RCA Rt2770 5.1-Channel, 1000-Watt Receiver Home Theater System (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I'm actually writing this review after replacing this unit with the highly praised Vizio VHT510 soundbar. I replaced this unit with the Vizio becuase I really didn't have anywhere good to put the receiver for this system in my living room, nor did I have a good solution to running speaker wires from it to the rears without having the wire showing in my living room. The Vizio is a good compromise between style & quality so it works better for my living room.So why do I bring all that up? Because the RCA Rt2770, at 1/3rd the cost of the Vizio, sounds better, even with it's stock speakers, and the Vizio is supposed to be -the- low-budget home theater system to beat these days.The RCA Rt2770 comes with 4 satellite speakers, a similar center, and a passive sub. The speakers are all relatively compact so they hide well in most rooms. I was concerned at first glance that these speakers would sound weak, and while they won't blow you away by themselves, when paired with a sub the sound is surprisingly room-filling and warm. While these speakers sound good for their size and price, one major problem I have with them is the fact that the speaker wire is hardwired to them - meaning you are stuck with the wire provided, unless you're willing to open them up and re-solder new wires yourself. the thin 22-guage wire provided is functional enough for speakers of this size, but in my case I had cut the length down at one point, and then needed a longer run again later, so I ended up splicing 16-guage wire to the existing wire. This isn't really that big a deal but it is a hassle. I wish RCA had just provided runs of wire & used industry-standard wire crimps on the speakers. In an effort to idiot-proof the system, they actually hampered it a little bit. My only other issue with the speakers is the metal speaker grilles - they are not designed to come off, but if one does pop off (as one of my satellite grilles did) they tend to keep popping off. They are also somewhat prone to dents and as they are painted, the paint tends to rub off. The overall effect is they look kind of cheap. Fortunately, they are so small as to be barely noticable (visually).While the sound is warm and clear, the receiver seems to have a rather low maximum volume compared to other home theater systems, but I think that has more to do with the small size of the speaker cones limiting the amount of air they can move, and the fact that the receiver has to do double duty driving the passive sub. Fortunately, the receiver has a LFA-output, allowing you to upgrade to a powered sub, which should raise the overall volume output of the system as more power from the receiver could be directed to the satellite speakers & center. Of course, if one has upgraded the sub, one could also upgrade the rest of the speakers to larger drivers and the system should really open up and produce more volume. With sound, power is half the equation - the other half is the volume of air moved. If you have small cones, you are only going to move so much air and that will always limit your volume. This receiver is nominally a 1000-watt amp, which is a ton of power. While I find that number to be somewhat dubious, if the amp is capable of pushing even 1/3rd of that, it should be able to make a lot of noise with the right speakers (and a powered sub).Speaking of receiver features, this receiver does a lot for the price point. It has optical and coax digital input, as well as multiple analog inputs, including ports in the front to allow for mp3 player or usb-drive connections. The remote allows you to send white noise to individual channels and independently adjust the relative balance of each speaker, as well as set the distance to the fronts, rears, and sub. This allows for a fair amount of fine tuning the system for your particular room. One minor complaint is the smallish nature of the speaker cable inputs - they're tightly grouped together and clearly designed for 18-22 gauge speaker wire, which makes using anything thicker a little problematic - you need to be careful about flyaway copper strands to avoid shorts. I strongly recommend either dabbing a little solder on the ends of your speaker wire to keep the tip together, or better yet, invest in some speaker wire tips to cap wires off with. Be advised that banana plugs will NOT fit however.So, overall, great sound for such a cheap system. The overall volume is a little on the low side, which is mainly hampered by the smallish speakers and the passive sub - replacing any of these will allow the amp to push more volume, but some may prefer the smallish speakers as they are compact and easy to hide. The receiver itself, however, is as big as most other HT receivers so need to plan accordingly when setting up your room.When this unit sold for new you could frequently get it for around $200. At that price it was awesome then, and is awesome now. While it's hard to find this model new anymore, the used ones are selling for almost half that and anything under $150 is an incredible deal. The whole system works great out of the box, but the receiver itself makes for an excellent core to a home audio system - it has enough inputs to handle several different input devices and really shines with upgraded speakers. By itself it would be worth the price - coming with speakers just makes the deal even better.One last note: There are a few reviews mentioning that some of these units didn't last too long. My unit is over three years old and has never given me a lick of trouble. It was my primary home theater unit for the majority of that time, so it received a lot of usage during that time. As stated in the beginning of this review, I only replaced it because I have no good place to put the amp in my living room so a soundbar is a better solution for me now.

