What Hi Fi Sound and Vision 19 JUN 2008

Sharp HT-DV50H

£ 400 3

* * *

The Sharp looks impressive, but it isn’t quite up to scratch in performance terms

For
Rich, colourful images; fine picture quality; striking main speakers
Against
Unbalanced sound; thin treble

So 2.1 systems should be small? Sharp begs to differ: at over 124cm tall, its speakers will dominate most living rooms. Fortunately the styling of the main unit is slightly more restrained, a bright ring of neon blue round the volume control being the only distraction. It also has two optical digital ins for external equipment, plus a hidden USB input behind a front-panel flap.

Sending out 720p and 1080i images over HDMI, the Sharp serves up a vivid picture: there’s just a little on-screen noise visible during Spider-man 3, but nothing too distracting.

Dialogue struggles to be heard
What is more disconcerting is the way the speakers and subwoofer fail to integrate. Dialogue struggles to be heard during heavy action, high frequencies are edgy, and the system’s subwoofer lacks the authority of its competitors.

Bigger, it seems, isn’t always better…