Product Description

Sometimes the quest for home surround sound is as ignominious as seeking the holy grail. Where do you place all those speakers? Do you have to reshape the room? Philips engineers have tackled that problem. They've managed to take the output from 5 distinct channel amplifiers and placed them in a single speaker called a Soundbar. Within the soundbar, speakers are angled to provide a realistic audio environment that literally emulates sound as if it's coming from all sides. It's 5.1 surround without the mess! In addition to the latest audio technology, the Ambisound system is only five inches thick and can be easily mounted onto a wall underneath an existing Flat-TV. The simple, yet elegant design enhances the décor of any home theater space, regardless of the room layout or design. The center console is designed to be mounted on a wall or resting on a stand. For maximum audio quality and clarity, the Ambisound system features a 3-band equalizer and DoubleBASS deep bass performance, creating a smooth cross over between sounds. The speakers feature soft dome tweeters for increased clarity and clear voice performance and are designed for maximum efficiency for full midrange performance. Additionally, users will enjoy the Smart Surround feature, which automatically ensures correct surround sound settings whether a movie or music is playing. Though not exactly 5.1 channel sound, The HTS8100 uses a host of technologies including array processing, precise driver positioning and psycho-acoustic innovation to achieve the full surround sound performance that is 5.1 channel compatible. Auxiliary input ports Subwoofer Only five-inches thick, the Ambisound SoundBar provides a stylish system with amplifier and a DVD player all in a single sophisticated design Philips advanced Sonowave surround SonoWave surround sound technology is compatible with all 5.1 channel surround-sound sources, such as DVDs, SACDs

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2295 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Philips
• Model: HTS8100/37
• Dimensions: 41.00" h x 15.00" w x 22.00" l, 59.30 pounds

Features

• Integrated DVD Player can also play audio CD including CDR and CDRW with MP3 files
• FM Radio Tuner
• Has iPod / Philips GoGear docking capability
• Component Video ports for progressive-scan capabilities
• Features HDMI connectivity with video upscaling

Customer Reviews

Deep Sound, but where's the surround?
Always a tricky one when reviewing something which sounds great, but doesnt really do what it says on the tin.

I read a few reviews on the Phillips sound bar and decide to go for it rather than the Yahama, due to its inclusion of an upscaling DVD player being built in.

My house just doesnt lend itself well to placing 5 speakers, particularly rears, so I thought what the heck I'll try this.

The audio quality is excellent, deep bass (not quite sharp enough with movies on normal settings but that can be fixed by tweaking the audion settings and cranking the treble)and a huge array of different pre set movie and audio settings to suit your ear.

But as far as virtual Surround Sound capability goes...there isnt any as far as I can tell. I've tried various DVD's with scenes I know bring in the rear speakers on full systems and there is no distinguishable surround effect.

Disappointing really, although I have to say I still love the overall sound when its cranked up, it really booms out.

So if you want a boost to your TV sound and have a beautiful looking sound bar with built in DVD (and it does look awesome), you cant go far wrong. But if you are thinking you can change the laws of physics and have surround sound without rear speakers, think again, cause this just doesnt work!

Good looking home theater system
Best part about this system is the simplicity in term of look and set up. Black finish matches with my black Phillips LCD TV. It comes with a main unit and a loud speaker. So not many things to hook up. It is pretty simple to set up if you plan to just have it sitting on the top of the cabinet. I decided to hang it on the wall, right below my flat LCD TV. It looks just gorgeous.

You can play CD, DVD, and AM/FM radio. It has MP3 line-in, iPOD connector and a beautiful black docking unit, USB connector to play MP3 and photos. Sound quality is pretty good. I mainly use it when I watch TV/DVD or listen to my iPOD. Nothing serious.

I didn't give the five star because it didn't have the high def or blueray. I wish it comes with the HD radio and multi-disk. iPod dock works well. However, dock is a separate unit so it has to be hooked up to the main unit. As a result, it ruins the clean look. IPod docking unit's plug is located on the side so it is difficult to hide wires and connectors. They should have integrated the iPOD docking unit to the main unit or the loud speaker box to maintain the clean look.

All in all, I think price is good and unit works well. If you want the clean look, this is the system.

Update Aug 5, 07: System works great. I am glad I bought it. By the way, don't buy the wall mount kit because it already comes with it. Don't understand, why Amazon wants you to purchase a separate kit????

Neat, simple design, great sound
Here is my take on the Philips Sound Bar after owning it for a week:

Size and look of the unit is amazing. I did not wall mount to unit, but rather opted for having it sit underneath my TV on the TV stand. The piano black fininsh on the DVD Door and iPod dock complement the piano black finish on my TV. Definately a very stylish and eye catching device.

I have the following hooked up to the Sound Bar:
1. Digital HD Cable Box via digital COAX cable
2. iPod Dock via supplied dock
3. Playstation 3 sound via RCA component cables

Initially i was not that impressed with the bass of the system while playing DVD's, i since found moving the subwoofer further away from the TV, around 2 meters to the side, sorted that issue out.

The upscaling DVD was good. I have a Samsung HD 1080p 52" LCD, and it looked great. The color was sharp, with blacks being black (not gray) and did not notice any blurring on fast action scenes.

The sound from the iPod dock is great, and i really like the fact that you can control the iPod from the unit's remote.

Sound from the PS3 is okay. I wished that there was an optical cable input for the PS3, but this is a minor gripe.

4/5 *'s -> Recommendation is to buy.