Acoustic Solutions DS 1233

I have a DS 1233 and am largely happy with it but with one exception, it tends to pop sometimes when the scene changes, say from one face to another when two people are conversing. This can be very annoying but everything is very good, does anybody have an answer to this problem.

this is what everyone ought to have!

i have had this Acoustic Solutions DS 1233 system since late 2004, until about a week ago it was on my mum and dads TV downstairs and worked perfectly, however when their TV died that went out to buy a new one and got a deal on a new cinema system with it so this system is now on my TV.

we only use it when watching DVD's and its quite an enjoyable experience, we found that you need to turn any PVR's like sky+ boxes into standby mode and the main tv sound should be turned down to 0.

in the nearly 4 - 5 years we have had this only 1 issue ever arose, sometimes during playback of a DVD you would lose the sound completely, you would then have to stop the DVD going back to the DVD players splash screen and then go and start playing again to get the sound back, im not sure if this system is the cause i just mention it on the off chance that it might be.

Like one of the previous reviewers the unit died out of warranty and when I contacted the technical people at Acoustic Solutions I didn't get a reply . Strangely enough when I enquired about a lost remote ta month earlier they responded quickly to offer to sell me one fortunately I found the remote and was able to ascertain the unit had in fact died. 3 out of 5 for the sound quality and 0 out of 5 for the reliability issues. For nearly £200 I expect more than 2 years use especially as its not an item that was used every day but was solely used when we watched films on dvd

The system was, apparently, everything I was looking for. The speakers were well designed, and fitted in well with my 15' x 12' lounge. They were floor-standing so didn't need shelves, wall brackets etc., with the usual trailing leads. All leads tucked away neatly between skirting board and carpet. Sound quality was good for my needs - TV, Hi-fi, DVD - but I was slightly disappointed with the limited range of adjustment of the speakers - centre, rear and woofer (not front) so that accurate sound balance was a compromise. Volume is way beyond the average domestic requirements unless your lounge is ballroom size and/or your neighbours are deaf. Generally, a master volume setting around 32%-38% was fine.

I was pleased with the system for nearly eighteen months, when one speaker channel on the sub-woofer stopped working. The speaker was OK - checked by connecting to another output. After that length of time, no warranty applies. So, I soldiered on with the front right hand speaker u/s. Recently, the sub-woofer (base unit with all the connections) has packed up. It just emits an intermittent loud, rather threatening, base hum - as if something is going to go 'bang'.

Now comes the problem. The warranty has long expired; I am not an electronics engineer and I don't fancy my chances in finding someone skilled who might diagnose & repair the unit at a reasonable cost (or at any cost); the system is integrated so I can't just replace the sub-woofer. So, around 2 years after buying this system, it's headed for the local Council dump, and I'm looking for a replacement (not another Argos/Acoustic Solutions offering). "Let the buyer beware"!

Acoustic Solutions DS 1233:

SOUND SOLUTION.

When looking at the various products on the market, my problem was not understanding how the home Cinema systems would connect to my existing equipment.

Thanks to this site, I just avoided falling into the trap of buying a much more expensive system that needed the additional purchase of an amplifier.

Best connections.

The Acoustic Solutions DS 1233 comes with everything you need in two boxes for £169. It includes 2 leads that allowed me to connect to my Sky digibox (Grundig) and my Ellion DVD Recorder. You could also connect to a Video recorder. All the connections are made from the main sub woofer box - a very heavy floor standing unit. An optical lead (not supplied) can also be used. I tried this and the improvement was marginal and not worth £15 - unless you are a perfectionist.

Better Sound.

The best sound comes from original DVDs with Dolby Digital sound. This really is like having a cinema in your living room. You are able to adjust all the speakers individually using the remote.

The maximum volume could blow your neighbours away but you can also be friendly and get the effect you want without being unsociable. I was also pleased with the sound from the Sky movie channels where you get a Surround effect that is much better than ordinary sound but not true Dolby.

The sub woofer has a low whir when switched on but you need to be very close to hear it.

Good design.

The speakers are beautifully designed and look good in a modern living room. They will be eye catching if the room is minimalist and not cluttered

The fly in the ointment is the remote. It is the size of a credit card and the thickness of a penny piece. I found inserting the supplied lithium battery tricky and there are no instructions, so take care with this operation. My preference would be for the standard ergonomically designed remotes you get with modern equipment. Setting everything else up is easy and there is a leaflet that takes you through the three simple steps.

