The Sony Muteki STR-KM7 is a 7.2 channel home theater that processes full HD input signals and delivers 2012W RMS music power to a 9-speaker box configuration. I have owned this 7.2 channel Sony MutekiSTR-KM7
for two years now and I can comfortably say I'm very satisfied. It is a home theater built for action. It is incredibly loud with its two subwoofers designed to deliver a heavy punch for majority of media sources. If you are a movie lover and a fan of loud parties, a phenomenal 2012W of music power output is available at its speakers.
You will enjoy every bit of action with incredible clarity and volume. For movies enriched with bass effects (LFE channels), the cinematic experience is indescribable. This home theater is able to reproduce the lowest frequency notes with great clarity and power. The metallic cone speakers adopted by Sony are able to reproduce sound with minimal distortion.
The Sony Muteki STR-KM7 is easy to automate and easy to set up if you know what you are doing. It comes along with an elaborate manual detailing every bit. For me, I normally connect a PC/Laptop, HDMI Blu-ray Player and HDTV/SATV; and control everything via an Android phone.
The STR-KM7 is delivered in two boxes weighing 65+34 kgs. It comes along with 9-aluminium cone speaker box system; 1 center, 2 surround, 2 surround back, 2 subwoofers, 2 front speakers and a single remote. The STR-KM7 has been released in several models for instance; Muteki STR-K7SW and Mgongo HT-M7. All these are just variants of the same home theater with only slight improvements among them and tailored for specific markets.
The STR-KM7 has its downside. I would have loved to get a little more punch from the Subwoofers but they seem to max out at half volume (though even at this level it is still good enough) and any further increases in volume seems to affect only the front and surround speakers. This leaves you craving for more bass. At maximum volume the bass effect seems to get blanked out by the sound from the front and surround speakers. It is more evident when listening to mp3 music and media not loaded with LFE effects. It's like as though, some channels lose power as you turn up the volume. This home theater will never set your floor into vibration because its deep bass drivers are not designed to respond to audio frequencies lower than 100Hz. Deep bass frequencies lie somewhere between 20Hz and 100Hz. So if you are the kind that enjoys deep bass that rattles your spine, this is not for you! Noteworthy though, the STR-KM7 is very loud, even at half volume it delivers just perfectly.
If you choose to sync the Sony Muteki STR-KM7 with the TV through BRAVIA sync, you are able to control it through the TV using a single remote. It is able to recognize the TV output selected. I have tested this on a Phillips and a Sony TV. I cannot guarantee whether other TV's will behave the same way. Though, the down side of this sync, is that sometimes the sound output gets distorted and may and may require resetting it.
The USB playback option is very limited. This Sony Muteki STR-KM7 can only play *.wma, *.aac & *.mp3 files of bit rates not more than 192kbps and it is unable to read NTFS formatted USB devices, portable HDDs for that matter. It becomes slower between playbacks for devices stacked with a large volume of audio files. It allows up 100 folders and a maximum of 8-level folder depth thereby limiting you on the number of hours and precious audio and movie file playback. A solution to this is to connect a portable playback device instead of using USB giving you the luxury of playing all kinds of files without worrying about system limitations. In addition, the Sony Muteki STR-KM7 has fewer manual controls making its remote an indispensable part. You have to keep it far from destructive kids lest you get stuck with a box you can hardly operate and program. Other than that, it is a fantastic system built with an extra touch of class. If I were to rate it on a scale of 1-5, I would give it a 4.8.
Found this helpful? Here is an in depth review of the STR-KM7.
for two years now and I can comfortably say I'm very satisfied. It is a home theater built for action. It is incredibly loud with its two subwoofers designed to deliver a heavy punch for majority of media sources. If you are a movie lover and a fan of loud parties, a phenomenal 2012W of music power output is available at its speakers. You will enjoy every bit of action with incredible clarity and volume. For movies enriched with bass effects (LFE channels), the cinematic experience is indescribable. This home theater is able to reproduce the lowest frequency notes with great clarity and power. The metallic cone speakers adopted by Sony are able to reproduce sound with minimal distortion.
I like how this STR-KM7 reproduces the sound of the canon while watching the hunger games DVD; it is a heart wrecking boom! In principal, get any movie and power it through this home theater and you will not regret it! Movies encoded with Dolby and DTS sound formats give the best experience. This home theater is built for movies! It gives a true cinematic experience. It can process Dolby TrueHD, HD Digital Cinema Sound, DTS 96kHz/24bit. In addition, it allows 3D and HD picture pass through. DTS Master Audio is down mixed to DTS 96kHz/24bit. Some older models however, do not process Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio. Please confirm this for your model before purchase. Logos of Dolby TrueHD, HD Digital Cinema Sound, DTS 96kHz/24bit must appear on the AV receiver unit and packing boxes.
