Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box

Other products by Denon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.5 x 38.3 x 17 inches ; 15 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 35 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Note: Gift-wrapping is not available for this item.
• ASIN: B000UP6MU2
• Item model number: DHT-FS3
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,310 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

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  #12 in	Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Home Theater Systems > Speaker Systems
  #19 in	Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Speakers > Home Theater Speaker Systems

• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 31, 2007

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box is a two-piece, compact and simple solution for home theater surround sound designed to mount below or on top the television for proper sound distribution. The high-gloss ebony finish subwoofer can be placed easily on the floor, below or beside your television. Dolby and DTS decoders, along with the new X-Space technology, deliver exceptional, spatial surround sound. The system comes supplied with an IR wireless remote control designed for easy use and comes preprogrammed with IR codes to operate other brand devices.

The Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box slim design enables easy placement in front of a TV

Experience outstanding home theater sound without filling your room with speakers. The Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box delivers three-dimensional sound for your TV shows, movies, and music using just two speakers. Its slender front speaker looks right at home beneath a flat-panel TV, while its compact subwoofer tucks away in a corner or beside an end table. Both components feature an attractive gloss black finish that complements just about any decor.

Surround sound made simple

The 'FS3 includes its own built-in amplification — no separate receiver required. The front speaker gives you multi-directional sound, thanks to proprietary Denon processing and six built-in drivers. The subwoofer pumps out rich bass with a 6-5/16" driver and 40-watt amp. An array of audio inputs lets you connect your TV, DVD player, gaming system, and more.

The DHT-FS3 is equipped with Denon's unique X-Space Surround algorithm analysis technology making it possible to achieve surround effects with plenty of presence using just a two speaker system consisting of a front speaker unit and a subwoofer. This enables coverage of a wide listening area and makes for great freedom in selecting where to install the system. Surround sound is achieved with only two speakers so there is little interference between speakers resulting in a natural sound. X-Space Surround uses fine equalization processing to bring out the best of the unit's performance making it possible to recreate everything from the most delicate details of music to powerful movie scenes.

The DHT-FS3 is equipped for both Dolby Digital, the standard DVD audio format, and the optional DTS format. A wide range of surround sources, from DVDs and digital broadcasts to movies, music, sports, and variety programs can be enjoyed with a strong sense of being right there. The DHT-FS3 also includes a Dolby Pro Logic II decoder for playing stereo sources in surround, and it is compatible with Dolby Headphone, which is great for playing in the surround mode late at night through your headphones.

The main front speaker unit is an integrated amplifier, Dolby Digital/DTS/Pro-Logic II Decoder, and speaker combo which makes adding surround sound to your existing television quick and easy. The front speaker unit consists of six front-firing 1-way, 3-5/32" (8cm) 6-ohm, video shielded drivers and a 22 watts x 5-channel (speakers) + 40 watts x 1-channel (subwoofer) amplifier with a signal to noise ratio of 100 dB. The six 3-5/32" drivers have a frequency response of 150 Hz to 20,000 Hz. This array of speakers inside the one enclosure offers a simulated surround sound effect due to the system's integrated Dolby Digital, DTS and Pro Logic II decoders. The front speaker unit also features a green LCD display for displaying source, volume and surround information. The rear of the front speaker unit contains the following connections to hookup your audio/video gear.

The Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box is a compact and simple A/V solution

The subwoofer houses a single, side-firing, 6-19/64" (16cm), 3-ohm cone type woofer. The subwoofer can handle frequencies from 45 Hz to 150 Hz. The subwoofer also feature a rear-firing port for added efficiency and bass response. The subwoofer features a proprietary 2-pin connector on the rear panel for connection to the front speaker unit of the system using the supplied 10' subwoofer cable.

Easy setup, easy connection, easy operation

With the Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box there is no need for complicated setting. Its slim design enables easy placement in front of the TV as well as wall mounting with optional wall mounting accessories. The base unit includes feet that can be used to adjust the height of the front speaker unit and the system is designed to match flat panel TV monitor 30 inches or longer. The subwoofer features a one-touch connection. The theater system includes a simple preset remote controller for performing basic operations. Along with its included features, the Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box supports the Dennon Control for iPods docking station.

Product Description

Home Theater in a Box

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice, but can't change the laws of physics. Also one big design issue., August 23, 2007

By	ZTT Fan (Louisville, Colorado) - See all my reviews

I purchased the DHT-FS3 hoping not so much for a 5.1 sound-alike experience but simply hoping for a good "TV speaker replacement" system. Unfortunately, while the Denon is the best sounding system of its type, it simply wasn't to be for my application.

