Review: TV surround sound system

I don’t hear so well and was doing some browsing around. I went to my favorite shopping site, Amazon and was looking around for a good home TV surround sound system. I’m not sure which is best, but settled on two different systems. One was the Samsung HW-E450 Wireless AirTrack Sound Bar and the other was the Sony BRAVIA DAV-DZ170 Home Theater System. There’s about $100 difference in price, but still in my price range.

The features I liked for the Samsung Sound Bar  are:
TV surround sound system

 

  • Slim design matching with 40-50 inch TVs
  • Wireless solution with Bluetooth connectivity
  • Wireless solution with Bluetooth connectivity
  • Surround and 3D Depth sound

As I’ve mentioned, I don’t know much about choosing a TV surround sound system, however there were over 297 reviews with a total 4 Star rating by Amazon consumers so we feel that overall buyers liked it and felt it deliver on most of it’s advertised promises. Here are a few of the typical reviews for the Samsung HW-E450 Wireless AirTrack Sound Bar.

“Many people seem to have problems turning the speaker on with the TV. I was able to figure this out in about 20 mins and figured I’d let everyone know what I did. This is for Samsung TV’s as I can only speak for my Samsung TV. I have the speaker hooked up via HDMI. I am using a different HDMI cable for audio as I’m not passing video through the sound bar.

TV ports: HDMI 1 is my Cable Box, HDMI 2 is my sound bar In your TV settings under “system” / “Anynet+”,

Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) “ON”
Auto Turn off “NO” (YES I SAID “NO”)
Reciver “ON”

When you turn the TV off the sound bar will stay on. But after 20mins it shuts itself down. When you turn the TV back on the sound bar will also turn back on. You will never have to turn the sound bar on again. Also you can still change the volume with this setup. Enjoy NEVER having to use the Sound bar remote again.”

And… “Very Happy, May 19, 2012.  I started looking at sound bars to replace my old Sony 5.1 system. I was tired of all the cables running everywhere and the space all that took up. It was also pretty complicated for my wife to figure out. I also was not very impressed with the sound for watching tv/movies. For music the 5.1 system was great. Now I do have to admit, movies on disc were great but those over the regular cable box were not.

I was scoping this out at Wal-Mart along with a few other options. I wasn’t planning on getting one this expensive but I’m glad I did. The sound is great and the features are awesome. Now with that said I have a Samsung TV and I can’t seem to get the audio sync thing to work. I can get the audio working with the TV remote and to power off together but not come on together. I’m sure some more time spent playing with it or calling tech support might yield a result but for now I just added the features of the original remote to my one for all remote.

Since it’s 2.1 and I can’t get the audio sync working anyway which requires HDMI,I have the optical audio hooked up. This is nice because it’s coming from the output on my TV to the sound bar. So If I’m watching OTA on the TV, I’ve got audio. If I’m watching the satellite, I’ve got Audio. If I’m watching a DVD, I’ve got audio. No switching inputs, always nice. Again with 2.1 the optical out from the TV is just fine.

I use the Bluetooth feature all the time to play music from my phone and my laptop. I love it. The wireless sub does a decent job and the whole system sounds pretty darn good. More then what I need. If you opt not to get this unit, at least get one with a sub, you’ll be a lot happier with the audio.”

Now to the Sony BRAVIA DAV-DZ170 TV surround sound system.

With 7 consumer reviews and also a solid 4 Star rating this is a receiver style system that has many useful features:

Sony Bravia 1000 Watt Home Theater System DAV-DZ175

1000 watt (167×5+165 3ohm, 1kHz, 10%THD) 5.1 channel surround sound
DVD upscaling to near HD picture quality via HDMITM. iPd compatibility and connectivity. Rip your CDs to your USB drive
BRAVIA® SyncTM controls compatible devices w/ one remote. Smart Remote Control
Digital Cinema Audio Calibration for quick speaker set-up
Easy Set-up Disc is included to guide you through the set-up process. Multiple format disc playback.

Here’s what several reviewer’s posted- “Loud and Clear
I just love this theater system, I have it connected to a sony 55 inch led tv and a Sony blu bray player. Everything seems to work well together. The whole arrangement is connected by hdmi cables and as far as sound quality with the volume turned up to around 22 its like being in a movie theater. you could probably find a more expensive system but for some one wanting a steal for the price.”

“I bought this for my boyfriend for Christmas. Hook up was easy, sounds great. Only issue I have had is the cd not being read I had to turn off and on 3 or 4 times and it worked perfect. The speakers are good as well, some stations/movies/shows are not in 5.0 audio so not all the speakers work just the main ones. other than that we are happy with the system.”

So with good overall reviews form both units, I’m at a loss to which one I should buy. I think though, that the features included with the Sony BRAVIA DAV-DZ170 Home Theater System, that I might be swayed to the Sony. I like the idea of having a receiver that will allow me to tune my favorite am and fm stations.

You can see all the reviews and information on these two quality home TV surround sound system below.  Let us know which one will work best for you…

Under: TV surround sound system

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