Sony SAVF700ED (1 Viewer)

[hdtvman]

Does anybody have a pair of these speakers in America? I bought a set from Vanns just to see what they sound like. I wont get them for 8 days. There are no reviews anywhere. They look great and make a very small footprint. Their Sava700 was nice years back. Maybe this is a compact version of it.

 

[Alon Goldberg]

I'd be wary of purchasing speakers without auditionning them first, and with no reviews on the web. You certainly have a lot of faith in Sony!

Are these speakers primarily for music or for home theatre? What receiver do you own? What are the dimensions of the room? What influenced your decision to purchase Sony speakers over much larger speaker brands?

 

[hdtvman]

My influence was my wife not wanting large speakers in the room. I have tons of base ( i made them myself) and several amps. i try to disguise the base units as pieces of furniture. My favorite amp is a jvc from the late 70's.
I can connect anything to it and not have to worry about burning it up.
Oh yes, I have faith in Sony as long as I have the warranty extended. I'll post a review next week. They are only $400 after tax and shipping. I was just very curious.

 

[hdtvman]

I wrote this review only because there isn't ANY out there now. (I had some extra time at work as well) These have been around for a while too. That's why they are going for so cheep I guess. Now if somebody googles them, they will get some info at least.

They Really should show a side angle view of these at Vanns. They are elegant looking but a bit strange. They start out thin at the top and slope down and out to a bulbous bottom end. This is not apparent from the front view. I was wondering how you could get a separate subwoofer with decent sound in a skinny poll. The sides are slim, yet they are heavy and stand up sturdy. Perfect for saving space and giving a larger speaker sound to small and medium sized rooms. They are worth the $399 they are going for now. No tax. No shipping. For that price you can buy a nice set of Swan or Bose bookshelf speakers. When compared to that, these are impressive. Not that Swans are bad, but if I only had one set of speakers to choose from as my mains, these win. I'd put the bookshelves behind me. For a comparison of the Infinity beta 50's to these... (They're too far apart to compare) The Sony may be a better price ratio; a tad better looking as well, it's not the better speaker. These fill a niche for those who want good looks, quality and save space - especially if you want to save space. You can stick these on the sides of a TV and use up about 6 inches on each side – even less if you can slide the 1/2 inch thick bottom stand under your TV. It's also Shielded. For real... Its frame is made of some kind of metal. If I had ONLY the Beta or Sony pair of speakers to choose from just to watch a movie (or TV), I'd pick the Sony's. They sound better in movies. This is because of the separate amplified subwoofer control. (The amp is for sub only) For music comparison, The Beta is a monster compared to the Sony. I really shouldn't attempt to compare these two, but that's all I've got right now that's floor standing. As for the "woofer", I found I had to turn my sub signal from my amp all the way up - and the volume on the sub itself almost all the way up during TV or movies on low listening volume. On high volume I had to turn the base down. I then realized it would have been nice if they had a separate remote for the sub... my amp has one, but its 22' away - too far away for me to read. I never thought of that when I set everything up... (Two Days Later) Here's the kicker of all my testing on these speaker so far... I popped them in my son's 10x8 room just to see what they sounded like. That's where these speakers are meant to be. Small to medium sized rooms. There, you can listen on low volume and they sound great, or you can give yourself a heart attack while going deaf. The choice is yours. I realize an 8 by 10 room is tiny, but I was testing in a 15 by 22 room. Somewhere in-between would sound excellent as well. I'm actually tempted to kick in the extra $199 to complete the 5.1 and give it to my son. He'd be happy with it until he moves out...Now, as for Shipping: If you've seen Ace Ventura Pet Detective, remember the scene when he's kicking that fragile package around before he gives it to the guy and steals the dog? That's what my box looked like. Holly cow! I've never seen a box so beat up. And the holes! What could have done this? The styrofoam was in hundreds of pieces. There was only one small dent in the back of one speaker stand. It's semi polished stroked silver - like a Delorian car. Dents stand out, but it's on the back. In order to get the ding fixed, I have to ship the whole thing back. What a pain! The packaging is crushed. Vann's informed me I will be reimbursed for shipping if a Sony service center can’t fix it. So shipping can be a factor in overall satisfaction. It took seven days to get the speakers. Overall, I give these a 4 out of 5 star rating for sound and value. Would have been a 4.5 without the small dent. There is not much out there of this quality, value and versatility. This is a super deal if you get them undamaged.