Entered CNET Catalog: 05/20/2004
SKU: 0027242655003
Manufacturer: Sony Electronics, Inc.
Manufacturer description
Sony's worldwide reputation for creating unique, attractive, high-quality, advanced technology products rests on a long line of innovations embraced by people from all walks of life. With a diverse product lineup serving a variety of lifestyles and industries, Sony continuously strives to introduce new products and technologies to meet changing market needs. PRODUCT FEATURES: Total 600W (RMS) output power; S Master Digital Amplifier; S-DIAT wireless surround; Dolby Digital, Dolby Prologic II and DTS Decoder; Playback: DVD, Super Audio CD, CD-R/RW, and MP3.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 05/20/2004
Upside: In a word: design. The aluminum-finished speakers can be mounted on stands or hung on the wall, and the slim main unit is suspended in a frame of glass. Like other such systems, wireless rear-channel speakers eliminate those long cable runs from the front of the room to the back. According to Sony, the proprietary transmission system is less prone to interference than competing schemes, such as 2.4GHz.
Downside: Despite being described as "wireless," the DAV-LF1 still needs a power cord from one of the rear speakers and an umbilical connecting it to the other. The other speakers require wires as usual. Naturally, we'll reserve final sound-quality judgment for the full review, but past Sony Dream systems, such as the DAV-FC7, sacrificed sound for style. Given the DAV-LF1's lofty $2,000 price tag, however, it may sound better than its predecessors.
Outlook: This higher-end system is a natural match for current owners of Sony's "floating-glass" plasma and LCD TVs and for anyone whose living room looks like a modern art museum. Look for a full review this September, when the DAV-LF1 hits the market.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
1/10
lacks the most basic audio features
Pros: looks beautiful
Cons: poor sound, no fade, base or treble adjustment possible
You can not adjust high or low tones. This must be one of the few systems even for sale anywhere that don't allow you to adjust sound. So if your hearing of high tones is not so good, or if there is windnoise on a video you have shot, or if the explosion sounds behind you during a war movie become irritating, you are out of luck with your Sony.
You can not adjust sound from front to back. A twenty year old car radio lets you do that. If you like to have the noise come only from the speaker right near you so you make less noise late at night and the rest of the family is asleep, that is too bad for you.
You can only adjust from left to right.
The system is very slow. You can not just turn it on and insert a DVD. You have to turn it on and wait.
The wiring is too thin. Sony must know this. The instruction manual tells you how to replace the wiring with a thicker gauge wiring.
This is a conversation piece. You can talk with your guests about how beautiful it looks. Don't use it though because they will then laugh at your stupidity for overpaying for something that looks so pretty and does less than a car radio in a twenty year old Volkswagen.
User Rating: 
9/10
The best unit available for the clean and simple design look
Pros: Unique elegant design; wireless rear speakers; great sound
Cons: Limited input connections.
As you can see from my uploaded pictures, I am going for the simple but elegant look. I am no longer attracted to the rack of black A/V equipment. We became somewhat immune to the stacks of equipment as we visit different homes. The Sony DAV-LF1 is truly unique in this respect. The form factor is simple different from the rest of the manufacturers. Visitors stop to take a closer look at the unit. They wonder what it is, they want to know where all the wires are. They are simply amazed that this is my receiver and surround sound system! The electronics and input/output ports are located at the sub-woofer. So the glass control unit only has a very elegant white cable going to it. Very clean and simple. No wire messes around. Also, check out in pictures how CDs and DVDs are slotted into the glass control unit. It is motorized and very practical.
Secondly, my family room floor is tiled and I have no way of wiring the rear surround speakers without some really ugly wires running exposed. The Sony DAV-LF1 solves this problem superbly by providing wireless rear speakers. However, do study up on how the wireless system works, and make sure that if you need a wireless feature, this architecture will work for you. For example, the Sony DAV-LF1 uses infra-red rather than RF (radio frequency). This is supposed to prevent interference from other wireless devices (such as cordless phones, wireless 802.11(x) hubs). However, it will require line of sight between a transmitter in the front and a rear speaker at the back. Also note that one of the rear speakers will need AC power outlet to power-up the wireless system. So don?t go around thinking that you can have the rear speakers hanging around the ceiling with no wires at all.
Of course the sound quality itself is superb. But the bass is a tad soft. If you are the type who wants to bring down the house with thumping bass, then this is not the unit for you.
Other pleasant surprises include:
Super Audio CD is something that I wasn?t aware of. Basically, this is a new format from our normal audio CD. There are not a lot of selections on the market, but I did buy a few to enjoy. They are simply stunning with surround sound effect. Imagine listening to Jazz and you can hear different instruments being projected from different parts of the room.
I was lementing that I have to spend $50 each for the wall-mount kit for the speakers. Turns out that I can put 2 screws behind the speakers myself and then use the keyed picture hangers to hang them on the wall. So, my point is that it is possible to get away without buying the very expensive mounting kits from Sony. My result is posted in the image section.
Some negative feedback that falls into the ?wish I knew that section?:
- The DVD player does take a long time to read and get started. A minor inconvenience, but did not go unnoticed.
- There are no tone controls (treble and bass) for the amplifier. Not a big deal, I have come to just let the producer decide and deal with sound mix. Actually, I thought it was a little strange in the beginning, but now I find myself not even worrying about tone controls.
- The wires for the speakers are of thinner gauge. I simply replace mine with a thicker cable for better sound reproduction.
- I wished I could change the labeling of the different input source. For example, the default label says ?SAT? for satellite, and I wish I can make it say ?CABLE?. My ?VIDEO? is actually ?GAME?.
- Read up on how many inputs you need and don't be caught short. I did my homework and there were no surprises for me, but do be careful that this is not the type of units with many many connections.
Sorry about the references to my uploaded pictures. I did the review on Amazon which allows the uploading of user photos.
Please go to the Amazon site if you really want to see them.
User Rating: 9/10
Great blend of design and function; lacks input/output connections
Pros: Very stylish. The silver and floating glass design compliments Sony's high end TVs. Sound is full and crisp. It was a breeze to install and the infrared transmission works flawlessly.
Cons: If you have several components, I'd advise downloading the manual first see the system's inputs/outputs. The receiver simply doesn't have enough connections to manage more than two additional components.
User Rating: 
7/10
Great Features for an all-in-one
Pros: The ability to view JPGS and the guidebooks instructions regarding settings matched to the movie genre is great. The included cables are both lengthy and labeled for setup ease.
Cons: Next door neighbor has a similar SONY with SPORT mode - where's my sport mode? Also, the GAME mode seems worthless, Cinema B (special effects) sounds great.
User Rating: 1/10
no power no bass response
Pros: looks nice, wireless rear speakers
Cons: severly lacks power or any decent bass response.
User Rating: 7/10
Big style points, subwoofer so-so
Pros: sleek, modern look. Very good overall sound. Simple setup. The 'glass' DVD/receiver looks great. Good for novices with more $$ than Home Theater smarts.
Cons: Subwoofer is wimpy (very). For a $2K system, I expected much more and returned it for this reason alone. Only one component video input, output. Buying separates..more bang4$$
User Rating: 
6/10
very good crisp sound
Pros: Easy to install and begin using.Looks great and no wires crossing room! IR works well. The sound was great, the volumn very good for my room of 18/14.
Cons: 22 gauge speaker wire,, changed to 18 ga and sound was much better.
