Manage updates with the Download AppSony HT-CT100
Manufacturer: Sony Part number: HT-CT100
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Sony's HT-CT100 soundbar/subwoofer audio system is a phenomenal value that sounds great with movies and music.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory4Less.com | Not yet rated | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 05/14/2013 |
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | | as of 05/14/2013 |
CNET editors' review
Sony HT-CT100 price range: $225.00 - $331.23
- Reviewed by: Steve Guttenberg
- Edited by: John Falcone
- Reviewed on: 06/04/2008
The good: Superslender soundbar home-theater system eliminates the need for an AV receiver; comes with a potent subwoofer; three HDMI inputs; supereasy setup.
The bad: Subwoofer-based connection jacks may require creative placement or cable runs; only supports four AV sources (plus Sony's proprietary DM Port accessories).
The bottom line: Sony's HT-CT100 soundbar/subwoofer audio system is a phenomenal value that sounds great with movies and music.
User reviews
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Bye, Bye wire clutter! Bye , Bye good sound?
by AugustRain on May 14, 2008
Pros: Three HDMI inputs , one HDMI output capable of 1080p. Extremley easy setup. No rear speakers to have to run cable for and no drilling.The price is seductive.
Cons: No speaker calibration tool to tweal the speakers to your particular room dimmensions. Surround effect is negligible.
Summary: If your used to a real 5.1 Home Theatre in a box such as one of Sony's other Dream sytems You'll be dissapointed in the strength of ...
Summary: If your used to a real 5.1 Home Theatre in a box such as one of Sony's other Dream sytems You'll be dissapointed in the strength of sound, but come on for $300 bucks your getting a pretty sophisticated and up to date setup with all the proprietary Sony Bells and whistles. I have my HD cable box, PS3, and Xbox 360 running through it and I must say it looks amazing on my 65" Sony Bravia DLP. My entertaining area is only about 725 square feet and rear speakers wouldn't have fit symetrically for optimum sweet spot listening. The only other sound bars I considered were the Polk SurroundBar and Yamaha YSP-4000, both solid choices but much pricier and require you to buy other peripherils.
20 out of 22 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great sound in such a small package
by Shaner000 on July 22, 2008
Pros: Smallest sound bar you can find. Great Sub Woofer for such a low cost.
Cons: Surround Sound effect is minimal, but expected.
Summary: This system sounds great especially if you use it in a smaller room. Turning the volume pretty high really does create a surround sound effect that will rumble your couch. ...
Summary: This system sounds great especially if you use it in a smaller room. Turning the volume pretty high really does create a surround sound effect that will rumble your couch. If you don't want to spend much money and don't want to see wires running all around your room, this unit will blow you away. I was very skeptical after seeing how small it was, but it really does fill the room with booming sound. However, it is important to remember that is it made for small to medium sized rooms and will not fill a big room with as much surround sound as a higher end five speaker system. You really can't beat the price tag and the quality sound!
15 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good, affordable system
by VictusMaximus on June 7, 2008
Pros: Works with Xbox360
Cons: Maybe not so good for large rooms
Summary: If you live in an apartment, condo or have a mid-size living room that needs a system, this'll work.
I purchased the system because I live in a condo, ...Summary: If you live in an apartment, condo or have a mid-size living room that needs a system, this'll work.
I purchased the system because I live in a condo, needed something for my HDTV/Xbox 360, didn't want to spend a ton of cash, and my better half does not like wires and clutter.
The sound bar is small and powerful. The bass is impressive. Default settings are nice, and you get a pretty crisp range of sound considering the unobtrusive size of the unit. I set it up in five minutes and played with GTA IV, Halo 3 and a few movies. All sounded much better than they did off the HDTV's speakers.
It may not be true surround sound, but for a smaller place, this bar is an exceptionally solid value. And unless you're a huge audiophile, this system is a good value. You probably won't find a better system at this price that doesn't have a lot of wires.13 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I should have listened to the personal reviews (Argghh)
by DirectOh on December 4, 2008
Pros: Lots Of Inputs, Good Bass, Nice looking Cabinet, Easy hookup and contrary to other reports, it can be very loud.
Cons: No High End Sound, Just lots of Bass and muddled Low Midrange. Forget surround sound. The Menu system is counter intuitive
Summary: I bought this based on CNets review and this is the second time they have been dead wrong and coincidently it's on a Sony product again!
My Panasonic 46" ...Summary: I bought this based on CNets review and this is the second time they have been dead wrong and coincidently it's on a Sony product again!
