Home Theater Arriveth!!!

Home Theater Arriveth!!!

by Liv | Published on March 25th, 2009, 2:56 pm | Science

I've been limping by on a weak Wal-Mart home theater for awhile as my last receiver died a while back. Got a great deal on a Sony. Fed Ex gift wrapped it in a plastic bag and it was on my porch when we got back from picking up new cabinet hardware for the kitchen. I forgot how much I missed the extra 600 watts of power... and huge 8 inch subwoofer can do. It's pay back time for the neighbors kids. With 800 watts of earth shaking power... I can't wait to pop in a movie tonight...

At about 3am, I'm popping in the John Barrowman CD, and seeing if I can rip a fabric in the space time continuum.... wait a sec.... oh... that's it.. it's time to buy Torchwood on blu-ray.

I take the power claims of these things with a large pinchj of salt.

I have an old (1976) Optonica amplifier which claims 35w RMS per channel. It can blow the socks off the silly RCA AV receiver that claims 650 watts. Unfortunately it has no remote and it's just too inconvenient so I don't use it anymore. The speakers ware too big and I guess I'm too old.

When I set my mother up with a home theater I used a set of Logitec THX speakers and sub woofer connected to the TV. That was pretty cheap but the sound is excellent. They claim 40w RMS/channel and 120W RMS on the subwoofer. They would certainly get her evicted if she cranked the volume up, but the frequency response is tremendous.

When I redo my setup again that's what I'll do too.

You have to look at the OHMS when you see advertised watts. Anyone can say they have big watts over 2ohms but most speakers run at 6 or 8 ohms of resistance sooo....well you do the math.

Well I played with it last night and I'm fairly happy, especially for the price... Got it from Sony, Refurbished for 99.00 and about $30 to ship. I've been watching the site. As soon as they come available they are bought and I never seem to get a chance at it....

Originally I had this huge RCA component system that Verizon bought me back in the days when I was in sales with them. (Late 90s)... That one cost about $300.00, but this one blow it out of the park....

Unfortunately about 2 years ago, the receiver died, and too poor at the time, I was forced to buy a $50.00 unit from Wal-Mart... It just never had enough power. I mean, it was better than the TV speakers... and at least was surround, but this is nice.... Last night we put in Cars and and you could feel the ported subwoofer 10 feet away on the couch push air into your face in certain sequences.... The kids were in shock and awe...

I agree with you on the power ratings.... I think this one is advertised at 800 watts, and I suppose that is them adding all the channels up... but I'd say say it's a good 50 watts RMS per channel and about 100 watts to the subwoofer... Sufficient for our 20x20 living room.

I'm thinking about getting some transducers down the road, as I happened to glance at them while finding this home theater. I wasn't aware they were making them yet for home theater, so I'm very interested...

Jeff Marquardt wrote:You have to look at the OHMS when you see advertised watts. Anyone can say they have big watts over 2ohms but most speakers run at 6 or 8 ohms of resistance sooo....well you do the math.

I think this is hers:

Manufacturer: Sony
Mfg Part#: HTDDW790
UPC: 00027242705746

Features
Standard Warranty 1 Year Limited
Manufacturer Sony Corporation
Interfaces/Ports 1 x S/PDIF In - Rear
1 x Toslink S/PDIF In - Rear
4 x Audio In - Rear
2 x Antenna
Player/Recorder Type Not Applicable
Hard Drive Not Applicable
Speaker Configuration 5.1
Receiver Type Amplifier
Dimensions 10.63" Height x 12.99" Width x 11.93" Depth - Approximate
Manufacturer Part Number HT-DDW790
Weight 10.36 lb Approximate
Manufacturer Website Address www.sony.com
Disc Capacity Not Applicable
System Power 800W (RMS)
Media Support Not Applicable
Formats Support Not Applicable
Output Power 266W (RMS) @ 10% THD Front Speaker
133W (RMS) @ 10% THD Center Speaker
266W (RMS) @ 10% THD Rear Speaker
135W (RMS) @ 10% THD Subwoofer
Recording Time Not Applicable
Product Name HT-DDW790 Home Theater System
Scanning Modes Not Applicable
Product Type Home Theater System
Frequency Band/Bandwidth 530kHz to 1710kHz AM 10 Channel
87.5MHz to 108MHz FM 20 Channel

