Electronics Gadget Reviews

OPPO DV 980H 1080p Up Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7 1CH Audio

Prepare to be impressed by the OPPO DV-980H universal DVD player. Continuing the OPPO tradition of exceptional audio/video performance and great value, the DV-980H delivers a stunning picture and immersing sound for today’s home theaters. Advanced video upconversion technology brings standard definition DVDs to life with 1080p “Full HD” clarity. Precision rendering from Super Audio CD, DVD-Audio, HDCD and regular CD creates enveloping acoustics with high fidelity. Complemented with 7.1-channel surround audio, high-resolution picture slide show and a convenient USB 2.0 port, the DV-980H helps you rediscover the treasures in your home theater.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars dependable product
The OPPO DV-980H is an excellent, dependable and foolproof product. I have used it for the past two years, and it has always been extremely reliable. It is often difficult to realize when a product is excellent, because it doesn’t cause problems, and therefore doesn’t force itself onto your consciousness… this is one of those understated and excellent products. I highly recommend it. Well done, OPPO!

5 Stars Best Upconverted Player
Ordered this player from Amazon and received it in 1 week. For anyone who doesn’t want to get a Blu-Ray yet, the Oppo IS the best Upconverted Dvd-player that you can get for around $160. Only a very few more expensive players that can match this player. The picture is sharp, colors are accurately rendered and the sound is just amazing. I don’t want to say anything else about this player because whatever i want to say is already been said millions of time on the net.

Bottom line is if you want an Upconverted Dvd player then this is IT.

5 Stars Outstanding upconverting DVD player
I have had this player for about six months now. It does everything very well.It automatically resizes the video output of commercial DVDs to fit the HDTV 16:9 format. It also plays the many self-recorded DVDs (DVD-R) very well. No freeze-ups, tracking is wonderful. It does seem to have a mind of its own when it starts up with a fresh DVD. Sometimes starts a few minutes into the DVD, sometimes ignores the remotes commands until I can manage to send it to the title screen. Then everything is fine. Probably needs an upgrade on the software. But overall, a top performer.

1 Star Great Until the DVD Tray Broke
I purchased this player in January of 2008 and was very happy with its performance up until yesterday when the DVD tray stopped working (the tray would not open). This was a useful life of 1 year and roughly 4 months. Only a 1-year warranty. Great:(

5 Stars Exceeds expectations
Given the heaps of well written reviews about the Oppo, I’ll keep my review short and casual. This sweet piece of tech rocks! My 1080p TV is very happy.

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Bose 161 Speaker System White ideal for stereo or home theater use

Enjoy rich, full sound from music or movies with this compact pair of sleek Bose speakers. Whether placed on a desk or bookshelf or mounted on a wall for use as surround speakers, these speakers are designed to deliver balanced, spacious sound with minimal or moderate amplifier power (10 to 100 watts per channel). Automatic protection circuitry keeps the speaker drivers from being overdriven, heightening the speakers’ reliability without interfering with your listening.

If you’ll be using them in a home-theater capacity, keep in mind that they’re designed to blend seamlessly with the Bose VCS-10 center-channel speaker and any Direct/Reflecting Bose speaker system.

Unlike conventional speakers, which radiate sound in a single direction, these speakers use Articulated Array driver positioning and Stereo Everywhere technology to deliver balanced sound throughout your listening area. Further, Bose’s two 2.5-inch proprietary Twiddler drivers per speaker move more air from their small enclosures than similarly sized conventional drivers, creating a sound you’d expect from much larger speakers.

Be sure to use the proper gauge (or thickness) of wire or speaker cable for the length required to run the distance between your amplifier and your speakers. If the length is 30 feet, use a minimum of 18 gauge (.75 mm); use 16 gauge (1.5 mm) for 45 feet or 14 gauge (2 mm) for 70 feet. Supplied custom mounting brackets offer a range of placement options.

