Customer Reviews

Samsung HT-TX75 DVD Home Theater System

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a wonderful home theater system. I have played a few movies since I got this a couple of days ago and have been more than happy. The system came well packaged and there were no signs of wear and tear when I accepted delivery. The player and the speakers are in an attractive matte finish, although the speaker casing seems light and made of plastic (but then it is only $440, so can't expect anything more)- nonetheless it looks good. Unlike my other home theater system, the Sony DAV FX900W, which took a long time to assemble, I was able to assemble all the four speakers in 15 minutes. The speaker unit consists of three parts- the base, middle section and the speaker (the top half). The middle section clicks into the base unit and is secured by three screws. Then the speaker clicks into the middle section (which is affixed to the base unit) and is secured by one screw- simple as that. The speaker wires (not very good quality) are sufficiently long to reach the DVD player from their respective positions. Upon connection, I entered setup and selected 1080i for the picture and increased the level for the center and rear channels. On playing a DVD, the picture quality was very good for a system of this price as was the audio. The radio and the ipod connection work fine, although I think i will stick with using the aux in jack for my ipod and not the USB- the problem arises when the ipod is not fully charged as then one cannot access the ipod library for a bit while the ipod charges via the USB (just like it is when you connect a partially charged ipod to your computer via USB). Sound quality playing the ipod and CDs is great. The remote is not backlit which is a bummer. I don't understand why these companies cannot provide this basic and essential feature on remotes. The remote feels good though and should be liked by most people (I use a logitech universal remote). BTW the system does NOT come with batteries for the remote- so you need to buy them yourself (two AAA batteries).

Now for the icing on the cake. I was able to find a code on the internet to make this player region free. The code was meant for another Samsung player but worked with this one too- so I am now able to watch DVDs I purchased in Hong Kong and the UK- Sweet!!!

To make your player region free (and I think any other Samsung DVD player region free) follow the instructions below (you need to follow the instructions exactly, else it won't work).

1. Remove disc from tray.
2. Switch off player and unplug from mains.
3. Wait 30 seconds, then reconnect mains.
4. Turn on player with remote. Wait for player to finish loading and display 'no disc'.
5. Press enter on remote. (There will be no on-screen response.)
6. Press 8, 4, 2, 6, 9 on the remote. (There will be no on-screen response.)
7. Press enter on the remote. Player will automatically shut off.
8. Turn player on.
9. Turn off.
10. Turn player on then off again.
11. Player is now region-free.

All in all I am really happy with this purchase. Good video and audio quality, HDMI Out/ In, Tallboy speakers, $440 value and Region free capability, make this system a good buy.

I hope this review has been helpful in making your choice. I don't think you can go wrong with this player (for the price)

The TX75 sound quality, design and apearance deserve 5 stars. However there are problems with HDMI connectivity and playback of certain multimedia formats, so I lover the rating to 4 stars until these problems are fixed by Samsung in the next firmware (below applies to firmware v. 0.86K from 2007-05-18).

Pros: speakers/receiver appearance (system looks way much better in real life than pictures shown on all websites, including Amazon), sound quality, slim profile DVD changer (fits on glass shelf of TV stand), USB in front (vs. back), good remote, many more one would expect in a system of this class.

Cons (listed in the order of inconvenience they cause):

- Does not play LPCM audio from HD DVD Toshiba A2 player through HDMI connection (avs forum states that other receivers like Onkyo play LPCM from A2 fine through HDMI). I have to connect A2 to TX75 using optical cable, and since optical input is used now I cannot get Dolby Digital on TX75 from my satellite box. I spent many hours trying different connection options, cables and A2 player settings, and still cannot get surround sound from A2 over HDMI. This is also A2's fault for not allowing an option to send DTS over HDMI like it can over optical cable.

- Does not play mpeg transport stream video files recorded from my satellite DVR, although many other divx/mpeg files play fine.

- Does not play any VCD/SVCD.

- When unit is turned on, it shows scrolling message "Welcome to Samsung Digital" for couple seconds. Until this message is finished displaying, the unit does not respond to remote control or front panel buttons, so I cannot switch input source or adjust volume and have to stay with my back bent like id*%&ot waiting for unit to initialize. Old Panasonic HT900 allowed switching sources immediately after turning unit on.

Update: this unit played ALL recorded DVD-Rs I tried, including brands Playo 16x DVD-R/DVD+R (from Staples), RIDATA 4x RVD+RW, Memorex 4x DVD+RW. I recorded them in Nero using lower recording speed 4x-8x. I also applied "region free" fix described in another review, so may be this improved DVD-R readablity. Only discs it did not play are VCDs.

The HT-TX75 is provides rich deep sound quality in a very stylish and affordable package. Between an above average frequency response range, great surround sound processing, the high-wattage sub, 5 disk changer, built in stands - I can't really find anything particularly wrong with the TH75 and would readily recommend it to others.

