Product Reviews for Sony HT-CT550W 3.1 Speaker System

By CoffeeGuy from New Hampshire on 8/4/2012

I purchased and installed my CT550W last summer. It is paired with a 46" Bravia, BDP S580, and HD cable TV. We love the sound improvement and also use it for music via Pandora on our TV. It makes a huge difference over the regular TV audio. All I really wanted was a better speaker system for my TV, but this is more of a mini-home theater system. All components connect to this AV system and the AV system then connects to the TV. The system has intelligence built in, so it responds to and manages Sony devices as it thinks it should based upon conditions. Like when I put it in standby mode, it tells the TV to switch to internal TV speakers (which I really don't want). I suspect I can fix that with some settings, but I haven't spent that much time going though the menus on all of the devices. Generally it isn't too bad, but it does seem slow to respond as a result. The AV system is communicating with the others devices and waiting for responses (I assume). Overall, the wireless has been reliable, but I did have a problem this week where the wireless connection to the sub-woofer stopped working. I was able to get it back by powering them both off and restarting them in sequence. And I do mean power off, not "standby". The controller will also control other Sony devices, so I can use one controller for the AV system, BD player and TV, but I haven't yet checked to see if I can train it to run my DVR from Comcast (Explorer 8300HD). Overall I'm very happy I purchased this system and we enjoy it every day. It is smaller than a full home theater system, offers great sound and cabling simplification.

By KevinS from Columbus Ohio on 7/31/2012

I like the CT550W. It's a neat installaton that doesn't require running wires. It provides a theater style sound, and I can follow movie dialog much easier with the forward facing speakers. But don't expect it to provide a surround sound effect. I had to put my Sony 40in LED TV up on blocks because the stand is too low. The sound bar blocks the remote control receiver, the motion sensor and it blocks the bottom directed speakers from the TV making it harder to hear. It's a very good choice for apartments and people that don't want their decor invaded by lots of audio gear, If you can mount it to the front of your TV stand, or on a shelf, that would be best.

By Anonymous from Boston, MA on 3/12/2012

Have an older HD TV with only one HDMI input. Need to connect three devices. Also, needed to replace older surround sound system that had failed. This sound bar was able to fit the bill for both. Gave me the flexibility to connect all my devices via the turner and gave back the sound that I was missing with out my our system. Found it very easy to set up and connect. Just navigating the tuner menu takes some time to get use to.

By ssantoshr from Pearland, TX on 12/14/2011

The sound bar looks perfect with my Bravia TV and bravia sync works perfectly fine via HDMI cable. Please note that the default setting does not output the quality sound....almost feels like the sound bar is not connected. Be sure to adjust the Level and Tone setting in the AMP menu to get the best out of the sound bar.

By MariB from New York, NY on 9/3/2011

I heard the Sony HT-CT550W in the store the other day and I was amazed. To me, the HTCT550W Sony Sound Bar is a technological marvel. It's a slim 2.1 sound bar that behaves like a 5.1 system. It processes all the latest multichannel sound fields and has a wireless sub woofer that I can move around my room as I please.