My Acoustic Solutions DS 1233 Home Cinema system is attached to a Panasonic DVD recorder via an optical cable (£16.99 from Comet), and to a Panasonic Sky receiver via the AUX ports. Sound quality for the price is fine, and the kit, once easily assembled, looks pretty neat. Separation across the channels is clear and the subwoofer plays its part well.

It is available from larger branches of Argos who delivered it the next day with £30 knocked off the catalog price of £199.99 as a bonus!

The Acoustic Solutions DS 1233 is very well packaged with plenty of protection for all the items. Came in two clearly marked boxes, one of which is quite big because it contained the speakers and stands. The other box only contained the sub-woofer but is quite heavy. The bigger box is too big to fit in most car boots, I had to lay down the rear seats to carry it home.

The speakers are completely pre-assembled except that the metal floor plates which attach to the bottom of the aluminium columns need screwing on, only three screws and no problem. The instructions state that there are rubber feet provided for the speaker bases, but if they are going to be standing on carpet then it is probably better if you don't bother. The feet for the sub-woofer came already attached and will definitely be necessary to avoid vibrations if the sub is standing on a hard floor. The centre speaker can sit on top of, or below the TV. More than enough cabling was provided to make connections to all the speakers. Cables are colour coded, as are the speaker and amplifier connections, so you can't get it wrong. Also, coax and phono leads are provided so I didn't need to go out and buy any extra leads at all.

There is an option to use an optical connecting lead for the amplifier to DVD connection. I didn't because I used the coax cable provided but I don't know whether there would be any improved audio quality if the optical connection was used. Maybe somebody can comment on that !

The instructions advise that you make all the basic connections and position the speakers where you you might want them without making the arrangement permanent. Having done this I changed a few things just to make the sound suit my seating positions better so I was glad I hadn't run the wiring permanently.

All worked well right from the start. There is a test facility with this unit which allows white noise to be circulated to the various speakers in sequence. At the same time the display tells you where you ought to be hearing the sound from. This is a helpful feature. I have my system connected to a cable TV digibox, and an existing DVD player which I had only just bought but didn't have it's own integral Dolby 5.1 decoder. So I had to buy a surround system which incorporated it's own decoder. The DS 1233 fits the bill pefectly.

The sound out of this sytem is phenominal. According to the instructions the power output is 200 watts (presumed RMS). Frankly there is much more power available than I will ever use in a 20ft x 13ft living room. If I ever tried full power I would blow out all the windows. To celebrate having installed this system I went out and rented an-all action DVD. What an experience. It's absolutely true what they claim, you feel like you are right back in the cinema watching the film. The sounds and effects are amazing from this system. The speakers really do add extra dimensions to watching a film like this. The sub-woofer provides huge amounts of base and rumble whilst the front and back speakers give clear mid-range and high frequency sounds. I could detect no distortion anywhere and I was perfectly satisfied with the audio quality in all respects. The stereo separation and rear surround sound effect were very clear and defined.

The remote control is a slimline device, quite easily lost if you're not careful. The range of options and adjustments available is extensive. I am still playing with the remote just to try out all the sound options and features.

Overall I'm very pleased with this kit. At £200 it isn't the cheapest system around but neither is it expensive compared to some of the more upmarket brands. Having listened to some of the more expensive systems the extra cost certainly isn't justified by the nominal improvement in sound quality.

If you are looking for a home cinema system and don't want to fork out for a DVD player with integral 5.1 decoder then there are actually very few options available. I wanted to use the existing Toshiba DVD player I already had. If you look around Dixons, Currys, Comet and so on, most systems offered to you include a DVD player with decoder and there is a bigger selection available. They can be very much more expensive than the DS 1233 however and having looked at some of the kit, particularly in the £200 -£300 bracket the sound won't be a patch on the DS 1233.

One gripe. The Acoustic Solutions DS 1233 only seems to be available from Argos. I couldn't find this model available anywhere else in my area (Portsmouth). At the time of looking only 1 of the 10 or so local branches of Argos actually had this model in stock (I checked using their Internet facility) so I had to travel about 15 miles to buy it. It was definitely worth it though.