Sony DAR-RH1000 Home Cinema System

The Sony DAR-RH1000 looks like an impressive all-in-one home cinema system. The problem is the price. Sony has put on a steep price tag in return for an attractively designed system which is generally easy to use.

The Sony DAR-RH1000 is built around an HDD/DVD recorder with a 160GB hard disc. You’ll be please to know that this offers enough capacity for 269 hours of programming. You can also record on to recordable DVDs, with DVD+R, +RW, -R and –RW discs acceptable. The central unit is superb and recordings are excellent in the top-quality settings. The deck does not have the latest HDMI inputs, which I’m sure you’ll agree is a shame as they provide a much clearer picture. The Sony DAR-RH1000 offers component video outputs for progressive scan signals instead. Whilst we are on the subject of what this home cinema system fails to offer – it also lacks DV inputs so camcorder enthusiasts will have to look elsewhere. The sound system is a sub/sat package. It is neat and compact, but the satellite speakers look a little under-sized, especially when you look at the quoted power output of 120W per channel. The subwoofer is a big fellow and will do the grunt work via its 160mm drive unit. The sound is surprisingly not particularly impressive. When you crank up the volume you can really notice the sound quality deteriorating. Overall, Sony’s DAR-RH1000 is not all it has cracked up to be (or what it should be for the price). It perfectly fits the description of ‘disappointing for the price.