16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Can't go wrong with the great value, superb quality, and perfect sound.
What a great sound system. Fully capable Dolby Digital ProLogic II surround sound (meaning the speakers can independently play the correct sound on each one depending on the program whether it's a DVD or TV show broad casted in Dolby Digital Surround sound and HDTV.) Put in a Dolby 5.1 surround sound capable DVD or TV show and it sounds like you're sitting in a movie...
Faulty volume control
I purchased this home theater at Costco and assumed I got a faulty unit. When you change sources (from auxiliary to DVD) you lose volume control and need to restart the unit. It is also very slow to recognize discs.
I exchanged it for another system and had the exact same problem. Two returned units. What a disappointment.
This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
What a great sound system. Fully capable Dolby Digital ProLogic II surround sound (meaning the speakers can independently play the correct sound on each one depending on the program whether it's a DVD or TV show broad casted in Dolby Digital Surround sound and HDTV.) Put in a Dolby 5.1 surround sound capable DVD or TV show and it sounds like you're sitting in a movie theater. You will hear things in shows you've watched before that you never know were even there. It's amazing, and this unit delivers.
Couple of things you will need - an optical audio cable for premium sound. (RCA's not only won't sound nearly as good but I don't believe they will allow the Dolby Digital 5.1 to work properly.) Also, you'll want to buy a HDMI cable to hook up the unit for DVD playing. The optical cable, assuming your TV or cable box is capable, is a necessity. I used RCA audio cables for a few days before buying an Optical audio cable and the difference is night and day.
Also, the rear speaker wire isn't really long enough to properly mount the two rear speakers where they need to go. I bought an extra roll of speaker wire and lengthened them so that I could mount them up on my walls, running them through the attic, under about six feet of carpet, and to my 46" Samsung 1080p LCD TV, with all of the wires hidden. All of the speakers have a plug on the end so even if they are long enough for your application you'll have to drill a 3/4" hole in the wall to route them through your attic. Or you can just cut the wire, run it through, then splice it all back together.
I'm a beginner at this stuff, first time I've ever done ANY wiring and only the second time I've ran wires through my attic. It took a few hours but it was well worth it. The extra 100 feet of speaker wire only cost me about $10 dollars (didn't use all 100 feet obviously) and an eight foot Optical cable was about $15. An HDMI cable will run you about $40 dollars for a six foot cable. But if you have an HDTV, you MUST use an HDMI cable for the DVD player and you MUST use an Optical cable for the sound. If not, you might as well just stick with your TV speakers you already have.
One thing - Comcast universal remotes do NOT support this unit, which was a big turnoff for me personally. Instead of being able to control everything with a single remote I now have to use the Philips remote just to control the sound. But again, with the absolute superb sound, quality of the entire unit, and ease of install, it is well worth it all.
If I had to describe this unit in one sentence I would say it is sound in HD, just as HDTV is video in HD. I gave it five stars for sure but if I could change anything I would make the "plugs" on the end of the speaker wires removable (for routing through walls,) make it compatible with a Comcast remote, and that's about it. Otherwise, it's very well-priced...a ridiculous value really...you get your moneys worth and then some, very easy to install (unless you're like me and you want ALL of your wires hidden, which requires a bit more labor but is still VERY easy.) I looked into wireless rear speakers and not only are they extremely expensive ($500+ or more) but they interfere with wireless Internet connections and the sound quality is compromised by interference. Wired is the ONLY way to go and Phillips delivers!!
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
I bought this on the internet, but Model HTS3372 at Wall Market is the same and even better value now. We had trouble understanding what people were saying in movies on our LCD TV, before we bought this. Now we can hear clearly at much lower sound level. The kids can now watch a movie and hear it while we play cards just a few feet away in the kitchen. The remote controls the iPod also so we can skip to the next song if we want. The included DVD player works great. The small speakers make it easy to install without taking over your whole room. The small wire easily slides under the carpet without showing so that you can install the rear speakers. The plug in on the end of the speaker wire can easily be removed with a toothpick and then replaced after you run the wire under the carpet. My wife who is not into such things normally just loves it because it sounds so good and is easy to hear even when turned down low.
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
I bought this Home Theater because I already had some Philips computer speakers, so I knew this is a good brand in terms of audio electronics performance.
In summary, I can tell you that this system is awesome: it is very loud, and it looks much more pretty than in pictures, both the speakers and the console. There are some nice rounded egdes for the speakers and the bass is bigger than shown in pictures. The speaker cables are long and transparent, so it shouldn't be a problem when setting them up across the room. The iPod docking station works pretty good and the DVD upconversion is a nice feature too.
I bought this mainly because I really like music, so I got this connected to a Creative Labs SB1090 USB Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017QQQAE/ref=ox_ya_oh_product) via an optical TOSLink Cable. The sound is just amazing, with clear sound and a very powerfull, non-distorted bass, which is very important to me.
It is very nice to have the opcion to switch to 5-Channel stereo, so you can listen your MP3s using the 5 speakers.
All my friends and even my dad (which is not into the technology thing) has seen and listen this system and they said they are planning on getting one for themselves.
I really recommend this product to anyone.
