Sony HTCT500 3.1 Speaker System with Complete Built-In A/V Receiver (Black)

i also have the sony ct-100, both are great products but the htct-500 is worth the extra money.

More important than the extra 150 watts of audio power the CT-500 offers over the CT-100, this Sony upgrade has nicely balanced the power between the audio channels. The CT-100 produced low center channel audio while the bass and side channels were excellent. Now I can keep the volume relatively low and still hear good volume and articulation from the center channel. This is exactly what I was hoping for when purchasing this unit. Also the various "sound field" options (news, music, sports, etc.) have a much more pronounced effect on the output characteristics than what I experienced with the CT-100. Another benefit is the variable bass and treble adjustments which can provide more fidelity. The AM/FM tuner is a nice feature.

With my Direct TV remote programmed with the CT-500 voume up/down and mute, I'm set to go!

This soundbar blows away the competetion at its pricepoint and well above. I went through the samsung WS1, a few yamaha units and the sony HT100 before hearing this. For 370$ this is a steal. I have had large speaker onkyo home theaters before and the sound quality from this small unit is superb. It is exceptionally easy to hook up the onscreen menus and HDMI pass through and upconverting are exceptional features for an all in one.

TOP NOTCH!

The system works as advertised. There are a lot of options you really have to configure before the system is ready to go, this isn't overly difficult just time consuming. Unlike its predecessor, the CT100, this system has a lot of sound output. Granted in a really big room some of this might be lost, but in a medium sized room it works nicely. I've only ever had this thing at about 30/50 for the volume level. The HDMI switching works great, the on-screen display works great (though I do notice an audio delay which is fixable in the options). For the money I'm not sure you can find a better value. Of course, like others have said, this isn't TRUE surround sound but I think most people looking at sound bars likely already know that. It does a decent job at simulating the surround sound experience though.

I added the Sony sound bar to a Samsung LCD. It was money well spent in that the quality of the sound is a noticable improvement. As other reviews state, it's not surround sound. I would call the sound a richer stero sound. For this room I did not want multiple speakers. A couple of times I have had to cut the power to my Samsung Blu-Ray and the sound bar to "unfreeze" their connection in order to connect to another input device (Sattelite). This problem may be the Blu-Ray not the sound bar. Overall satisfied - given price considerations.