The Sony Muteki STR-KM7 is easy to automate and easy to set up if you know what you are doing. It comes along with an elaborate manual detailing every bit. For me, I normally connect a PC/Laptop, HDMI Blu-ray Player and HDTV/SATV; and control everything via an Android phone.
The STR-KM7 is delivered in two boxes weighing 65+34 kgs. It comes along with 9-aluminium cone speaker box system; 1 center, 2 surround, 2 surround back, 2 subwoofers, 2 front speakers and a single remote. The STR-KM7 has been released in several models for instance; Muteki STR-K7SW and Mgongo HT-M7. All these are just variants of the same home theater with only slight improvements among them and tailored for specific markets.
The STR-KM7 has its downside. I would have loved to get a little more punch from the Subwoofers but they seem to max out at half volume (though even at this level it is still good enough) and any further increases in volume seems to affect only the front and surround speakers. This leaves you craving for more bass. At maximum volume the bass effect seems to get blanked out by the sound from the front and surround speakers. It is more evident when listening to mp3 music and media not loaded with LFE effects. It's like as though, some channels lose power as you turn up the volume. This home theater will never set your floor into vibration because its deep bass drivers are not designed to respond to audio frequencies lower than 100Hz. Deep bass frequencies lie somewhere between 20Hz and 100Hz. So if you are the kind that enjoys deep bass that rattles your spine, this is not for you! Noteworthy though, the STR-KM7 is very loud, even at half volume it delivers just perfectly.
If you choose to sync the Sony Muteki STR-KM7 with the TV through BRAVIA sync, you are able to control it through the TV using a single remote. It is able to recognize the TV output selected. I have tested this on a Phillips and a Sony TV. I cannot guarantee whether other TV's will behave the same way. Though, the down side of this sync, is that sometimes the sound output gets distorted and may and may require resetting it.
The USB playback option is very limited. This Sony Muteki STR-KM7 can only play *.wma, *.aac & *.mp3 files of bit rates not more than 192kbps and it is unable to read NTFS formatted USB devices, portable HDDs for that matter. It becomes slower between playbacks for devices stacked with a large volume of audio files. It allows up 100 folders and a maximum of 8-level folder depth thereby limiting you on the number of hours and precious audio and movie file playback. A solution to this is to connect a portable playback device instead of using USB giving you the luxury of playing all kinds of files without worrying about system limitations. In addition, the Sony Muteki STR-KM7 has fewer manual controls making its remote an indispensable part. You have to keep it far from destructive kids lest you get stuck with a box you can hardly operate and program. Other than that, it is a fantastic system built with an extra touch of class. If I were to rate it on a scale of 1-5, I would give it a 4.8.
Found this helpful? Here is an in depth review of the STR-KM7.
Note:
It should be noted that this system is rated 2012W Total RMS power. The speaker output ratings given are obtained about a specific frequency (i.e. 1 kHz) and speaker load (say 6 ohms) as indicated instead of the entire signal range of 20-20kHz. For this reason the very high values are justified. In addition, the high aggregate harmonic distortion value means at some point you may experience some sound discomfort. I have experienced this during my continued use of this system especially while playing some MP3 files from a laptop. Turning the volume down a bit, distortions become less pronounced. If files are played from a high quality source, the output is similarly of a high quality. Playing files from Android phones and tablets has always given me the best output quality at all volumes. For best sound output from all sources, it is advisable to connect all inputs to an audio distortion correction unit and pick inputs to the home theater from the outputs of this unit.
An updated review and buying guide can be found here.
An updated review and buying guide can be found here.
Hi there. Thank you so much for your review. It helped me make the decision to purchase this sound system. I bought it off ebay from savings_world for $360 2nd hand. I trust this is a bargain at this price? I have to drive 7 hours to pick it up but hey I like road trips... If I was to resell it what would you say I should sell it for?
ReplyDeleteI could make some quick cash turnover or should I keep it for myself? I know once I pick it up I'm going to want to keep it tho. Lmfao. Email me at Daniel.l.thomas1984@gmail.com with u r reply. Thanks Dan
They all have a common fault which is goes into protect mode
ReplyDeleteI've had one for something like a decade with not a single issue
ReplyDelete