Customer Reviews

Philips 2.1 500Watt 1080I DVD Home Theatre System HTS6500/37

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

This system is very easy to hook up and sounds great. Perfect for anyone looking to simplify their home entertainment system. When you compare the HTS 6500 to other 2.1 systems considering price and sound, the HTS 6500 easily wins.

I'm guessing that the first review for this product had the set-up wrong. If you use a cable box, make sure to connect the audio from the dvd player directly to the cable box.

Hopefully the tray doesn't malfunction as the 1st reviewer mentioned...so far so good.

***update*** I've had my system for less than 4 months and the player will no longer recognize DVDs. It will read and play CDs without any problems. I am in the process of contacting Philips for service, I'll update with the quality of their response...
***update*** I sent my DVD player back to Philips. They sent me a new one within 2 weeks. Works great, very happy w/ the service at Philips.

***update #2*** I've now sent this system back twice. The Philips rep denied any mass problems with these systems eventually unable to recognize DVDs. I've read several reviews with the same complaint as mine. Even funnier, the FedEx man told me when we dropped off my newest unit that he had the same system and after returning it twice for not recognizing DVDs has moved on to another brand/ system. I no longer believe that this is a 5 star product.

Here is the deal. I had been shopping all of the 2.1 Surround Sound Systems on the market. I call them Virtual Surround Sound Systems. I researched the Bose 3 2 1, Denon S301 , and Sony. However I could only listen to the Bose, and sony products. My Best Buy did not have the Denon in stock. I'll break down each item.

Bose 321 GSX. Cost $1299-$1599 Demo sounds great, picture looks good but does not have HDMI output. The reviews I read from other customers said the DVD player was terrible. I could not find one Demo that would let me play my own DVD. This made me think Bose was hiding something.

Denon S301. I was pumped about this product. Cost 1300-1600 Does have HDMI Output. I could not find one negative user review on this product. I didn't want to purchase one until I could hear the sound.

Sony, $799.00 This is the worst 2.1 on the market. The sound is terrible and does not have HDMI output.

Philips, DIVX ULTRA I stumbled onto this product by accident while surfing the web. It was just released on June 06. I could not find any user reviews at the time of purchase. However CNET had written a description of the unit while they were at CES 2005. (CES is a huge home entertainment technology show in Vegas every year) This product does have HDMI output and cost far less than any other 2.1 on the market. $399.00. Amazon has it for $308.00. I figured for that price I have to try it. I hooked it up last night. Easy to install. I reccomend reading the operators manual. In the manual it talks about how to set up the system in the Menu options to your needs. You can choose options such as Video and Audio Output type, How far your speakers are spaced apart, the room type (cement walls or wood) How far you sit from the speakers. This helps. I tested the system the same way I test all systems. I popped in Saving Private Ryan, the part when they are storming the beach. The picture was awesome and the sound was great.

Obviously a 7.1 or 5.1 is the only way to achieve actual surround sound. If space or laziness prohibits you from ordering a 5.1 product I'd say the Philips DIVX Ultra is for you.

We have several televisions in the house, like most families...but we have the "A" System in our Basement Den. That's a Sony 51" Widescreen TV, and various components that make up an outstanding, full blown 5.1 system. We have a smaller 32" Widescreen TV in our living room, which had just a DVD Player and a Super VHS Player hooked up to it with no surround system at all.

About a week ago, our DVD Player went on to the scrap heep...and I thought I might as well look at various Home Theater In A Box (HTIB) systems with a built in DVD Player. My daughter and I visited several stores, but we both knew that my wife wanted no wires hanging around the living room. So we either had to get something with wireless surround speakers or a 2.1 system that simulated 5.1. After not seeing anything we liked, I did some research and found this system at Amazon...and boy, am I glad we bought it!

The sound that comes from this system is just *phenominal*, and is an outstanding substitute for a full blown 5.1 system. The speakers are small and compact, yet deliver quite a punch; the sub-woofer delivers great lows as well. We tried it out with the opening scene from "Revenge of The Sith" and were absolutely blown away...it really did sound like a true 5.1 system with sounds all around you.

Next I tried out various formats (music DVDs, CDs, my iPod via the MP3 Direct connector, and various modes of Dolby Digital and DTS surround modes). They all worked *flawlessly* and produced superior sound and vision. I cannot tell you how impressed and happy my whole family is with this system, especially my wife who has no wires hanging around the TV or the living room.

While I don't have an HDMI interface on the TV for this system, here's what I used to get the most out of it. Since we have a digital cable box, I used the s-video out from that box into my TV and connected the Digital Coax output to the proper input on the Philips system. I also used the component video outputs on the Philips and hooked them up to my TV. The speakers and subwoofer were a breeze to set up as well. After making the recommended adjustments by Philips to make the set up work for my living room, it was on to some great entertainment!