What’s in the Box
Two speakers, self-adhesive rubber feet (three per speaker) for shelf positioning, wall-mounting brackets, and owner’s manual.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Bose 161s
Excellent bookshelf speakers for stereo use in a medium-sized room. Full, clear sound — lives up to the Bose name.

5 Stars Great sound
I bought these to finish my surround sound system, nice additition to my Bose 201 speakers.

1 Star Bose- Poor products driven by advertising hype
Bose is a fascinating case study of what the power of advertising can do for products that are acknowledged within the audio industry as being cheaply made and technically outperformed by all of its competiters. Based on audio theories from the 1960’s and parts of lower quality than what can be bought at Radio Shack, Bose has built an incredible empire out of poorly designed products driven by a huge advertising budget creating an aura of “Bose”.

Consumers should do their research before shelling out money for Bose speakers. A google search will bring you to epinions or audioreview websites where you can find review after review, mostly negative, from buyers of Bose products.

The commonly accepted wisdom in the audio industry is that Bose makes low audio quality products and sells them at very high prices. In other words those Polk, JBL, Wharfedale or Infinity mid-fi products you can find at Amazon are usually higher quality at much better price points.

Compare the sound if you ever get a chance. Make sure you DO NOT depend on volume, in other words volume is a bad indicater of quality. Listen for the high and low notes and to the clarity of the music. Tough to do in a showroom at Circuit City or Best Buy, but even there the differences will show up. Bose attempts to prevent consumers from doing this by segregating their products away from the competition.

After this you might look at online audio magazines (do a google search), Audioreview (one word) and Audiogon. You’ll find whole NEW world of audio products such as PSB, Paradigm, Vandersteen, Quad, Sonus Faber, ACI and many more who’s products will put you on a much higher level of audio than you’d ever imagine. Usually these speakers are SEVERAL times more electronically sophisticated than Bose at the same price! What you won’t find in these websites of magazines are Bose articles. Bose just isn’t taken seriously by the industry.

Good luck and happy hunting!

5 Stars Wonderfully transparent sound, reasonable price
We bought several pairs of these 161 speakers when they were first introduced a little over a year ago. We use one pair for the surround speakers in our theater system, and a pair in each of the other rooms of our home.

Although we are longtime Bose fans, we decided to audition these in an audio store as we had been disappointed in a Bose center channel speaker we had purchased previously, (based on reputation, we didn’t listen first!). We were favorbly impressed in the store and have been very pleased with them in our home. Regardless of room decor, the speakers produce clean, stereo sound. (Its possible to identify orchestral instruments and their location!)

These speakers are very linear above 80-90Hz, to the audible limits. They drop off rapidly below about 80Hz. Bass frequencies are adequately reproduced for orchestral music but will need to be augmented for heavy bass or special cinematic effects. (sub-woofer)

These speakers are intended to be wall mounted and are easily installed with the included brackets. They do not sit well on a shelf!

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Sony BRAVIA Theater System DAVHDX576WF Black

The Sony DAV-HDX576WF 5.1 channel BRAVIA Theater System has an integrated 5-disc DVD / CD changer that will upscale your DVD’s to 1080p through the HDMI connection. Plus, this amazing system uses S-AIR technology to eliminate speaker wires running from your system to the rear surround speakers. For easy multi-room audio, it also includes an AirStation speaker that let’s you listen to music in another room of the house.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great System for the Price
This is a great system for the price. Amazon had it much lower than Best Buy or Frye’s. It was fairly easy to set up. I keep my favorite CD’s in 4 slots of the 5 disk changer and the 5th is open for a DVD.

The S-Air remote speaker works great in my bedroom. I can control the system from there, except you can’t switch between CD’s. The other problem I had is that I can’t get any TV sound through the system. It’s no big deal for me because I mostly watch DVD’s anyway but it may be a concern for you. You’re supposed to be able to set it up for that but in my case, it simply doesn’t work.

Overall, I think this is a great value for anyone who wants a stereo/home-theater combo and the S-Air remote speaker is like getting a mini-system as a bonus.

