Does anybody have this? I thought for a small apartment space this might be a nice solution for surround sound for less than $500.

I just bought this from Amazon.... hoping it will sound good. I just wanted something for a cheap price and to save room because I dont have the room for a bigger 5.1 or 7.1 system. This looks nice and simple...

Kenage,
I just bought this last week. I live in a small apartment in NYC and I'm pretty happy with it. I think I like it more than my previous soundbar (Soundmatters Mainstage).

PROS:
1. It sounds best really loud.
2. It sounds good at normal volume.
3. The subwoofer is really great - bass is awesome and a huge difference when comparing it to the Soundmatter Mainstage soundbar.
4. The subwoofer and soundbar look really nice.
5. Hook-up is simple and quick.
6. I'm happy with all its inputs (I only use the Coaxial input which is connected to the DVD player).
7. Remote control is great.
8. Excellent quality for the price (between $200-300), especially since it comes with a subwoofer.

CONS:
1. It takes a bit of tweaking - dialogue is slightly muted compared to action/noise. To fix this, tweak it to "+4 center speaker; -3 subwoofer; Movie soundfield".
2. Pseudo surrounds aren't as obvious unless you play at very high volume. (My Soundmatters Mainstage handled pseudo surrounds better at a regular volume level.)

Not to nullify toddly's previous message, but Sony has never been known as an audio company. There are other soundbar options that are better choices, though do cost a bit more. I recommend testing it first, because it's the only way you'll know if it's good enough for you.

Samsung, Yamaha, Mirage and DefTech all make bars that would sound much better than the Sony. Prices start at about twice what you might pay for the Sony, so it depends on the price/sound compromise...

Like I said, test it out, because there's nothing crappier than spending money you wished you'd spent otherwise.

PAT,
There is obviously going to be a big difference in quality when one cost $200 (Sony) while the better one costs over $1000 (Yamaha).

And the two things I like about the Sony are that is does not need a separate receiver and it does HDMI sound. Some of the other sounds bars do not do that. Thanks for the review Toddly. So you do not use the HDMI audio? I wonder how different it would sound if using those inputs. I plan on hooking this up to a PS3 if I get it.

Kenage,
I can't tell you about that yet. I could hook up an HDMI cable between the soundbar and my tv, but I don't (right now, I only use this soundbar when I watch DVDs, not for watching tv). I'm curious too, but I think we are both going to have to research online and find someone else's opinion of audio quality of HDMI versus Coaxial. Can anyone in here comment on the audio quality differences betwen a HDMI cable versus a Coaxial cable when watching a DVD with DD 5.1, for example?

I'm heavily leaning toward picking up a HT-CT100 during the post-Christmas sales, if, that is to say, there are any sales on this item in Canada. I can't even find it at Best Buy or Future Shop.

Does anyone know where this is still sold in Canada (particularly, Toronto)? I'm assuming the Sony Store (now known as SonyStyle) would carry this, but I'm not sure.

http://www.shopbot.ca/pp-sony-ht-ct1...ce-109964.html

http://cgi.ebay.ca/SONY-BRAVIA-HT-CT...1%7C240%3A1318

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...0042849&sr=8-1


It's such a great purchase. I highly recommend this soundbar/subwoofer - totally worth the money!

Refreshing this thread again ... I am now on the cusp of actually buying this thing but was wondering if anyone can answer the following questions for me:

1) Is this compatible with the PS3? I recall reading something a while back about the PS3 and receiver compatibility ... something about HDMI passthrough, but I'm not sure of the case here.

2) How are incoming HD audio formats (TrueHD or DTS HD MA) handled with this soundbar?

3) I see it has 3 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output. I take it that the HDMI from my various players (PS3 and HD-A3) and cable box would just feed into this and then the outgoing HDMI would feed to my HDTV?

Edit: I think I answered my own questions ... All I need to do is set my PS3 and HD-A3 to ouput PCM and I'm good to go. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.