So after 3 weeks of playing with this system I have some better news. What I have found is that if you can change the device you are using to PCM audio output you will get much better sound from the speakers, but if your device will only output 5.1 or AC3 sound you will be stuck with the flat sound and no highs.
My Panasonic 46" Plasma's internal speakers have much better sound than these speakers, the sound from the CT100 is muddled and low toned, you won't be hearing glass breaking or any high pitched sounds, just a low rumbling kind of audio. In order to get even half way decent sound I have to keep my TV speakers "ON" so I have some highs and then use the CT100 as basically a Subwoofer only.
Trust me on this one, anyone who says this thing sounds even reasonably good has never owned a real 5.1 speaker system or has never heard a good stereo system.
It's not that I am picking the CT100 apart based on comparisons with $1000+ systems, I am comparing it to straight sound coming out of my Plasma TV and I can also tell you that even in the Bass Category it does not compare to the Sound my old Sony 36" XBR Tube TV had. The XBR's internal subwoofer was on par with the CT100 and the treble was 10x better.
The Menu system on the CT100 is a real mess, but in the end that does not really matter much because you will rarely use it.
Using A Bluray Disk of Transformers I tested the different Audio setting on the CT100, I tried "Concert", "Movie", "Standard" etc. all these settings dont make any difference to the overall sound, it still sounded exactly the same no matter which setting I used.
There is no Bass or treble controls so your pretty much stuch with whatever sound the unit produces.
The Sub woofer is very nicely built, I have cranked it up ver high and it still has not buckled or distorted, so I can overall say that the Sub is very good, the LCD display etc is very nice and informative although most people won't ever be able to see it since there sub will most likely be hidden away. The inputs are numerous and very good, this may be the single most attractive part of the CT100.
My Advice:
If your Tone Deaf to the high end spectrum the CT100 will be great for you, everything above about 4 Khz is attenuated to almost zip. (The human voice goes up t0 about 3 KHz) so you get an idea that even a womens voice starts to sound a bit bassy on the CT100. If your willing to open the Speaker Bar and maybe replace some of the speakers with better quality speakers you may get much better sound, this is the option that I think I am going to go with because quit frankly I cant afford a Yamaha system so if I spend another $50 on the CT100 I may be able to get it to reproduce sound up to 10-12 KHZ which would make it ideal. Your best bet if you have not already bought these speakers is to just look else where! While the Price, the cabinet and everything else looks great, the sound will disappoint.
Updated on Dec 18, 2008
For some really stupid reason the amplifier inside the subwoofer seems to decode 5.1 or Dolby sound and de-emphasize all the high notes while pumping up the Low Bass notes. When you input a PCM signal the signal processor in the Amp seems to be in a custom mode so you can change the sound using the Soundfield options and at least get a jist of treble from the speakers. Overall I would still say that these speakers are never going to be impressive just OK at best.10 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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It's Going Back...
by aeneas01 on August 30, 2008
Pros: aesthetically and physically a perfect for my ht needs - sleek and well made.
Cons: extremely signal dependent. absolutely shines with some signals and provides all of the volume range you would ever require - but also fails miserably with far too many other signals while providing extremely weak volume even when set to max.
Summary: before tossing out the packing box and allowing the return window to close, i highly recommend playing a dozen or so dvds and going through all of your sat & ...
Summary: before tossing out the packing box and allowing the return window to close, i highly recommend playing a dozen or so dvds and going through all of your sat & ota channels to get a firm grasp on this unit's severe volume limitations. so close, yet so far...
8 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Very good, but faux surround = no surround
by jahpeople on April 14, 2010
Pros: Compact, powerful, lots of inputs uh ... good looking
Cons: Surround effect isn't really there, despite any other claims.
Summary: I've had this Sound bar system for four months, and in that time I've put it through its paces, but before I get ahead of myself I should ...
Summary: I've had this Sound bar system for four months, and in that time I've put it through its paces, but before I get ahead of myself I should start at the beginning.
Set up was a breeze. Unboxing the unit took longer than setting it up. As a rule of thumb it pays to always have some extra hdmi cables on hand, and when you're buying what is essentially an av/receiver and speaker system in a box, this is doubly true. Bear in mind you'll need one hdmi cable per connected device, and one to connect the unit to your tv as well. Connected to my soundbar are a directv hr22-hddvr, ps3, and xbox 360. The 360 is the only device not connected via hdmi, as it's one of the archaic grandpa models with component-only connections. Running a single optical cable to the tv input bypasses the 360's glaring hdmi deficiency.