Pros: Easy color-coded setup, easy to use, headphone jack, multiple speaker setup options, decent sound quality, surprisingly good subwoofer with its own on/off switch.Cons: Weak inputs (maxxed out at 50, digital coax sound volume from our DVD player in a medium sized room was very good and definitely loud enough but left no reserve), hardwired speakers.We settled on a 3.1 setup where Surround Sound outputs are routed to the front left/right speakers and didn't use rear speakers at all (We don't really want/need full 5.1, however, to get the speaker separation we wanted in the front we used the rear speakers with their longer wires). This works well for our needs and had there been more volume reserve and speakers that weren't hardwired then I would have given this unit 4.5/5 stars.

Very nice product for the money. Would gladly purchase again.

Yes the system is couple years old! But it’s sounds really powerful just like the bose systems! I can hear car bass come out this baby! All these bad reviews is stupid like REALLY. Before you plug in the speakers, you have to set up your sound placement if your useing a small room, or large room for the system. Rca did a great job on this system. Rca/the company on amazon has renewed the system in 2012. Even though it came out in 2006-2007. But now it has a fan inside that’s more helpful from having faults, and damage which is crazy new to some rca 1000watt systems in the past years. The subwoofer is very car bassy sound! Which is crazy! The rca small speakers are clear in mids-low plus the -subwoofer.Very big then I expected to. The system gives you the VCRTO-ON-TOP style.Love it so much !! (But before you plug in all the speakers you have to set up your sound placement)I believe there are hard glue tweeters inside that look like a mini corls, then the mini grey woofer. Because I think that’s the style for this model ! But it is very powerful!If you want to use a bigger space with this system set up the distance< very important!And if you want extreme just add more speakers! But it’s sound like a bose/shake system to me. Very surprised because one of my family members had this system, between 2010-2014 and it did sound plane and tiny I ask him why! But now they put updates on the system parts and speakers for a renew! And FYI DONT BUY THE NEWERS MODELS THEY JUST SOUND Like YOUR HAND HITING ON PAPER.

Bad deal what amozon made with this item , in the web show all set but whem i receive this item didn't come like in the web showi have receive only 5 speakers only , its shame for amozon . amozon can do that , i know is a second hand but could be serious couldn't show all set the web.i bought it for my friend , he is real angry until now .i can is bad deal what amazon made.bad bad bad deal

Item bought on 7 March 2010 and returned 3 weeks later. I read the reviews on this before buying it and they weren't to good but i decided to give it a chance anyway. I bought it for my dorm room in which it performed well until the reciever went out. I am not sure why it went out because i never blasted the music. For the short time that it did work, it was really good. I ended up sending it back and buying another brand system (Coby) for about $30 more which I hope is a lot better. Cheaper brands are better for me because im in a dorm and don't really need a Sony or other expensive brand name.

I read some good and bad reviews before getting this and I must say, The good reviews are correct. I am enjoying my sound very much. The most important review I read and followed said speaker placement and adjustment is important. I was not sure what that meant but if you go into the settings there is a setting to adjust each speaker for best sound. It is great.

Bought this for a gift for my wife for her bedroom, and it works and sounds great. I have an older model of this one in the living room, and that's why I bought this one. I wasn't disappointed. My only regret is that I didn't buy two of these.