1 Star operationalal procedure
This produict is extremely difficult to operate for an elderly person to understand the different functios of this system. I dont fully understand why its so difficult to understand. Why so many different options. Am not happy with system. If I had it to do over again would have passed on buying syste. Larry M Houtz

5 Stars Sony BRAVIA Theater System (DAVHDX576WF)
i like this system, i would only change how loud it can get still doesnt seem aloud as it should get, and also i think the sub should be stronger.

4 Stars A GOOD SOUND SYSTEM
I am happy with this sound system.

I did not realize how good it was until I rented “Journey to the Center of the Earth” this DVD has good suround sound.

The first time thunder hit from the left, front and back, I checked outside for a storm.

5 Stars i haven’t actually gotten to listen to it yet
My friend has one and loves it and I’m sure I will love mine as well.

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Philips AmbiSound Home Theater Sound Bar with Integrated 1080p Upscaling DVD MP3 Player HTS8100 37

Sometimes the quest for home surround sound is as ignominious as seeking the holy grail. Where do you place all those speakers? Do you have to reshape the room? Philips engineers have tackled that problem. They’ve managed to take the output from 5 distinct channel amplifiers and placed them in a single speaker called a Soundbar. Within the soundbar, speakers are angled to provide a realistic audio environment that literally emulates sound as if it’s coming from all sides. It’s 5.1 surround without the mess! In addition to the latest audio technology, the Ambisound system is only five inches thick and can be easily mounted onto a wall underneath an existing Flat-TV. The simple, yet elegant design enhances the d

3 2 1 GS Series III DVD Home Entertainment System Graphite

The Bose?3???GS Series III DVD home entertainment system puts you at the center of exciting home theater with greater simplicity. Just two visible Gemstone speaker arraysour smallest, most powerful 3?? speakersand a hideaway Acoustimass module deliver enhanced sound performance from almost anything you watch. Setup is simple: No center or rear speakers means no wiring to the back of your room. An elegant media center features a progressive scan DVD/CD player with FM/AM tuner, and an HDMI output that makes it even easier to connect to your HDTV. Plus, an easy-to-use universal remote control is programmable to run most of your home entertainment devices together with your system.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars AWESOME SYSTEM
I recently purchased this system and must admit after reading the reviews I honestly was not sure whether I would be satisfied with the bass sound. Well, let me tell you, I found a way to increase the base to what pleases your ear and WOW, what an impact, especially during movies. It had me jumping to unexpected sounds throughout the movie and kept me in suspense. The music and sound is so crystal clear. Costly system, but worth every penny. I am one happy camper!

5 Stars Worth Every Penny (All 100,000 of them)
Being skeptical of such an expensive purchase, I really worked this thing over once I got it to make sure I was going to keep it. It did not take long to find out that it can’t be beat. For such a simple system I was amazed at the performance. Let’s start with the good: Very stylish, compact, and super easy to set up. The set-up I did was not your standard set-up either. I took advantage of running optical audio from my cable box (good idea) and I use the HDMI output to a 37inch LCD. I did not want all of my sound to always have to go through the unit so I had to use a few more wires. The sound is absolutely unbeatable for the size of system. If you are a sound junkie like myself you will appreciate the clarity and reality of the reproduction. Music is concert-like, DVD’s play like you are in a mini-theater. People that do not like the sound of Bose generally like a lot of unnatural bass and Bose refuses to give in to that fake noise. I replaced a high end Sony 5.1 system with this for aesthetics and am kicking myself for not doing it sooner. The sound is now simply way better at all volume levels. Even 2.0 sound sounds better through these tiny speakers than they did with my old system. Now for the not so good: You need a fairly recent and not so cheap universal remote if you want to control this thing. Unless you don’t mind the remote it comes with which claims to be universal but I found otherwise. The aqua display of text on the front of the unit can detour your focus when watching the TV screen. There is no equalizer if you wanted to create a different sound other than the Bose standard. Sometimes I want that cheesy bass although it pumps out plenty. Lastly, you almost need to use the optical audio connection to ensure full volume control. Without it you have to turn up the volume for different applications. I use the optical so I have no complaints. Before I go, I just want to let you know that if you want a small system that can fill your room with rich authentic sound then you are on the right track with this system. You can put a pretty nice system together for the price of this thing but what for??? 3 wires and you are done and have the best sound money can buy.