Once everything was plugged in I hit the power button and the system fired up. Total setup time, minus unboxing, was approx 5 minutes ... no joke. Navigating the menus on this thing isn't the most intuitive experience around. Actually scratch that, navigating the menus works fine, but the nomenclature on many menu selections are terribly vague. The various "sound modes", think of them as eq presets, all handle their respective source material fairly well i.e., the music setting handles music well, the movie setting movies etc. I find that standard is the best all around with the center channel at +3.
The quality of the sound output by this little wonder is pretty amazing. Highs sound pretty clear (again with minor center channel adjustment) and the lows come through nice and hearty with little distortion ... depending on source material. I'll just say this right out, while I'm deeply impressed with the overall sound quality of this sony soundbar, any claims of surround sound reproduction (simulated or otherwise) are patently false. The sound field is pretty well delineated between the three front channels. You'll hear people walking up from the left before they enter the on screen frame, and while this is a pretty convincing effect, there is still a soundless void behind you. Don't get me wrong, I love this system and would recommend it to anyone looking for a high quality sound solution for a small room at a great price. That said, if you're expecting the performance of a traditional 5.1 system, then buy a traditional 5.1 system ... or you'll be disappointed. Now that the gorilla, so to speak, has been addressed, let me get back to the praise. Just about everything I've watched/listened to on this system is amazing for both senses. Blu ray discs, dvds, video games, and other "pre-recorded" media fare the best by far. Check out the opening scenes of Star Trek (2009) and The Watchmen with the sound cranked to a comfortable level and you will be amazed. Bass is nice and rumbly without breaking up into nasty noise, even at higher levels. Dialogue and other high range sound effects sound clear and exhibit great directionality (again though only in the front channels, but exquisite nevertheless). Television seems to be the black sheep of the bunch in terms of audio quality, although this is most likely due the satellite source than any problem with the Sony. All things considered, when weighing the sound producing abilities of this unit and nothing else, I can't recommend it enough. If you're looking for an upgrade of a 2.1 setup or even just stepping up from the built in speakers the sony ht-ct100 will blow you away. Period.
Some other things you might want to think about. I have a sony bravia television, and the soundbar is also a sony ... you know what that means! That's right hdmi smart sync, or happy handshake, or whatever it's called works between both devices. What this means is when I turn on my tv, the soundbar turns on as well, and switches to the correct input. What can I say it's neat, and prevents me from adding yet another remote to an already crowded lineup (stupid bluetooth). I'd also like to state that the volume output of this thing is huge. 20 is about the limit for me, unless I don't care at all who I'm disturbing with my noise. Anything beyond that is getting into neighbors-pounding-on-my-door territory. Also, and this is something I should have mentioned earlier, the soundbar performs as well at low volumes as it does at the high end. So if you want to watch movie late at night while the kids, wife, or whoever is asleep, you can do it without sacrificing any fidelity. Good stuff.
Bottom line for me is that this system is too good to be passed up. I purchased this for a small bedroom set-up, which happens to be my primary entertainment center, and I couldn't be happier. The only complaint I have is that the ht-ct100 does exactly what it says it does. It doesn't do my laundry, cook me breakfast, or anything else. But you know what? It does exactly what it claims it can do, and it does it in a supremely capable fashion.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good Sound at a Good Price
by bobm128 on August 14, 2009
Pros: Unobtrusive, clear sound, 3 hdmi in's, decently priced.
Cons: Menu requires the manual to understand, no on-screen display, remote must be pointed at the sound bar, sound quality not as rich as the top rated models.
Summary: I've had the Sony BRAVIA 3.1-Ch. Home Theater Soundbar Speaker System with Subwoofer for about a week now and am happy with it. I have a small condo (~...
Summary: I've had the Sony BRAVIA 3.1-Ch. Home Theater Soundbar Speaker System with Subwoofer for about a week now and am happy with it. I have a small condo (~550 sqft living room area) and wanted some decent, affordable sound for my TV & iPod, without running wires. Also, I needed a system that wouldn't shake my walls and irritate my neighbors.
The Sony provides clean sound that fills the space well. It provides some surround sound simulation, which is nice. The bass is more than I need in my condo. I keep the subwoofer set at -2 to 0; this provides some rich lower frequencies without transferring sound into the surrounding units. The sound bar provides much better sound than provided by my new Samsung LN52B750 TV. I hooked up my system (PS3, satellite, Xbox360) with HDMI cables.
The control menu visuals are on the subwoofer, not the TV screen so it's more difficult to read.
