Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59303 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DAV-DZ100
• Released on: 2005-06-24
• Dimensions: 66.14 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
DAV-DZ100 All-in-one Home Cinema System

Sony's DAV-DZ100 all-in-one home cinema system gives you everything you need to turn your living room or bedroom into your own personal cinema befitting of today's demanding surround sound Hollywood blockbusters. Main features include the S-Master Full Digital Amplifier with DTS/Dolby Digital and Dolby ProLogic II. The system also features and DS Tuner with 20 FM and 10 MW Presets. It also features DivX playback and A/V SYNCE (Lip Sync), with all these useful features, this quality Sony home cinema system is great value for your money.Advice from Sony on how to position your speakers and subwoofer

Front Speaker setting:

The front left and right speakers should be placed at least one foot either side of the TV screen. If the room is wide enough, you may be able to space them out further to increase separation and create a more convincing front soundstage. To get the spacing right, measure the width of the room on the wall behind the TV screen. If the TV screen is in the centre of the wall, then place the front left speaker one third of the way across the room and the front right speaker two thirds the way across the room. The centre of the centre speaker should then be placed at a point midway between the front left and right speakers, directly above or beneath the TV. The speakers should be at least one foot away from the back wall. If the speakers are too close to either the side or back walls, they will sound boomy, with too much bass and not enough mid-range and high-frequency detail.What if my TV is in a corner?

Let's face it, many TVs are. Firstly, ask yourself: Does the TV have to be in the corner or could it be brought out to enable you to position the front left and right speakers either side of the TV, in alignment with it? If not, then you simply have to improvise, and try to get as close to the ideal set-up as you can, given the constraints that the position of the TV imposes. If the front speakers are 'bookshelf' or satellites, then wall brackets or shelves may help you to position the front left and right speakers correctly. Horizontal Alignment:

The front left and right speakers should ideally be in horizontal alignment, i.e., at exactly the same distance from the back wall, or the same distance from the listening position. The centre speaker is responsible for mainly dialogue and should not be placed in a forward position, relative to the front left and right speakers. You may find you have to move the front left and right speakers slightly in front of the TV, so that the front and centre speakers form a slight arc. You will find this can help to improve the overall coherence of the front soundstage.Front Speaker Height:

The front speakers should be positioned so that the tweeter the smallest drive unit, responsible for high frequency sounds is at ear level when you are sitting down ready to watch a movie. With floorstanding speakers, the tweeter should be approximately at ear level. With smaller, 'bookshelf' or satellite speakers, you may need to raise them to this level, using speaker stands, or by placing the speakers on a shelf. As the centre speaker is positioned, ideally, beneath or on top of the TV, it is unlikely to be at ear level. To solve this problem, angle the front of the speaker slightly upwards or downwards accordingly.Toeing In:

The front left and right speakers should be angled slightly inwards towards the listening position, which should be directly in front of the centre speaker and TV. This process of toeing in the front left and right speakers improves stereo separation and creates a more convincing soundstage. Opinions vary as to how much the front left and right speakers should be angled towards the listening position. To find the best position, play a CD with solo vocals on it and sit in the listening position. Get two friends to toe the speakers in fractionally by the same amount until the vocals appear to be coming from the space in between the speakers, rather than from the speakers themselves. Don't angle the speakers so much that the signals cross before they reach the listening position, as this will impair the performance.

Where the front speakers sound best at ear level, the sounds coming from the surround speakers should be less direct, more diffuse. For movie surround sound effects to be convincing, they should not appear to come from a single point source, such as the left or right surround speaker. For this reason, the surround speakers should be positioned above ear level when you are sitting down. Ideally, the surround speaker tweeters should be at least one foot, ideally two feet, above ear level.The surround speakers can be positioned on the side or back walls, but in either case, they should be slightly behind and to the side of the listening position. You can experiment with the angle of the surround speakers to see what sounds best.

If the speakers are on the back wall, try them pointing straight back down the room, or angled slightly towards, or away from the listening position. If the speakers are on the side walls, again try pointing them directly at the listening position, or at a slight angle. For multi-channel music, it is important to ideally ensure that all speakers 'meet' at the listening position. So, if your system is used for both music and movies, a little patience and some experimentation can produce the best compromise.

The positioning of the subwoofer can be less critical than that of the other speakers. This is because subwoofers generate low frequency sounds, the source of which the human ear finds difficult to detect. There are, however, some guidelines to follow. Depending on the design, the closer the subwoofer is to a wall, or corner, the more prominent it will sound. Ideally, the subwoofer should not be too close to any non-solid wall. Depending on the adjustment available on the subwoofer, you may be able to place it in a variety of locations. Also, be prepared to experiment with the location, as the reflective nature of the walls, will have an impact on the overall performance. Well set up, the sound of the subwoofer should integrate seamlessly with the rest of the speaker system and its impact will be felt rather than heard.

Once all the speakers have been positioned, check the distances they are from the listening position and input these to the amplifier or receiver system. The correct time delays will then be automatically set, so that you get the most realistic surround sound field according to the speaker

ExperimentOnce you have your system set up, play back some favourite movie sequences and see how it sounds. Again try fine-tuning the adjustments available on the amplifier to compensate for any further compromises you have had to make. And if things still don't sound as good as you would like, keep experimenting with the position of your speakers to see if you can improve things. Chances are though, if you follow these simple guidelines, your system will sound pretty good.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Sony DAV-DZ100 720 Watt Home Theatre System
I purchased the DVD System a few weeks ago now and I can strongly recommend it. Very good picture and sound quality, VERY LOUD without distortion, excellent price for what you get.
Only problem that I've had was with the sub or front speaker causing slight colour distortion on the tv, if placed too close. The speakers are magnetically shielded and I followed the instruction booklet to the letter with placement and distances etc...
The instruction booklet advised that this may happen with certain types of tv. For the record I have a three year old Bush 28" Widescreen. The problem has since disapeared with turning the tv off/on a few times.
Overall I am very happy with the system, and for the price you won't get much better, and its a Sony!

Sony surround sound
This system is brilliant and don't bother looking anywhere else for this piece of kit because amazon is the cheapest I have found it anywhere. Delivered 2 days after ordering and next day after dispatch this service was great. The sound on this Sony surround sound is fantastic and was pretty easy to set up. It looks good too. Its amazing that you can get such good Sony hardware for such a reasonable price. However if you're planning on linking a Playstation or something similar to it, I'm yet to figure out how to do it but i'm pretty sure it is possible as the system can project sound from what you are watching on your tv, so a scart box could probably resolve that problem. Overall I would recommend this without a doubt. It looks and sounds the business! Just the lack of an easy link up to a console stops me giving this top marks, however if all you are after is a dvd surround sound system, read this review as 5 stars. Brilliant.

Sony DAV-DZ100 720 Watt Home Theatre System
What a great buy, superb sound and picture quality for your money and it's a Sony. Very easy to set up, although it took a bit of working out of how to get my sky box to play through the system as it only has 1 scart and no audio leads. If you're wondering how to do it....run the scart from the dvd player into your sky box (vcr socket) and then the 2nd scart from the sky box into your TV, press the function button on the dvd player and voila superb sound. There is no sound distortion at all with this setup. Fab buy would definately recommend.