VCDs and SVCDs, however.
2. At the time of this review, a $200 rebate is available if you buy this system and certain Sony televisions.
3. The system is aesthetically pleasing.
4. The sound is perfectly adequate.
5. The EZ room setup works well, once you find it in the poorly designed user interface.

(**) Thicker speaker wire is lower resistance, and allows more power to be delivered to the speaker. In a qualitative comparison I performed while installing thicker speaker wire, thicker speaker wire seemed to provide a 2-3 dB gain in volume.

Sony DVD FR8 - Too finicky to be practical?
The picture and sound quality of this product is over-all very good. My unit was purchased primarily for viewing DVD's in a theater type atmosphere, surrounded by sound, at least from those DVD's which provide true surround sound. However, a problem with the laser reader has turned my "Dreamtheater" into "Nightmare theater".

To expand on the comments contained in the review by Michael Morgan, the system has trouble with certain DVD's. Specifically, they will start out fine and then at some point the unit will totally lock-up. When this happens the unit needs to be unplugged and plugged in again to unlock it. This happens with perhaps 20% to 30% of the DVD's that I have played in it. However, contrary to Mike Morgan's comment that you have to be paticularly careful about disc quality (especially if renting), I am having just as many problems with brand new discs fresh out of the box. I am also beginning to suspect that it is having a harder time reading dics with the complex audio data found on many of the discs heavy in surround sound, which leads me to believe that the problem isn't specifically related to minor scratches or imperfections seen on the disc. Any of the DVD's that I have had problems with in the FR-8 will play perfectly in any one of the other generally inexpensive players that I have scattered about in other rooms of the house.

I have had this unit into Sony for service three times for a total of three months out of the eight months that I have owned it. The problem has not yet been corrected and will be going in for a fourth time. I will be urging Sony to replace the unit with a new one, even though I have doubts (based on comments by other owners) that a new unit will function any differently.

So while the system generally looks and sounds good, the problems with the laser reader may turn a quiet evening of watching a movie into a frustrating experience. What should be a 4 star review can be given no more than 2 based on this significant problem.

junk
We have had to send the unit in 5 times to be repaired, will not play most DVD's, it had been a constant problem every 2-3 months. It may look nice but it is a dresses up piece of junk.