I think it's well worth the $247.99 that I paid. I recommend the Sony HT CT-100 sound bar for providing good sound in its price range.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent sound, no more wire clutter.
by ubpfc on February 6, 2009
Pros: Easy to set up
Lokks great
Sounds superbCons: Paying $70 for the Sony Digital Media Port to play my iPod.
Summary: Got this at a Best Buy January sale for $199. The sound is very impressive for such a small sound bar, we never need to use max volume and we ...
Summary: Got this at a Best Buy January sale for $199. The sound is very impressive for such a small sound bar, we never need to use max volume and we have a very large room. Comes in an extremely large box. Connected to my Xbox, PS3 and HD DVR. Hated all the wires from my surround sound so this is the perfect choice.
In reply to some of the negative posts. It's a $300 soundbar people! Of course it's not going to sound like Concorde going over your head, you get what you pay for.
What stops me from giving it 5 stars is having to buy Sony's proprietary DM Port accessorie to play my iPod (retails for $129 but I found one on Ebay for $66) when some of Sony's surround sound packages come with it already.
If you have been thinking about buying one for a while don't worry you won't regret it.
Updated on Feb 6, 20094 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great sound at a great price
by cosmosjoshys on June 3, 2009
Pros: 3 HDMI inputs, easy to set up, sounds great with movies and music, great price
Cons: Could use one more HDMI, but that might be a little picky.
Summary: I got this rather than a home theater in a box system because I wanted a small speaker set up. I think it sounds better than some of the cheap ...
Summary: I got this rather than a home theater in a box system because I wanted a small speaker set up. I think it sounds better than some of the cheap 5.1 systems. It also sounds better than the vizio, samsung, and boston sound bars. If you want great sound for a small apartment this is a perfect choice.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great but voice levels a little low
by mike_villa on May 19, 2009
Pros: - HDMI Switch
- Few cables
- Nice sound
-Easy to SetupCons: - voice levels get drowned out a little
Summary: I do like the system a lot. It was easy to setup but what bothered me was that you couldn't easily get your tv speakers to work with the ...
Summary: I do like the system a lot. It was easy to setup but what bothered me was that you couldn't easily get your tv speakers to work with the stereo speakers. The other issue is that the voice levels are a tad low. I turned the center speaker all the way up and that has helped some. I do like the system a lot and would recommend it to people who want a quality system that is easy to setup.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sony
- Part number: HT-CT100
- Description: With three HDMI inputs on tap, this system is tailor made for the gamer looking for an easy, quick and great sounding solution for their next gen gaming system. It can playback LPCM from the HDMI connection, plus you can listen to your favorite music from the digital media port that works with various accessories (sold separately). The HT-CT100 can also control a select number of BRAVIA televisions with BRAVIA Sync via the HDMI interface. With "One Touch Play," operations that took several steps have been reduced to one.
General
- Product Type Sound bar speaker system
- Dimensions (WxDxH) & Weight Speaker system : 31.5 in x 2.6 in x 2.7 in,
Speaker system : Subwoofer : 6.3 in x 14.2 in x 9.7 in Audio
- Components Speaker system
- Surround System Class 3.1 channel
- Amplifier Output Details 50 Watt - 3 channel(s) ( Front ),
100 Watt - 1 channel(s) ( Subwoofer ) - Sound Output Mode Surround Sound
- Built-in Decoders Dolby Pro Logic II,
Dolby Digital,
DTS decoder - Surround Sound Effects S-FORCE Front Surround Sound,
S-FORCE Pro Surround Sound - Digital Sound Processor (DSP) Yes
- DSP Presets Game,
Music,
Cinema,
Sports - Output Power (Total) 250 Watt
- Additional Features BRAVIA Sync,
Magnetic shield,
Bass-reflex Speaker System
- Speaker(s) Sound bar,
Subwoofer DVD / Blu-ray
- DVD/Blu-ray type None
Tuner
- Tuner Type None
Inputs & Outputs
- Connections 1xHDMI output,
3xHDMI input,
3xDigital audio input (optical),
1xComponent video input,
1xAudio line-in - Coaxial Digital Input Yes
- Optical Digital Input Yes
Display
- Built-in display Fluorescent
Accessories
- Second remote control type None
Miscellaneous
- AV Furniture None
Power
- Power Device Power supply - Internal
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sony products on Shopper.com
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- Manufacturer:Sony
- Address:
16765 W. Bernardo Dr., San Diego, CA 92127 - Phone: 1-877-865-SONY
- Email: contact@sel.sony.com
- Fax: 941-768-7790