First, the size of the unit is a bit larger in some ways that one would expect and smaller than others. Denon obviously designed the unit to fit in front of a flat screen TV, as they thoughtfully provided feet that are widely spaced (about 20") so that the unit can straddle the front of most TV manufacturer's flat screen pedestals. But it's also wider than one might expect - it's wider than a 16:9 32" TV, but a bit narrower than a 37".

The sound is GOOD, but not great. At no time will you think you're in front of not only a 5.1 surround system but even a decent stereo system using bookshelf loudspeakers; however it does sound better than any built-in TV speakers could, and it outdoes most "mini" systems as well, likely including offerings such as Denon's own S-101 HTIB system. Like most such systems, the bass is a bit "thumpy" - the sub just doesn't integrate well with the satellites and crosses over fairly high - around 125-150 Hz - so you never lose sight of the fact that most of your sound is coming from "up there" but the bass notes are coming from "down there."

The unit has multiple inputs - two sets of RCAs for analog, including one set that can be used with one of Denon's iPod docks, two optical digital and one coaxial digital. The setup has many nice features, including distance to the listener, bass/treble (unlike Bose systems, but here the adjustments are in fairly large 2dB increments) and a nice universal remote to control your TV, DVD player and the speaker unit. It can play in straight stereo, "wide" surround, Dolby Digital or even DTS, and all sound reasonably good for this application.

The design flaw? While not Denon's fault, most every flat panel TV manufacturer puts the sensor for their remote control along the bottom of the TV, meaning if the Denon's sitting in front of the TV, I can just about guarantee it will be blocking the TV's remote sensor unless you're using it with a larger set (40" or more) and the sensor's in the corner, or your TV somewhat more intelligently placed the sensor along the TV's sides or top frame.

I don't mean to come across as overly harsh, but I really had high hopes for a product like this from Denon, and sound-wise it really didn't sound as good as I thought it would. That's not really their fault; you can only do so much with smaller drivers in a rather small enclosure. But on the other hand, it does do a better job of producing a virtual surround effect than any TV's built-in surround effect (e.g. "SRS") or the similar Yamaha Sound Projectors.

So in short, it's worth a try if you're looking for a product like this, but the fact that it would block my TV's IR sensor immediately made it a non-starter for me as soon as I removed it from its box. Perhaps in a future model Denon can thoughtfully provide an "IR blaster" on the back of the unit to automatically repeat IR signals it sees to any TV sensors that may be located behind it.

It's truly a beautiful LOOKING unit, the piano black finish blending nicely with the similar finish used on most flat panels that don't use a silvery frame. It's certainly a reasonable value for the price, given what it would cost to build a similar quality system for components or find as high quality a HTIB ("Home Theatre in a Box") system.

However, for the sole reason that it blocks my TV's remote sensor, I've no alternate place to place it, and it neither has an IR blaster nor provision to drive one, it's back in its shipping box just about three hours after first opening it.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great product, poor customer service., January 24, 2008

By	A. Smith - See all my reviews

The Denon DHT-FS3 is a great surround sound compliment to a small room that doesn't allow many speakers and wires. In addition, it's the perfect solution for a large plasma television. The sound enhancement is fantastic and the sleak design is impressive. The downside is it's a littly pricey.

I must mention, however, that the customer service is absolutely terrible. I'm not sure if it was the holiday rush or the fact that they want to sell only to dealers, but my experience was less than impressive. I tried at least 10 times to speak live with a customer service support without success. I went so far as to leave two messages at the Denon corporate office for the customer service manager and other executives, but never received a return call.

Bottom line, the product is good but don't plan for any support. I was a first time and last time Denon customer with my purchase of the DHT-FS3.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good simple htib system, April 16, 2008

By	Ronald R. Harris (Somerville, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Good: looks great with black piano finish
easy setup with few wires
simple operation
excellent sound
can be mounted or just place on enclosed cradle in front of tv

The Bad: not much surround sound, you will hear some sounds coming at you
from the sides, but no rear sound detection.
on some tvs the remote sensor could be covered by the bar, be
sure and measure the height of your sensor.
expensive

Overall: very good sound, easy setup and operation, would be hard to
beat the quality of this if you want to avoid wires and other
complications of a true 5.1 system.