Motorola DCP501 All-In-One Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)We bought these for our lodge (63 2 & 3 Bdrm Units). While the combination of components in a small package is exactly what we needed, we have experienced a large amount of product failures. Out of 67 units ordered, we have experienced a 30 to 40% failure rate. Types of problems in order of occurrence:
1) Audio section - a) Subwoofer worked, but not satellite speakers b) "Overload" becomes too sensitive
2) Digital cable subsystem failures - a) Constantly losing the digital programming b) or just complete failure
3) Premature DVD Read problems - I say "premature" because the oldest unit is less than 2 years old.
4) Front panel lockout.
While we are a "lodge", this is a private residence club whose members tend to take good care of the appliances in each unit. So abuse is not a major cause of problems. Also, the manufacturing dates range over several months.
A failure of 10% or less would have been acceptable, but close to 40% is just ridiculous. These units were professionally installed and we have worked closely with the local cable company to try and find an outside cause, without success. The surround speaker system used with the DCP501 is a high end Yamaha setup, while brand new Panasonic flat-screen TV's were connected using S-Video.
We do have other Motorola Digital cable boxes in use here, and none of them have displayed any of these issues. So we were very surprised to experience all these problems. It's too bad, because now we will have to look for a multi-component type of setup that we really don't have the room for.

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Motorola's DCP501 home-theater system not only simplifies the hookup of everything from cable TV to VCRs and satellite receivers--it also unifies audio and video media playback and amplification within one easy-to-use device. The DCP501 combines the functions of a digital cable receiver, a DVD/CD/MP3 player, a 100-watts-per-channel surround receiver, and an AM/FM stereo receiver. For DVD viewing with immersive, high-quality surround sound, just add speakers and a television. The plug-n-play unit supports Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, and Pro Logic II surround formats. For cable reception, the DCP501's 50 to 860 MHz tuner supports clear analog, 64 and 256 QAM clear and encrypted digital cable services. Where available, the tuner is also compatible with Motorola-enabled digital cable services in both two-way and telephone-return cable systems. (It also supports Motorola DCT2000 digital cable applications.) The receiver's high-performance, Tripath Class-T audio amplifiers deliver 100 watts to all five main channels (left, center, right, and left/right surround), while built-in preamplifier outputs let you use the device as a preamplifier with a more powerful stereo or multichannel power amplifier. Extensive inputs and outputs include front-panel audio/video hookups for a camcorder or gaming console, including a Toslink optical input for a direct digital-audio hookup with an external device. Two additional digital-audio inputs are found on the back panel (one each optical and coaxial), and an onboard NTSC decoder uses a digital adaptive comb filter to upconvert all composite-video signals to S-video for use with higher-resolution S-VHS VCRs and compatible TVs. Crucially, any video input source can be converted and/or channeled to any of the three video outputs for maximum convenience when using the DCP501 with a VCR, DVR (digital video recorder), or other device. What's in the Box DCP501 cable-ready home theater system, a universal remote control, remote batteries, a self-install kit, FM/AM antennas, six-foot composite-video/analog audio interconnect, six-foot S-video cable, six-foot coaxial video cable, and a user's manual.

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