The remote is easy to use, and going from one input/output in the system to another is a snap. Other reviewers may have problems with the sound, but if you follow the instructions and adjust the surround experience to the proper type of music and/or DVD Theme (Action, Sci-Fi, Drama, etc) you will be delighted. Another plus for this system is the fact that it plays PAL DVDs from Europe and converts them to NTSC format flawlessly. Caveat: They must be Region 0; however, there is a work around via a handset hack which will allow you to play any region and make this a true multi region/format player as well. Just do a Google on the topic, and you'll find out how to do this. It works, too! I also purchased an extended warranty from Philips which adds another two years to the existing warranty for about $50 USD.

This system is perfect for small rooms in the house, a dorm room, or if you want no cluttering of wires with amazing sound.

Highly recommended!

Just got the system and I couldn't be happier.

Sound: Listened to parts of Star Wars and Superman Returns. Sounds fantastic. The 2.1 system really does replicate a surround sound system. Great if you don't want to fuss with rear speaker wires. Now of course it does not sound as good as my $1500 system in the living room, but for my bedroom and for $300 I don't think you could do any better.

DVD player upconverts to a beautiful 1080i. It looks better than anything in the movie theater. Having an HDTV that uses HDMI is a must.

Cons: this does not have a lot of inputs so don't consider it as a replacement for a full feature receiver, but it is perfect for my bedroom.

I highly recommend this product.

The first thing you should do before anythng else is make sure your firmware is up-to-date.

This particular model has issues with the disc getting stuck and not ejecting. Once it gets into this state, the only thing you can do is send it back for a replacement which takes about 3 weeks.

My system was working great for 3 months, but then one day decided to chew up the CD. After a bit of research, I found a frimware upgrade that fixed the issue - but how do you suppose Phillips expects you to upgrade the HTS6500?

By putting a CD in of course ;)

Obviously that was not possible, so I had to return it. I received a new one today with the firmware already upgraded.

Apart from that - I haven't had issues, and it works great - but it was a pretty bad bug...

The glitch was fixed in v43. You can grab the latest firmware here: http://www.usasupport.philips.com/consumer/productDocuments.html?ProductCode=HTS6500/37&subCat=HOME_THEATER_SU_US_CONSUMER

You can check your current version by doing the following:

1. Power up the set and select DISC source.
2. Press and hold the STOP button on the Remote Control.
3. Press DISPLAY button on the Remote Controller.

The TV screen will show:
G63X-V** 6500-XX (V** is the software version number)

If it's v43 or greater you're safe. If not, update to the latest.

I purchased this with a little trepidation after reading some of the negative comments I saw posted. So far, however, I have had almost no difficulties with it.

Sound: The sound while playing back a DVD is outstanding. I don't know if it is true "surround sound," but for the money it is really excellent. The sound while watching TV is not quite as good. It is still pretty decent, and certainly superior to the TV's speakers, but it is not as rich and defined as the sound during DVD playback.

Video playback: Generally, it plays back with no problems and the video looks great with my component connection. I have once had to perform a reset by unplugging the system after it froze during playback, but that solved the problem.

Other: The remote sometimes seems not to respond very well. I did upgrade the firmware immediately upon installation; if you don't own a computer with a CD burner, you would not be able to do this.

Overall: I have had this for a couple of months and so far I am very pleased with it. I would definitely buy it again.

______
UPDATE March 14, 2008

Almost immediately after the warranty expired, it stopped reading DVDs. I just get a message on screen stating "no disc." I've upgraded the firmware to the most current version (v. 46 as of this writing) and contacted technical support. I will revise this review depending upon their response.

This is a HTIB, A 'home theater in a box'. Everything is included except a $49 HDMI cable. Sleek, modern, and compact design, this HTIB has tons of features! Most important it has DVD upscaling to 720P/1080i and a HDMI connection to your new HDTV that is not always available on $500 plus systems. It has a AM-FM tuner, USB conecction for JPEG pictures and reads CD's, MP3's. The Multi Channel and Dolby 2.1 sound and volume is very very good but not great. The universal remote to the unit has an annoying delay and the TV input volume could be a bit louder. (Even after the firmware upgrade). All in all for aprrox $300 it sounds very good, plays great and easy to setup and use. If you have a limited budget, this Philips HTS-6500 is a must buy because it has the features you need and sounds like a home theater should! By the way, I did hours of research and this is what I bought. An afterthought: [...]

