7.2 Channel 2450W Sony Home Theater - HT-M77

The HT-M77 home theater is an improvement of the 2012 HT-M7. Just like the HT-M7, the HT-M77 is a very loud home theater system featuring an STR-KM77 AV receiver of 2450W RMS total music power and 9 speaker units. Sony has added attractive enhancements to the 2012 HT-M7. Among them, is an enhanced bass punch, which it achieved through use 30cm subwoofer drivers instead of the 25cm drivers adopted for the HT-M7 home theater.
Secondly, if you owned an HT-M7, you know how cumbersome it was to automate and connect media sources. Thanks to Sony, the 2014 HT-M77 is enabled for Bluetooth streaming and NFC for Bluetooth pairing. This new feature allows you to effortlessly stream your favorite tunes directly from your compatible iPhone/iPod, tablet or smartphone to the HT-M77 receiver. On the HT-M7, you had to stream through a Bluetooth enabled laptop connected to the AV receiver via an HDMI connection.
What's more, Sony has added more Soundfields on the HT-M77 to spice every bit of action. You can now enjoy your favorite football games with the Football sound effect activated.

Attractive Features on the HT-M77 Home Theater

• 2450W RMS Total Amp Output Power

The HT-M77 is louder than its predecessor, the HT-M7. Sony ramped up the total RMS music power output on the HT-M7 from 2012W to a whooping 2450W. If you enjoy loud music, the HT-M77 is the one for you. It is a home theater system with a good bass response and with enough volume. To achieve these numbers, the Amp in the HT-M77 is driven too close to its limit as revealed shortly;
In stereo mode, it is rated at 120 W + 120 W (measured for 6 ohms, at 1 kHz and THD 1%) - which is the same with the HT-M7. However, in surround mode, the Amp is driven into severe distortions by as much as 30% as indicated as follows; Measured for 6 ohms at 1 kHz and THD 30% to get 264W to FRONT speakers per channel, 266W to CENTER speaker, 264W to SURROUND speakers per channel, 264W to SURROUND BACK speakers per channel, and lastly measured for 4 ohms at 100 Hz and THD 30%, to get 300W to the SUBWOOFERS per channel.

The very high THD values imply that in normal operation you will never fully enjoy Maximum volume on the HT-M77 for all media sources because at high volume the distortions become more pronounced and you experience a lot of discomfort at these volumes. However, general usage is always at about half the rated maximum volume. Even at this volume, the HT-M77 is still loud enough for a house party hosted in a large living or lounge room. Maximum volume is never really necessary!

• Bluetooth and NFC for effortless streaming

To me, the Bluetooth feature is the best improvement made on the the HT-M7. Wireless music streaming has never been made any easier! You can stream directly from your compatible smartphone or tablet with a simple touch on the NFC area of the HT-M77 AV receiver.

• Football and Digital Music Arena soundfields

On the HT-M7, there are three soundfields; Gaming, Movie and Music. Two new sound fields; Football and Digital Music Arena, have been introduced on the HT-M77. You can now enjoy football games with a live football stadium atmosphere if the Football soundfield is activated while watching your games. In addition, the Digital Music Arena DSP brings Live Music Concerts to life by mimicking arena sound effects.

• Two 30 cm Metallic Cone type Subwoofer

The two 30cm metallic cone drivers in the HT-M77 are designed to give a lower frequency response than was possible with the HT-M7 which is delivered with two 25cm metallic cone type subwoofers. The HT-M77 features slightly bigger subwoofer drivers to give you a much heavier punch to rattle rattle your windows and floor!

