A few friends have asked me to review my Sony Soundbar system, so here it is. When Molly and I moved into the new house, I wanted a new sound system for the living room. My plan was to move my current 5.1 system to the basement and purchase a different sound system for the main room. After searching for awhile, I found the perfect solution in the Sony HTCT100 Sound Bar system.
The Sony HTCT100 filled multiple needs with just one purchase. I wanted to find something that was unobtrusive. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a bunch of wires in our living room. The room that the system would be hooked up to had wood floors, making it difficult to hide wires. The Sony HTCT100 fit this need since it is simply two components, a Sound Bar and a Subwoofer. I placed the Sound Bar in front of our 37″ Vizio HD TV and I placed the Subwoofer on the floor next to the TV stand.
The other great thing about the Sony HTCT100 is the subwoofer is actually a receiver as well. It has 3 HDMI Inputs (and 1 output) along 3 Optical Inputs, a COAX and an RCA input. This has allowed me to hook up a DVD player (HDMI), Xbox 360 (HDMI), a Record Player (RCA) and the audio out of my HD antenna. All of this then connects into my HDTV with an HDMI.
The sound itself is quite nice. It works perfect for a small space and is able to replicate surround sound pretty well with it’s 3.1 stereo system. It also has individual levels for the Sound Bar and the Subwoofer and an LCD display on the Subwoofer. I’ve had this system for over 6 months now and it’s worked out great. It functions as a receiver and a superb sound system for the upstairs without the hassle of wires running everywhere.
As for negatives, there are only a few issues I can think of. Even though the subwoofer has an LCD display, the Sound Bar is actually the component that picks up the Remote’s signal. It works fine, but I find myself pointing at the Subwoofer sometimes. Also, the names for the Inputs cannot be adjusted, so if you plug in Blu-Ray into the DVD input, it will still say DVD. Also, there isn’t a direct iPod hook up, instead Sony wants you to purchase their proprietary adaptor. This can be offset by just using RCA. Still, pretty minor issues.
As for the price, it might seem a bit high, but remember you are paying for a 3.1 Sound Bar system and a Receiver all in one. So, it’s pretty reasonable. I think this is perfect for either a small area or a room in the house that you wish to avoid stringing wires around the walls or across the floor.
Thanks Rob. (You should post this to Amazon.com as a review as well.)
I have heard this system in action and really like it. I honestly have had surround sound since I was 5. First with an old school 70′s Quadraphonic receiver, then with Dolby Surround, Prologic, and now with Digital/DTS stuff. While I am in no way an audiophile, I do enjoy hearing sound from all around me. This sound bar does exactly that. When watching a movie the effects will come from right behind you. I actually looked back a couple times just to verify with my own eyes that there was nothing hidden. It is a really nice piece of kit.
–dan
Noted.
Sounds like when I go up north this weekend we’ll be stopping at one of the locally-run shops, that they purchase most of their stuff at.
The one thing I don’t know that I like is that it’s HDMI only. I’ve got the cables, but what about my PS2? There’s also no upgrade path short of purchasing another bar.
For your PS2, it could only act as the receiver for the sound, not the video. You would route the Yellow RCA to your TV and the White & Red into the HTCT100. As for upgrade path, there is none. If you wish to upgrade into something, I would suggest buying a Receiver from Onkyo or Sony and then slowly building up your speaker system.
how did you hook up your record player to the htct100?
I have a sony record player that has an RCA output.