I'd like to address some of the other reviewers issues and share my my own experiences:

-I haven't had any of the trouble other users are reporting with burned DVD's, all of mine worked with it right out of the box, from home movies to ripped commercial DVD's (all burned with Roxio Popcorn or Nero default burn settings), from both my LiteScribe and Panasonic burners.

-Those who say it can't produce surround sound without HDMI input simply missed a simple setting on their remote. It can play Dolby Digital surround sound through all it's inputs, even via composite (you just have to switch the sound mode with the remote to the right setting). Surround sound is, however, a bit more clear and well defined if you use optical or HDMI, but surround via composite is extremely comparable to my other 5.1 and 6.1 speaker systems that don't even have these digital inputs.

-Startup time is all of 2 seconds, afterwards you are free to switch inputs or disks. If you can't wait 2 seconds for it to startup than I would suggest waking up a few seconds earlier every morning to make the time ;-)

My only complaint isn't actually with the receiver. It's with my Cable provider. Apparently Comcast customers in many states in the US (mostly mid western and pacific coast) are stuck running aging firmware on their cable boxes, which has outdated HDCP rules and may block HDMI signals from going from the receiver to the TV. If you are planning on using this with a Samsung HD TV and a Comcast HD cable box, it's probably worth checking what firmware version you are running and if it will be compatible with your setup. Sadly mine was not, and I have to run HDMI straight into the TV and use composite-out from the TV to get sound to the TX75, a setup which prevents me from using any of the syncing abilities of this system and the television. I choose not to let this affect my rating as it isn't really Samsungs fault (I've seen some reports that Comcast was notified of the problem Nov '06), but it it definitely something to investigate before purchasing.
More on the subject http://ghelf.wordpress.com/2006/12/21/comcastmotorola-hdcp-issues-via-hdmi/

I love the way this sounds, and the functionality is almost entirely there, but there are a few nagging issues that keep me from giving it a full five stars. The remote could stand a few more buttons to speed up selection of surround modes and audio inputs, and a back light would have been a very nice addition. The insanely bright blue power LED is idiotic, but there is a dimmer button on the remote to temporarily disable it. Also, if you have multiple analog audio sources you'll need a switchbox because there is only one RCA AUX input on the back. Please note that I have not tried the DVD upscaling feature via HDMI as I have a hi-def projector with an excellent upscaler.

PROS:

Good, clean sound plus powerful bass.
Relatively quiet cooling fan.
Speaker aesthetics are pleasant. This will look great in your house.
DVDs play clean and crisp without dropping frames or otherwise glitching.
Can pull pics and vids from USB sources.
Speakers have integrated jacks so you can use existing wire.
Has HDMI pass-through, a very rare feature these days.

CONS:

Remote is wonky (but still functional)
Supplied speaker wire is way too thin, and occasionally too short.
Not enough RCA inputs. One is just not enough.
Can't get the region code to turn off. (Code above no longer works)

Free shipping, arrived a week early, easy to set up and sounds great...oh and it was a killer deal. Highly recommended!

Very easy to use , if you want rear wireless speakers make sure to buy the other unit. I have xm on it also and it will need the xm extras but it is worth it.

Pros: Easy to setup,sounds great ,good product for the price.
Cons: Does not play all VCD's.

Very good sound quality for the price, and nice sleek design that goes well with my LNS3251D. Unfortunately it won't play any of my DVD+/-R discs. I'm not sure if a future firmware update can fix this or not, one can only hope. Also, it only comes with one HDMI in, so I had to purchase an HDMI switch from Monoprice in order to run both my cable box and PS3 through the speakers.

1st It says it plays divx and windows media discs. well it does 'kinda'. out of my 50 or so movies (that all play perfect in my $49 jvc) it has played maybe 10 of them and that was after it loaded for a long time and then skips and jumps through out the movie.
2nd It says its rear speakers are wireless, but you will need to buy a wireless card which took a bit just to track down then it turns out it will cost you another $150.

I bought this system about a month ago. It looks very nice and the speakers certainly look and sound great. The ipod option is phenomenal and the 5.1 digital optical audio works superb. However, I noticed some flashing behavior when playing the DVD on 1080i resolution. The problem seemed to worsen once the subtitles was turned on. The same problem occurs (to a lesser degree) on 720p and 480p. I have read about these problems on a similar samsung HT-TX70 player. I have checked the HDMI input on the TV by plugging something else on that port. have tried different HDMI ports. The problems persists....it's definitely the DVD player. I have returned the system and will get a replacement. Hopefully I will not have the same problem.

Overall...I love the system. It just doesn't sit well to see these whites flashes take half the screen sometimes when watching a nice movie.