Full tech specs of the HT-M77 Home Theater

• 2450W Total Power Output (Measured at 1kHz, 6Ohms, 10%THD)
• 7.2 analog Amplifier channels
• Falcon 2.0 DSP
• Bass/Treble Control
• Jog Input Selector 
• Bass and Treble Equalizer
• Speaker Level Control (dB) FRT: BAL. L+1 to BAL. L+6, BALANCE, BAL R+1 to BAL. R+6 CNT: +/-6 SL, SR: +/-6 SBRL, SBR: +/-6 SW: +/-6 

Input and Output Ports

• Bluetooth(NFC) In
• 3 Audio In
• 2 Optical Digital In
• 1 Coaxial In
• 3 HDMI In
• 1 HDMI Out
• 1 USB In

Available Soundfields 

• Movie
• Music 
• Gaming 
• Football mode 
• Digital Music Arena

Decoding Sound Formats 

• LPCM (2ch / 5.1ch / 7.1ch) through HDMI
• Dolby Digital
• DTS
• DTS 96/24 
• Dolby Prologic II
• 96k/24Bit PCM 
• Dolby Dual Mono 

Tuner

• 30 AM/FM Channel presets
• Preset Channel FM/AM Station Name 
• Auto Tuning 
• Direct Tuning
• FM Mode

Video Features 

• A/V SYNC
• LPCM for HD Surround from Blu-ray Disc
• HDMI Quality - 1080p
• HDMI Quality - 1080/24p
• HDMI Quality - Deep Color
• HDMI Quality - x.v.Color (xvYCC)
• HDMI Quality - Audio Return Channel
• HDMI Quality - 3D Pass Through
• HDMI Quality - HDMI Pass Through
• HDMI Quality - 3D over HDMI

General Display 

• Union Jack Sleep Timer
• (up to 2 hours) Auto Standby 
• Pin Jack Nickel 

Speaker System 

• Subwoofer speaker system

• Bass Reflex Unit
• 30cm cone type  driver.
• 4 ohms rated impedance 

• Front Speaker system

• Bass Reflex system
• 2 way 3 driver
• 2.5cm horn type
• Two 20cm cone type Woofer
• 6 ohms rated impedance 

• Surround Speaker System 

• Bass Reflex unit
• 2 way 2 driver
• 2.5cm horn type Tweeter
• 16cm cone type Woofer
• 6 ohms rated impedance 

• Surround back speaker system

• Full range
• Closed Box Speaker unit
• 10cm cone type woofer
• 6 ohms rated impedance

• Center Speaker System

• Bass Reflex
• Full range
• Magnetically shielded
• 6 ohms rated impedance
• 10cm cone type woofer

Power requirements

• Input power: 110-127V or 220-240V AC, 50/60Hz depending on region.
• Power consumption in operation: 195W
• Power consumption in idle: 0.3W (with Ctrl HDMI set to off) 

Weight and Dimensions

• Main Unit

The main unit measures approximately 430 x 178 x 336mm (W x H x D) and weighs 10.3kg.

• Front Speaker

Front Speakers are approximately 280 x 925 x 265mm (W x H x D) and weighing roughly 15kg.

• Center Speaker

The center speaker size is roughly 430 x 182 x 178mm (W x H x D) with weight of approximately 3.3kg 

• Surround Speaker

Each Surround Speaker approximately weighs 13kg with approximate dimensions of (W x H x D) 280 x 885 x 265mm.

• Subwoofer

A single subwoofer weighs roughly 14kgs and measures approximately (W x H x D) 410 x 555 x 350mm. 

• Rear Surround Speaker

Rear Surround Speakers are the smallest with approximate dimensions 280 x 235 x 162mm (W x H x D) and weight 2.4kg

 

HT-M77 Buying Guide

• The HT-M77 is currently priced at $1399.99, which is comparatively lower than most high end home theater systems in its category. I would bet that the HT-M77 is the best home theater you can get given its power and at such a low price. 

•  Like its predecessor, the HT-M7, the quality of the media inputs affect performance of the HT-M77. So to enjoy it to the fullest always use high quality media sources, i.e HD movies, High quality audio, etc. 
• If you are to turn up the volume to maximum, set the speaker level controls at about 0dB. At this level sound distortions are less pronounced and the output is really good. Anything above 0dB makes the output sound uncomfortable to listen to.