Sony BDV-N590 review

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Verdict:

a strong performer with plenty of features, but just lacking the comprehensive picture and sound controls that would make it perfect

Review Date: 20 Aug 2012

Price when reviewed: £380

Supplier: http://www.amazon.co.uk

Reviewed By: Tom Morgan

Our Rating 4 stars out of 5

The BDV-N590 is the first Blu-ray home cinema system we’ve seen that uses Sony's new Magnetic Fluid speaker drivers. The speakers are made from material originally developed for the space program, but Sony has refined it to create some of the thinnest speaker drivers it has ever produced. This isn’t the only futuristic thing about this all-in-one home cinema system – the main unit looks good enough to be hung on a wall rather than hidden away in a TV cabinet.

The four bookshelf satellite speakers, sizeable passive subwoofer and slim horizontal centre speaker are more down to earth in their design, but the combination of black plastic and brushed metal mesh is still very stylish. The speaker terminals on the main unit have proprietary connections, so you can’t use your own cables, but the standard spring terminals on the speakers mean you can use cable extensions if required. The subwoofer is the exception, as it uses a captive cable that can’t be easily removed.

Aside from speaker connections, the main unit is otherwise well-equipped to handle your games console or set-top box thanks to its two HDMI inputs. There’s a single HDMI output for modern TVs and a composite video output for older ones, as well as optical S/PDIF and stereo phono audio inputs, an audio calibration microphone input, FM aerial antenna and a single USB port.

From the front, you might wonder where to put your Blu-rays, as the slot-loading disc tray is recessed into the side of the system. There’s another USB port at the front and a touch-sensitive panel containing most of the important controls, for when you can’t find the remote control.

Switch the system on and the XMB interface will feel immediately familiar to PlayStation 3 owners. It separates settings, photos, music, video and online content into different columns of icons, which you navigate between using the remote control. There are plenty to choose between, from internet radio and Facebook to catch-up TV from BBC iPlayer and Demand 5. Both Netflix and LoveFilm are available for on-demand films and there’s even a full web browser if the page you’re after doesn’t have its own app.

The BDV-N590 also has you covered if you prefer to watch your own multimedia files. With integrated DLNA support, you can stream files from a networked PC or NAS device, as long as you’re online through a wired connection or the TV's integrated Wi-Fi. You can also use an external hard disk or flash drive if you have one, through either the front or rear USB ports. File format support was mostly good, with DivX and MKV files playing perfectly, but our MOV and MP4 footage refused to play.

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User comments

True Home Cinema Sound!

The 590 offers a vast dynamic sound that truly turns your living room into a cinema. The system is extremely easy to setup and configure, in fact configuration is done automatically and very quickly giving you the best possible sound for where you'll be sitting. Tidying up wires is the only real hassle to installing the system.

Along with the speaker system comes a very PS3 looking 3D Blu-ray player. It's a large player, nothing like as sleek as Sony's stand alone models, but then it is also your surround sound unit. Getting the unit online is as easy as it comes and you get access to the usual Sony features (BBC Iplayer, 4OD, Netflix, LoveFilm).

When switched on the system automatically detects the surround sound system and switches my Bravia TV's speaker stand off. Once you're films loaded into the disk slot (similar to the PS3 disks are "sucked" in) you will have to play around with the volume to get to your ideal level. I started off turning Indiana Jones up quite loud, however once the action started I was amazed at how much punch this system has. Crashes really echo and reverberate, so be aware you may want to start at lower volumes and adjust accordingly.

For a system with smaller speakers (and not large upright front speakers) they can really handle themselves. The subwoofer is particularly impressive at giving you the low growl and rumble of an explosion or crash. At higher volumes you will definitely sit up and take notice. The rear speakers offer a large dynamic range and give you the full cinematic experience.

Video playback is excellent. Having tested out Gladiator on Blu ray it's about as good as it gets. Imagine the opening battle sequence but with all the crashes of swords, explosions from the Roman catapults reverberating as if you were there. The system handled the subtle scenes, street scenes and all out action perfectly. To say it gives films a new dimension would be an understatement. 3D is handled again to perfection. If you're looking for the full 3D experience you should be looking at surround sound as you don't want a 3D picture with a flat sound. The 590 gives you everything you need, bar the TV, to get going.

Additional features such as radio and an Ipod/phone dock are added extras but something I didn't see much use in including personally. I use a radio for the radio and sennhieser headphones for my music. However in testing them both worked very well, you also get the surround sound with your music, made especially good if you playing a SACD.

*Note: I suggest for best deal at: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007NXA9OE/?tag=expertreviews.
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There's also a USB port to transfer data (videos, pictures) across to the system.

By Anthony_Bryan on 5 Nov 2012