The Mandate : Find a small 5.1 home theater box (HTB) system in a box for the “In laws” – It should be easy to use, builtin dvd player, USB port, not expensive and preferably have small speakers (wireless connectivity if possible). So out I went in search of a HTB which would fulfill their requirements and have decent sound to boot – it is very important to please the "In laws", your marriage is dependent on that!!!!
The benchmark was the Pioneer system at Rs. 9, 000 (price excludes customs) – with no printed or any online/mouthshut review, it was time to do some groundwork. Considering the “In laws” already have a Samsung LED Tv – having a Samsung HTB might solve some interface issues and the pleasure of only one remote control. So I looked at the Samsung HT-D550/D650 series.
The 650 being able to play additional formats (from a USB). Loved the metal look of the speaker cones and the sleek head unit. It sounded decent in the dealer shop. They are wireless speaker ready but require an adapter costing an extra Rs.5k. With the D550/650 costing in the range of Rs.13, 500 – Samsung got shot down. Another big factor is that I really do not trust Samsung with Audio (their recent foray into this area) although I’m confident of their capability – with a price reduction and with some latest tech, they’ll soon compete with the best.
Next was the big daddy of budget audio music, Sony. The unit was Sony Bravia DZ 170. On first looks the unit seemed better built – the metal grills of the speakers shouted quality (unlike the cloth grills of others in this range) – It’s a Sony. Sony units however have a tendency of being “Bass” heavy – and this was no exception. Overall the sound was not impressive especially the clarity/highs. The unit being Rs.1, 000 more than the pioneer sealed its fate. It was no more going to be "a Sony".
Looked at a Phillip’s unit and then just looked away – the look itself was not appealing and looked really cheap - Didn’t even bother listening to the system. LG faced the same fate as Samsung – do not trust their audio equipment at the moment.
Finally down to business – there was an older Pioneer HTZ 180 system on the rack but the salesman mentioned that the 101 was their latest model. So popped in my CD to listen to the sound and the Pioneer sounded the best in comparison with the Sony and Samsung. Yes, I must admit that I am biased towards Pioneer – being my first HTS in a box picked up 8 years back which worked and sounded really well. The sound from Pioneer 101 was more rounded and would please most. Yalla, deal done now to test the unit at home away from the open environment of a mall.
Set up - It is easy to set up the unit from the box with each speaker wire being colour coded (great even if you are colour blind). Attached the skid pads to the bottom of all speakers. Hooked it up to the LED tv with an HDMI cable, the Reliance STB audio to the Pioneer HTS and it was good to go. Btw Samsung LED tvs have horrid sound so you have to hook it up to a good audio system for the audio.
Speakers - The passive subwoofer has a rear firing woofer (6 inch rear rather than down firing) and with bass port in front – this unit can be easily hidden from view. The front/rear speakers are bose cube sized (0.4 kg) and can be wall hung – they have mounting holes. One can however build rear stands for the speakers and it would be recommended. Each speaker volume can be separately adjusted – just in case one wishes to increase the center channel sound.
Power Output – It claims 2600 W PMPO but my guess is it more in the range of 30-45 W RMS per channel. The subwoofer is 60W-75W RMS. Not that great if you have a very big room to place the unit – then again you wouldn’t be picking up a budget unit.
Head Unit – has a glass like finish with a big chunky volume control knob in the center. The control knob is white backlit. All looking neat and slick. The LCD display with it white/blue font does not look great though – and does make you feel it is a budget set.
Karaoke Mic input (3.5mm) – just in case you have that urge in you to belt out some tunes. However the unit is not loud enough to irritate your neighbours but your wife/mother at home might surely beat you up. Need to have Karaoke dvd though.
Surround : DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II - Good enough.
HDMI output – It has only one. Necessary if it claims to upscale video. Has component out just incase you do not have an LCD/CRT tv with HDMI inputs.
Portable/Aux in (3.5mm) - to hook up your ipod/mp3 player.
FM tuner – Great to tune in to some radio channels. Last time I was in Bombay – it was pure misery listening to the radio.
USB port – plays divx/wmv/jpeg and supports USD 2.0. A norm nowadays. It plays the following codec format - Divx3.xx, Divx4.xx, Divx5.xx, MP4V3, 3ivx.
CD/USB – can apparently record onto USB all music playing from a CD. Never used it and don’t think the in laws are ever going to use this feature.
Video Upscale - it claims that it upscales to 1080p through the HDMI cable. Wow. Although I cannot verify this claim as I haven’t watched any dvd yet with the "In Laws" and cannot verify the avi/mpeg movies from the usb without making comparisons.
Control for TV - This Pioneer remote can control Pioneer, Sony, Pana, Samsung, Lg TV - Great. Athough nowadays the remote you use often is the STB remote (big tv, tata sky etc) and not the tv remote.
Now to the demerits of the unit
HDMI input - It has none. With today’s gadgets/PS3 world, it is important to have atleast 1-3 HDMI inputs with one HDMI output - you route all your gadgets through the AV receiver. It has two inputs though for audio - Aux and Tape.
Only preset sounds available - good enough if you are not picky. No equalizer though if you want to fine tune the sound or bass/treble controls
The dvd tray does seem weak – it has so far survived 4 months of use. It has a weird system – where a flap falls down and the tray extends out thereafter. Not sure why Pioneer went with this design rather than just the dvd tray going in/out. (maybe to protect against dust). Most likely the flap might come out loose with rough use.
The remote is of good quality and is easy to use, the buttons however are not backlit (not great for movie watching at night in the dark). The fonts on the remote are well placed and easy to read – great for aging in laws.
The problem with any HTB systems is if you have an issue with any function then the whole unit would have to be taken for repair – unlike separate units where only the non functioning unit needs repair (eg. only dvd player). Pioneer units like all dvd players have an issue where the dvd tray goes back in automatically – that issue however comes with dust/age of the unit.
Conclusion – If you looking for a budget home theater unit in a box then you should seriously consider the Pioneer HTZ 101DVD – your “Inlaws” will give you their second daughter for marriage there after :-)
If you want tall boy speakers, the Pioneer HTZ 202DVD has 4 tall boy speakers with the same head unit - so if "Size does matter" in your world then go for the 202 DVD.
btw – I own a Onkyo 7.1 amplifier with Jamo Speaker set up in my living room – so I do enjoy my music and i’m very particular about the sound quality (unfortunately my setup cost 10 times more than the pioneer – so no comparisons possible)