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
When I moved last year I sold my surround sound system which included Cerwin Vega tower speakers with 10 inch woofers in them. Being without a sound system for nearly a year, one could imagine how glad I was to finally have a new one. I was very worried that this little thing might not be powerful enough, with it's small speakers and all, but I trusted the 1000 watt promise and great reviews on this and other similar units and even wondered if despite the great reviews this unit could handle the extremely large living room we have with vaulted ceilings, and the answer is that it's more than capable. Currently renting with the landlord living below us, I've actually had to lower the woofer settings and can't even take the volume up to halfway because I don't want to create any problems. The other night we watched District 9 with the volume close to halfway and the landlord's daughter knocked on our door asking if we could turn it down! The small speakers pack a big punch and won't take up even a tenth of the room my Vegas did. There's also a very reasonable amount of speaker wire and setting up the unit is a breeze with everything being color-coded. The best part of this unit (and the main reason I chose Philips) is the USB port which will allow you to watch downloaded movies directly from it. No more burning DVDs or running cables from my laptop to watch movies from it on my TV. All this for under $200!
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
I purchased this home theater at Costco and assumed I got a faulty unit. When you change sources (from auxiliary to DVD) you lose volume control and need to restart the unit. It is also very slow to recognize discs.
I exchanged it for another system and had the exact same problem. Two returned units. What a disappointment.
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
This system used proprietary connectors that according to their customer service you are unable to buy anywhere, not even from them. So if you have a living room that is larger than their cables will reach... or if you try to run the cables along the wall you may be out of luck. The only solution (provided by customer care representative) is to splice the wires which voids the warranty. I for one will never buy another philips product after this.
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
I couldn't believe my ears once everything was hooked up. I bought a new LCD, but had a hard time hearing it so I was just going to get speakers when I came across the home theater system and was very impressed with the quality Philips offered at such a low price. I think the part that shocked me most was how easy it was to hook everything up. The speakers were color coded to match the back of the dvd player. It's extremely user friendly and even if you still need a little guidance the user manual has detailed instructions how to operate the system. I was completly excited to hear the sound quality was remarkable. I paid less than $180 for it so I wasn't expecting it to be so sharp and clear. Of course there are different preset sounds (rock/ classical/ jazz/ sports/ night) which is a nice feature to have. Not to mention it plays mp3 players, iPods (classic style), FM radio, movies & cd's, as well as a usb port! Since I've had the home theater system I have gotten rid of my radio because the sound is so incredible. I didn't have it up very loud maybe on 8/10 and my neighbors could hear it across the street. Very powerful indeed. I don't know how I could live without it now!!!
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
I LOVE this home theater system. I have had it about a month now. today it just started having one problem: when It is in OFF mode, there is a high-pitch sound (that I can hear from across the room), that only goes away when it is completely unplugged. It is supposed to be energy start rated, so I find this especially irritating.
Also, if you have a scratched CD, it spins VERY loud! This means I can't play any CD's I borrow from the library on it. There is actually a high-pitched whir sound when I play a normal CD that is incredibly irritating!!!
Other than that- the sound is great and the set-up is easy. Functionally, I wish there were more buttons on the front. For example you MUST use the remote to change the sound-type option (from Dolby to Stereo, etc).
I think the thing that separates this model from other systems is that it had a Dock. Nothing with a doc is even CLOSE to this price range.
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
Best for its value - very loud, clear and many input options( ipod dock, USB, mp3 input..). Plays all types CDs, DVDs(all regions. Good for small rooms, apts...
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This review is from: DVD Home Theater with 1080P HDmi Upconversion (Electronics)
I recently moved to a new apartment for college and decided on getting a nice home theater system with the money I had saved up for a while. Nothing too expensive, but since I'm a film major wanted more than your average joe so I searched around on amazon for the best deal I could find. I ended up buying a 40 inch proscan which was on sale at the time for less than some 32 inch tv's (look HARD, amazon is great at finding amazing deals if you know where to look) this home theater system and a usb drive for all my movies and tv shows. I was really impressed at how great it was for my first home theater system. The setup was fairly simple, and the 5.1 sounds great using dolby pro logic for movies and regular 5 channel for audio which is as easy as a press of a button on the remote. The ipod dock was a great bonus, I use it often with my itouch but the only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of video output for ipod video, but with a price like this you still get more than you pay for. The remote can be used to pause / play / ff /rw / skip from one song to the next without having to get up to manually change the song on your ipod which is awesome, and I don't even use the cd function or mp3 reader because I have all my music on my ipod and its much easier. I don't pay for cable so this system is awesome for me because it can read avi and divx files and they are really common and I basically have my whole library of movies and tv shows digital now, on one flash drive. Check out the seagate portable 500gb, it goes awesome with this. The image quality is good with my 1080p tv and the fact that it has a hdmi output is cool but I wish my tv worked better alongside it. (the tvs fault, not the systems) I didn't exactly notice the dvd upconversion but its good enough to not notice any bad image quality so... I don't own any blu-ray disks so I don't mind that it only plays dvd, but it does support HD quality Divx and Avi files so I'm happy.
My diagnosis: If you're a college kid with a tight budget but a need for a great sound system, this is a total YES. If you want an affordable system with most of the perks you can ask for that sounds great in your bedroom or living room or wherever else you put it, go for it. I would say the only reason not to buy this is if you have a ton of blu ray disks and no dvds, if you have a lot of money to spend and you're pretty picky about these kind of things, or if you hate awesome yet inexpensive home theater systems that makes half the block jealous. Seriously, the only person I know with a significantly better system than me is my dad and he paid a few grand for it. Worth the money a few times over.
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