Technics Hi-Fi - wonderfully flexible (Technics SC-DV290)

Member Name: dove3066

Product:	Technics SC-DV290
Date:	09/03/09 (391 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Flexible, great sound quality

Disadvantages: will have to hunt around to find one

I was surfing through E-bay at the week end and saw a numnber of the component parts of this system available for sale so I thought I would write a review just in case anyone is tempted to purchase.

We bought this Technics HiFi about 5 years ago. We were in the process of having our front room redecorated after a water leak and decided that we would treat ourselves to a new Hi fi. We chose this one as it seemed to have the best sound of those we heard in the shop even though its difficult to get a decent sound in the shop - at nearly £400 it was a bit more than we had wanted to pay but as it gave us the sound options that we were looking for we decided to opt for it.

As we were being advised by the salesman of all the wonderful things that it could do he advised that it also played DVDs. We hadn't realised this at all so this would allow us to play DVDs with full 5.1 surround sound without the need for another set of speakers for the DVD player - which was now redundant. Realising that it was now replacing two pieces of hardware the pricetag was slightly easier to swallow.

Once we got it home it was really easy to set up - the instructions were really clear and the sockets on the back were clearly laid out so that you knew exactly where all of the five sets of speaker leads plus the video lead need to be plugged in.

The sound quality is fantastic. The CD/DVD is a 5 disc multi changer so there is plently of space to put 2 disc DVD's in or just lots of CD.s to listen to whilst you are doing the housework. There is also a random feature available for CD's so that you mix up what you are listening to.

But the one thing that has made this system so wonderful is its flexibility, ok so it is now 5 years old and it doesn't have an HDMI cable but that is about all.

We now run an S-video cable from the Hi-fi to the television so the picture from the DVD is really crisp. We have just bought a new HDD recorder and I have now run audio leads from the recorder into the Hi Fi so now we can listen to TV programmes through the speakers and with enhanced stereo. This makes the whole TV viewing much better especially when watch films. Because of the surround sound you really feel taht you are in the middle of the action. The final connection I have made is that I also have a lead which connects my I-pod to the Hi Fi. So generally I don't put many CD's in the machine anymore but run it from my i-pod.

I have seen the full set of components for sale for about £150 but E-bay was selling some parts of it for £20-£30. It also hasa double tape deck but to be honest I can't remeber actually ever playing a tape on it - I'm not even sure in the house where I would find one. I think that is the one bit which totally outdated.

There are loads and loads of different settingd for sound variations and we probably played with them all when we first had the system but probably just stick to main programmed ones - surround souns, virtual surround etc. The one setting which is really useful especially if you sit slightly close to one speaker than the other is the "seat postion" setting where you can adjust the sound and store the setting for different volume levels on each speaker so that they are balanced.

We did have one problem with it last year when the multi change mechanism failed - but we had taken out the insurance - as I had manged to beat the salesperson down to give us a really good deal and both my brother and my Dad had purchased multi changers which had broken after a couple of years.

summary
=======
5 CD/DVD multi change player
Radio Tuner
Dual tape player
Sound processor
Standard video out connection
S-video (out) connection
VCR/DVD audio input connection
Auxillary audio input connection (I use this for mm i-pod)
2 main speakers
3 surround sound speakers

Summary: A good investment, really flexible Hi fi , with fantastic sound

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Features:
Sound quality: