Harman Kardon HKTS 20BQ 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System (Black)

by Harman Kardon

Product Details

User's Guide [1.50mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 25 x 15.5 inches ; 39.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 41 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0039UUPH6
• Item model number: HKTS20BQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #35 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Stereo Components > Speakers > Speaker Systems

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Harman Kardon HKTS 20BQ
Elegance and Performance in an Affordable Home Theater Speaker Package

Designed to Entertain for more than 50 Years
Using extraordinary industrial design, innovative technologies and meticulous engineering, Harman Kardon audio experts have created products to deliver the ultimate listening experience for more than 50 years. From the world’s very first high-fidelity receiver in 1954 to today's high-current, ultrawide-bandwidth amplifier design, the Harman Kardon brand has led the way to the finest audio and video quality possible. With a complete package of performance, design, flexibility and ease of use, Harman Kardon products are perfect for all the sounds and visuals that modern, high-definition digital content has to offer. So treat yourself to the ultimate at-home listening experience--one that only a Harman Kardon system can provide.

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The HKTS 20BQ speaker system brings performance and elegance to any room.

Elegant Performance

Prepared to be stunned. Featuring an elegant, high-gloss black finish and a new, sleek satellite and subwoofer, Harman Kardon’s latest home theater loudspeaker systems are the ultimate expression of performance and design. Based on looks alone, the new HKTS 20BQ would be a stunning centerpiece for any high-performance home theater. Luckily, Harman Kardon’s passion for great audio has made the new HKTS 20BQ sound even better than it looks. And thanks to advanced engineering and design, it delivers audio far larger than its size would lead you to believe. Paired with a high-performance receiver, the HKTS 20BQ is an elegant step-up solution to your television speakers or a typical “home theater in a box.” In addition, its beautiful design fits into nearly any décor. Use the included wall brackets to hang the satellites from the wall as part of your interior design. Don’t want to hang the speakers on the wall? Optional black speaker stands (HTFS 3) are available to bring your HKTS 20BQ satellites to perfect ear height. Breathtaking looks and stunning sound-–you get it all with the new Harman Kardon HKTS 20BQ loudspeaker system.

The HKTS 20BQ speaker system delivers rich home theater sound in a sophisticated design View larger

The Sound for Today's High Definition World

Exceptional sound quality takes advanced engineering. To deliver an extraordinary listening experience for today’s high-definition entertainment, the HKTS 20BQ satellites and subwoofer have gone through Harman Kardon’s world-class engineering and design process. This process gives the HKTS 20BQ system the performance of a system costing many times its price, unlike many other entry-level satellite speaker systems.

Advanced driver technology delivers rich, full sound View larger

Soft-dome Tweeters Reproduce Accurate, Detailed High Frequencies
Each satellite is a two-way design, featuring a 3/4" soft-dome tweeter. The soft-dome tweeter is strong but lightweight enough to reproduce high frequencies with detail, accuracy and clarity. The tweeter rests in Harman Kardon’s advanced Constant Directivity waveguide. Simply put, this waveguide ensures an incredibly wide stereo image over a large listening area.

Midrange Drivers Serve Up Vocals with Realism
For increased midbass response and smooth, realistic-sounding vocals, each satellite employs a 3-1/2" midrange driver that is both strong and lightweight. In fact, for the most clear and distinct movie dialogue, the HKTS 20BQ actually uses dual 3-1/2" midrange drivers for the center channel.

8" Powered Subwoofer Rattles the Room
No high-performance home theater would be complete without a powered subwoofer. The HKTS 20BQ uses a rigid, high-excursion, 8" woofer powered by a muscular, 200-watt amplifier. The woofer’s rigid design allows it to move but hold its shape without bending. And since the woofer is relatively small, the HKTS 20BQ can deliver deep, substantial bass from a sleek, compact cabinet. If you want to enhance the HTKS 20BQ’s subwoofer performance to your preference, a phase switch, level control and bass boost are all included. The result is maximum movement with minimum distortion, and a home theater experience that you don’t just hear but also feel.

The HKTS 20BQ includes high quality connectors and tabletop stands. View larger

Even Installation Is Simple

Whether you’re doing it yourself or a professional is doing it for you, the HKTS 20BQ is easy to set up and wire. High-quality, gold plated connections on the back of each speaker allow you to use high-performance speaker wire, while the powered subwoofer uses a line-level LFE (low-frequency effects) connection to attach easily to today’s 5.1-channel and 7.1-channel surround-sound receivers. The LFE input even has an “audio sense” circuit to turn itself off automatically when you’re not using it. And if you’re using the included wall brackets, you can attach them effortlessly to the bottom of each satellite and rotate them so you can precisely dial in the best speaker placement.

What's in the Box
Four HKTS 20BQ satellites, One HKTS 20BQ center, One HKTS 20BQ subwoofer, wall mount brackets for all five speakers, and speaker wire

Product Description

Exceptional sound quality takes advanced engineering. To deliver an extraordinary listening experience for today’s high-definition entertainment, the HKTS 20 satellites and subwoofer have gone through Harman Kardon’s world-class engineering and design process. This process gives the HKTS 20 system the performance of a system costing many times its price

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!!, December 3, 2010

By 

M. Squires "theDrizzle" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Harman Kardon HKTS 20BQ 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System (Black) (Electronics)

Let me start out by saying that all my previous systems were Hbid all in one Sony crap factories. I'm actually a TV and radio engineer, but I've never been willing to spend the money on my own consumer grade audio equipment....now I'm glad I did. This system is incredible. I got it with the Yamaha 667 receiver, so basically the receiver was free; too good to pass up.

Pros:
Amazing sound...it's like I'm in a movie theater
Quality design; speakers are well built and heavy and the shine on them is great. sub looks like a piece of art
Great mounts and 16 gauge cable included.
Packaging was immaculate; reminded me of Apple products
Professional gold connectors on rear of speaker; high quality
powered sub with adjustable levels


Cons:
Cable for surround is a little short (typical length for surround cable included with most systems)
Speaker set is really expensive if you don't get the deal with a receiver


This set comes with small speaker stands and mounts if you choose to mount the speakers. I mounted all of mine and they sound amazing. If you want to mount the speakers, you'll need two screws for each speaker and drywall studs if that's where you're mounting them. The speaker cable is more than enough for the fronts and about 33 feet for the surround.

I'm breaking these in with "Dark Night" right now and it sounds incredible. I'm still playing with the settings for my receiver, but it seems like little adjustment is needed if you don't want to. I turned up the surround a little cuz I like a louder surround effect.

If the deal to get these with the Yamaha receiver is still available, I highly recommend this purchase.

I don't have too much comparison for Polk or other good speakers, but I can honestly say that these speakers both look and sound incredible. Unless you're an extremely picky audiophile, you will not be disappointed. This is one of the best purchases and best deals I've ever received.

If you're tired of the crappy Hbid systems, this is a must have. If you're not satisfied with the amazing speaker sound, I guess you can always use the 4 satellites for surround and get a couple Polk fronts or something.

Note: My living room is about 15X40 and the sound is still great. Went out for a smoke and wondered if my neighbors wanted to kill me due to the bass.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind blowing, Awesome, Amazing, Fantastic....., March 24, 2011

By 

Ashis Banerjee - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Harman Kardon HKTS 20BQ 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System (Black) (Electronics)

Let me tell you right away that this Harman Kardon speaker package has high quality written all over it. Right from the excellent packaging to the individual speaker/sub-woofer construction and overall appearance, everything is immaculate. And yes the sound quality is indeed mind blowing as stated by the other reviewers.

As usual I got this packaged with the feature rich Yamaha RX-V667 as part of the current Amazon promotion. The Yamaha receiver has so many features that I am yet to explore most of them and will come up with a separate review shortly. But my initial impression is very good and it does everything perfectly that I expected from it. So far I have generally used only Sony HTIBs as home theater option. To be frank I am no audiophile and was pretty happy with them. Infact one month back only I purchased the Sony HT-SS370 from Costco to replace a 5 year old Sony HTIB . It also has great reviews in Amazon and I was pretty happy with it. However then I came across the Home theater promotion currently on Amazon, I decided to take the plunge to find put how much better can these expensive home theaters sound when compared to my all-in-one cheap Sony. After going through all the choices, the Yamaha-Harman combo appealed the most to me(based on the glowing reviews here and elsewhere) and was also just about in my budget.I must tell you its a different experience altogether. These speakers can produce such intricate and delicate sounds from my movies and music that I was totally unaware of previously. Probably my Sony speakers are a bit louder than the Harman at comparable volumes but if you consider sound clarity and crispness there is no comparison. I played the Avatar BlueRay and believe me during the jungle scenes I could hear certain sounds which I never even heard at the 3D Movie theater. It made me feel as if I was physically present there with sounds coming from all possible directions. The sexy-looking powered sub-woofer has enough juice to rock a standard 15 by 15 room. At moderate high volume it started shaking all my doors and windows and my wife got so nervous that our neighbors will come out complaining that I had to lower it down. I also tried playing lots of music (mainly English Classics and Bollywood film songs) and again I was extremely satisfied with the outcome. Low, mid and high frequencies were all coming out crisp and clearly. I think the Yamaha receiver also has a big hand behind this though.

Overall this system is a winner and anybody looking for high quality home-theater system should definitely consider this Amazon special combo. My Sony HT-SS370 is going back to the Costco warehouse today and I am extremely happy even after spending 4 times the cost for this Yamaha/Harman combo.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply amazing, March 24, 2011

By 

Mike D - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Harman Kardon HKTS 20BQ 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System (Black) (Electronics)

I had been going back and forth with purchasing these speakers, but when I saw it was paired with a Yamaha Amp, I couldn't say no. I essentially got the amp for free. After anticipating its arrival, and checking the tracking details every hour it had finally arrived.

The speakers were sealed in a very protective packaging. Wrapped in foam and cloth, the speakers had a certain sparkle to them. the sub-woofer also came in its own separate box.

Setting these bad boys up was a breeze. The speaker wires were perfect length, maybe a bit long, but I have a smaller living room.

Now the sound. I hooked these up to my new Yamaha amp (that i got for free!), and these guys shock my entire apartment. I took the advice to test these with Dark Knight, and I was simply amazed.

Overall, these speakers paired with the Yamaha 667 Amp are an amazing deal. I was skeptical spending $700 on a sound system, but it was the best $700 I have spent