Wish the negative review have be on Amazon when we family first purchase 2 of these system . even when the product work , it be painfully slow to change & read disc ; now both we unit have the develop the same problem other have report , namely get stick on `` standby '' instead of turn off , refuse to read dvd , and get stuck playing cd . so yes , it be not a fluke , this be a defective product , if you get hold of one and it be not break yet , it will be eventually . however , I still use it as a surround sound system , and must admit it sound pretty good , but I have to plug a cheapo dvd player into a av input -lrb- it only have 2 . . -rrb- to watch dvd with surround ... which be absurd , but I can thank Sony for make this ripoff . and for what it be worth : leave the system off when not use it seem to improve its longevity .