I looked around for a while but decided to go for this product after reading the reviews (and seeing a live demonstration in a local store)

1) Sound Quality is really very good, while it does not beat a decent 5.1 system but for two speakers (and compared to other pricey 2.1 units) sound quality is commendable. I never felt sound coming from the back (only from front and sides)

2) Sub-Woofer is capable of producing deep bass required by the movies but falls short on music (songs). I am very very satisfied with the bass as far as movies are concerned.

3)Aesthetics: This unit has a small form factor and the glossy black finish on both the receiver and sub-woofer really makes this unit stand apart from competition. Speakers are small (but powerful) and comes with a small optional stand or can also be hooked up on to a wall (wires are very long too)...and yes I never experienced any static with speakers.

4) MP3/Photos, USB is provided on the front of the unit, connecting your mp3 player or a USB drive is always a breeze.

5) This unit up-converts to 720P which looks absolutely awesome on panasonic plasma.

6) Plays almost everything you throw at it strangely the expensive competitors wont do that, plays AVI's, VCD's, Xvid's and of-course DVD's, it is capable of playing other formats too which I have not tried.

Overall I've been using this product for almost a year and never had any sorts of problem every-time I use it I am left satisifed with the experience, only issue is the small buttons on the remote...I have to look up at the remote everytime I use it.

This system carries a punch irrespective of its small size..Buy it if you are looking for a decent system having a very competitive price.

Update:
Also plays DVD-DL (dual layer), manual/box does not says this specifically, but my home made DL discs run just fine.
You can play directly from the USB, copy your avi or other format movies directly to a flash drive, stick it into this player and the player automatically detects the files and playes them.....this feature is really very convenient if you have avi files in your collection.

So, I looked all over the place for a great, economical and high quality HTIB sound system for my new HDTV. I live in an apt. so I couldn't get a full surround sound system even if I wanted to (can't drill holes in the walls and don't want to be evicted due to noise violations). I found this on special at Best Buy for $279 and couldn't pass it up.

It worked great!....until last week. I've had this since Thanksgiving (less than 2 months people!!) and used it under normal conditions for the DVD player (approx. 3 movies/wk, sometimes more sometimes less). The darn thing completely stopped recognizing any DVD's last weekend. And I double checked the DVD's in other players which recognized the discs just fine, but not this unit. Also, I noticed that the digital connection (shows as DI on unit display) which is hooked up to my HD-DVR will sporadically die sometimes. The light will go out and the sounds stops. After switching to the TV's internal sound then back after a while the Philips unit will kick back on...but it seems to be all sorts of buggy!

Thankfully, I also got the warranty with Best Buy so I'll be taking it back in this weekend and most likely either upgrading to a better system or getting another one of these and crossing my fingers. Although I couldn't find these anywhere at the stores near me since I think they've probably had too many complaints about it.

Again, as the adage goes, you get what you pay for. I've seen other reviews on here stating the same problem, although thankfully it didn't eat or hijack any DVD's - just refuses to play them now. Please beware if you get this thing....if you want it for any extended life on playing DVD's or listening to any device through the DI connector, watch out!

Have had for 3 months and really enjoy. The setup is effortless. The remote is sleek and works from really far away. The player quickly starts up and feeds dvd's and cds quickly and quietly. Surfaces feel high end, especially the subwoofer. The unit attracts finger smudges and amplifies them with the translucent black finish. I knew that I wasen't getting high fidelity super house shaking sound when I ordered this, as it is a very inexpensive item. The manual describes setting up the sound by pressing the 'sound' button to instruct the system of how far away the speakers are and how far away the listener is. Also weather the room is 'hard' or 'soft'. This is NOT THE CASE with my system. I press sound and an on scren display reads CONCERT, MOVIE, ROCK etc. like a cheap car cd player. ALL of the settings are disappointing when listening to the radio. FM channels come in extremely clear but have NO BASS. Not even at loud volume on any sound 'setting' can I get music to sound good. It all sounds tinny and very NPR classical. Music in SONOWAVE mode over stereo sounds just weird and even more metal room. I know the subwoofer can handle more because in movies, the sound is awesome (for the pricepoint, again.) I have had experience with BOSE home theatre and the sound quality is better there but only at the higher volumes. I will take the pepsi challenge with movies at a medium loudness any day with these speakers vs. any under $1,000. The surround seems to hit and miss. Movies in dolby do take advantage but it never feels quite like 5.1 despite the dedicated channels and speakers. I have mine setup at the short end of a 18' X 30' room with carpet and nothing else in the room but a recliner. (Ah the single life). I am very happy overall for MOVIES. the upscaling works even without HDMI my S-Video connection displays a great image on my HD tv. This is a definate acoustic advantage over Anything you can buy at walmart or target. It is better than half of the 2.1 systems you can buy anywhere and it is definatly the best one for the price, hands down.