Pioneer DCS-370 - 5.1 DVD Home Cinema System
£364.99
- DVD Home cinema
- Radio Fm/Am
- Surround Dolby Digital/Dts/Prologic 2
- CDR/RW playback
- VCD/SVCD playback
Great system, quality product... - Just recently purchased the pioneer after much deliberation and research, and I have to say I am more than happy with it and feel I made the right choice for what I wanted it for, which is watching DVDs. I previously had a 5 year old phillips system which packed plenty of punch and gave a crystal clear picture on my old 32inch, unfortunately with the arrival of my new panasonic 50inch plasma I found the picture suddenly less than satisfactory. The answer, as I saw it, was to try one of these new systems with the upscale feature. To be honest after reading mixed reviews I wasn t totally convinced by the idea, but with over 300 DVDs that I didn t fancy making redundant I decided I had to to give it a try. Well all I can say is I am so glad I did, connected via the HDMI the picture quality is a vast improvement, not true high def I know, but the difference really is noticeable and has breathed new life into my collection. Along with the great picture I was amazed at the improvement in sound over my old system, and with so many different settings to play around with I guarantee you will find a sound that suits you. It really fills the room with the rear surrounds being as fully involved as the fronts. Forget these ridiculous 1000 watt power ratings you see on other systems, the pioneer can truely shake the foundations of any modern 3 bed semi at only half volume (The scale goes up to 50, personally I have never gone above 24 which I can promise you is VERY loud). Along with the great sound and crystal clear picture you also get a very classy looking piece of kit, I admit that the sub is a bit basic looking but you won t spend too much time looking at that. It s the four tallboys that really look impressive and with the famous piano black finish and small pioneer badges at the bottom they look far more expensive than they should do for the price. The actual player too is very sturdy and well built when compared to other makes, the loading tray has a solid feel to it and the whole thing is very subtle understated and classy. When switched on it has a very funky blue light which may or may not be your thing, I love it but it can be a little too bright in a darkened room so it s a nice touch to have the option to turn it off. Now I know it doesn t give you the ability to play your sky tv or games console in 5.1 surround and I know some people want that feature. But if, like me, you want to just watch DVDs with the best quality picture and best quality sound without spending a fortune then go for the pioneer you won t be sorry.
Good for the money - I have the DCS370 and it is a good cinema system for playing DVD s & CD s. If you want to play other sources, you only get stereo sound. This isn t a problem for me as mine was bought purely for my cinema room, my main TV with Sky+ is downstairs. Be wary though when it says you can play NTSC discs, it doesn t play region 1 (USA). Disregard the reviewer who says it won t play his ipod, mine plays just fine using the USB connection on the front of the machine. Use he same connector you would use to download from your pc onto ipod, no problems. This is Pioneer s budget model, if you want all singing & dancing you ll have to pay the price.
great sound,but only on dvds - For my first surround sound system, I was initially very impressed by this system & did not feel i could go wrong with Pioneer. However, I began to change my mind. Dont get me wrong, this system rocks when it comes to playing dvds & cds & the upscaling on standard dvds is pretty good. BUT with no digital optical input you can not connect it to your sky box to get full surround sound, only stereo. Secondly, there seems to be some confusion regarding the upscaling capabilities of this sysyem. Some retailers are still mistakenly advertising it as a 1080p upscaler. N.B. it only upscales to 1080i. As it is only an upscaler, this probably does not make too much difference-but be careful. I have returned mine to the retailer & swapped it for panasonic scpt850, which hopefully will give me everything I am looking for, although it is slightly more expensive. Come on Pioneer, this system is not up to scratch!
Not a true Home Surround Sound system - Pioneer have really let the side down with this model. It is not capable of converting TV sounds sources to Pro Logic surround sound!! The best you get is stereo from the front two speakers via a RF cable. It doesn t even have a digital optical cable! What a let down! As a DVD player it does what I expect it to but the reason people buy these systems is for full surround, including the ability to convert TV sound to surround. Not worth the money and I m looking at sending mine back.. PS - IT DOESN T PLAY iPODS EITHER VIA ITS USB SOURCE EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS YOU CAN CONNECT MP3 PLAYERS!! I HAVE SPOKEN TO PIONEER CUSTOMER SERVICES AND THEY SAY AN iPOD IS NOT AN MP3 PLAYER!! GOOD ONE!!