Tech Specs
Standard Warranty 1 Year Limited
Player/Recorder Type Not Applicable
Hard Drive Not Applicable
Speaker Configuration 5.1
Interfaces/Ports 1 x S/PDIF In - Rear
1 x Toslink S/PDIF In - Rear
4 x Audio In - Rear
2 x Antenna
Manufacturer Sony Corporation
System Power 800W (RMS)
Manufacturer Part Number HT-DDW790
Dimensions 10.63" Height x 12.99" Width x 11.93" Depth - Approximate
Receiver Type Amplifier
Manufacturer Website Address www.sony.com
Output Power 266W (RMS) @ 10% THD Rear Speaker
135W (RMS) @ 10% THD Subwoofer
266W (RMS) @ 10% THD Front Speaker
133W (RMS) @ 10% THD Center Speaker
Disc Capacity Not Applicable
Brand Name Sony
Media Support Not Applicable
Weight 10.36 lb Approximate
Formats Support Not Applicable
Recording Time Not Applicable
Scanning Modes Not Applicable
Product Model HT-DDW790
Product Name HT-DDW790 Home Theater System
Country of Origin Malaysia
Product Type Home Theater System
Frequency Band/Bandwidth 530kHz to 1710kHz AM 10 Channel
87.5MHz to 108MHz FM 20 Channel

Yes that's it....

If anyone else is interested they pop in and out of availabilty on a daily basis.... and you just have to get lucky... but here's the link.

I couldn't be happier for the price... It's not high-end... but it definatly isn't low-end either... it's a good family system which would be expanded down the road with some higher end stereo fronts.... Perfect for the small living room...

Jeff Marquardt wrote:You have to look at the OHMS when you see advertised watts. Anyone can say they have big watts over 2ohms but most speakers run at 6 or 8 ohms of resistance sooo....well you do the math.

Given that this comes with a set of matched 6ohm speakers it's irrelevant. The math is also rather difficult to do since the impedance of the speakers varies with the frequency and is not a simple V=IR calculation. Unless you consider whether the muisic is listenable to (distortion) the power is not a useful measure.

Look at the specs:

135W (RMS) @ 10% THD Subwoofer
266W (RMS) @ 10% THD Front Speaker
133W (RMS) @ 10% THD Center Speaker

While they are quoting RMS rather than 'peak' or 'instantaneous' (i.e. meaningless) power - 10% total harmonic distortion!* Now I'm not knocking Sony or denigrating your purchase Liv (it's a good unit and a lot better than the RCA receiver I'm currently listening to) but 10% THD is nasty. My old Optonica gave its full rated power at 0.5% THD. At 1% distortion is barely detectable, at 5% it's obvious and at 10% it's ugly. Unless you're listening to rap.

It seems that power at 10%THD is a common measure now in order to print the biggest power numbers on the box. But if that thing was really pushing out 600w RMS into a normal living room, the distortion would be irrelevant since you'd .

Another interesting spec is the power consumption - if you check the power supply is rated at 210W. Its claim of 600W RMS out is obviously an exaggeration. Unless Sony have discovered perpetual motion.

Sorry Liv, I got on a rant and I didn't mean to detract from your purchase. All manufacturers lie, or at least mislead, their power specs, Sony is no exception. It would be nice if they quoted figures for the sound quality, rather than its power but they don't and you don't ever hear people say "I've got a 0.1% THD amp in my car" they much prefer to say "600 watts, Dude - that's power". That's a nice unit and I'm sure at any reasonable volume it sounds great.

WHAT????? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!!!

No, it's all cool.... I didn't expect "flawless" sound....

My main reasoning in buying this model was cost.... The other choice was an $88 dollar model at Wal-Mart but had only 200 watts....

This fits the bill for me perfectly.... I'm sure an audiophile with a good ear would cringe with their French nose tipped to the air, but compared to the crap-box we had before this is a joy....

If I happen to win the lottery, I'd be glad to consider a nicer model... but for my current economic situation the distortion is about as controversial to me as a debating if a New York dirty water hot-dog is as good as tea and scones at the Savoy....

Then again, I'm quite certain I blew out 90% of my hearing during the 90's when I crammed a 15" Subwoofer into a Honda Prelude and shoved a good 200watts RMS into it...

Liv only hears in the mid-range...

j/k

As I mentioned, it's been a long day. Started with hanging cabinet doors, installing Ooma, and then mounting the flatscreen on the wall. I didn't think it would make that big of a difference, but I love the look... Now I've got to figure out what to do with the components. I'm thinking about getting one of the low component centers people are using these days. All the hard work though, was worth it... Torchwood Season 1 came in Bluray. Life is good. Had Burritos for dinner, watched Captain Jack while I ate, and got to see all of Cardiff again in stunning high definition TV.....

Well I got more done yesterday. Got rid of the old nasty computer stand we were using as an entertainment center for a basic simple component table. Ran the wires and fished them through the wall. Relocated the subwoofer to out of sight, patched all the holes in the wall, and now I'm ready to paint the wall....

It looks much better than the set-up we had just a few short years ago....