5 Stars Great Sound !! Expensive but worth the $$!!
I just purchased the Bose 3.2.1 GS Series III last week. Looked at several other systems but realize you always “get what you pay for”. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! You must cut TV speakers volume up(although you will not need them) and VERY,VERY IMPORTANT you must use either the optical or coaxial connection from Cable Box to the 3.2.1. I was ready to return the unit because of not enough sound volume. In fact, I had it backed up to return the next day. Then I thought, Bose is to good of a product to have this problem, so I unpacked and set up with the OPTICAL digital cable and BINGO!! What a product!! Sounds better than my old true surrond sound unit a(Sony) I purchased eight years ago. I would recommend this unit HIGHLY. Never owned Bose but their reputation out did itself. The small system looks “nifty” and MY what a sound!!! Spend the extra BUCKS and Get ONE!! fkwalter

1 Star Bose 321 not worth it
I bought this unit because I didn’t want or have room for the rear speakers and because of the Bose reputation. Well, now that I have it, it sounds OK but I barely even get the effect of rear speakers. I also have to turn it up to 50 (half) to even hear it. Then the volume on the DVD’s has to be much higher than on the cable box. What a pain going back to the cable box. When their adds say it sounds so much better than the TV, they are right but not much better. I would find something else with wireless speakers in the rear. I have an Onkyo downstairs (5.1) and it rocks. Also the DVD’s get stuck in there and you have to power the unit off to get them out. I do like the remote.

5 Stars Great Sound, Small Footprint, Huge Upgrade from Series II
I bought this late August ‘08 from a Bose store (prices fixed at $1k at all stores right now). First off, it is 2 speakers that fit in the palm of your hand, and a somewhat large woofer that can be put out of sight (e.g., behind TV cabinet). Sound is amazing given it’s only 2.1 speakers. System does an okay job at filling the room with sound (I don’t think it’s fair to say it seems like there really are rear speakers, but the sound is for sure big and full), but it does deliver all 5.1 channels of sound through the 2.1 speakers when listening to those sources – awesome. Big + for me is that music sounds really good – not always true on home theater systems. Unit is easy to use and set-up – onscreen menus straight forward, and universal remote really is universal (including my cable box). Upconverting of DVD picture looks great. Sound from TV and DVDs is amazing (especially digital 5.1 sound from HD channels).

Now, for the cons: I wish it served as a video receiver as well – it does not. Example, this means when I watch cable I need to turn the TV on to cable video input and set the Bose to cable audio output – not a big deal but a bit annoying. There is only 1 optical audio input (which you can assign to any available source), but digital coax inputs are there for all sources (sound and signal for optical vs. coax digital audio is the same, differences heard are people playing vodoo). There is a bit of a sound delay when switching sound sources or when changing cable channels (~0.5-1 second) before the sound starts again.

Lots of people knock Bose because they are expensive. Well, Bose really does have superior speaker (always have) and now digital processing technology – look into it yourself, don’t just trust reviews online from random people (such as myself). But, you should take a trip down to a Bose store or Best Buy and listen for yourself. And bring a full band audio CD to listen to of your own (the Dave Matthews acoustic demo they always play is stupid – acoustic guitar sounds good even on crappy speakers).

If you have the $$ and don’t want to hassle with 5.1 speakers, at least give this some serious consideration.

Another note: I shelled out another $100 for the overpriced speaker stands (floor stands), and did notice a slight increase in quality as the speakers can spread out their sound a little better (as opposed to my previous set-up where they were on the edge of a shelf).

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