If man's best friend is a dog, then a
HDTV's best friend would be a home theatre system. Pioneer is one of the brands
that offer one too. Its current range of home-theatre electronics provides
everything and they are calling it the HTZ-818BD. It is a 5.1 -channel Blu-ray
system comprising head unit, subwoofer, five loudspeakers and more than a few
connectivity tricks up its sleeve.
Pioneer
HTZ-818BD
lack is class
Personally, I have always fancied black and
with Pioneer HTZ-818BD, it couldn't be anymore high -gloss black even if it
tried. Despite coming out a bit plasticky, it does have a solid and
considerable feel to it all. Following the trend, it has the minimalist look
and that's for all of the HTZ-818BD’s components. Even the subwoofer took the
right diet plan and looked slim. In a small room, this design potentially saves
a lot of space.
Feature galore
Pioneer
HTZ-818BD
The HTZ-818BD handles a variety of media,
such as 3D Blu-ray playback, plus it supports iPod-video playback, DivX, DivX
HD and MKV video formats. It also supports a range of surround-sound formats,
including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and has HDMI, Ethernet and USB
connections to allow digital links to HDTVs, home computer networks and
portable music players. Pioneer included YouTube, Google Picasa and AccuWeather
for me to play around with. Also, I find it epic that a home theatre system
allows me to go old school with an FM tuner.
Long setup
With quite a number of components and adjustments
needed, it took me around 30 minutes of putting everything together.
Thankfully, even after turning on the TV, I manage to get the player up and
running, of course the operational manual helps a lot as all I need to do is to
follow exactly what was written there.
Quite the performer
Visually and aurally, the Pioneer home
theatre system delivered the action scenes with bags of enthusiasm, and really
got the adrenaline pumping. Sure, it is the animated movie Monsters vs Aliens
but I was impressed with the way the speakers came together as a whole.
It matched everything well giving me the
feeling that was literally there in the movie. Also, as a Blu-ray player, there
was no noise present at all during the entire movie. The colours were vibrant
and accurate. Additionally, the deep black has plenty of depth to it as well.
However, the subwoofer wasn’t perfect. Don't get me wrong because it produces
good bass but it's not enough for that impact you have been waiting for
throughout the movie.
