LG HT502THW wireless home theater system

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By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Jul 4, 2007

Wireless home-theater-in-a-box kits have been around for years now, but recently these have been declining in popularity among the vendors. Most have gone back to the traditional wired route, while others have either gone virtual surround or are offering this capability as an optional upgrade.

To call these systems wireless is also somewhat of an understatement. After all, you still have to content with an additional power cord from the receiver-cum-amplifier module. That said, this is probably the closest you can get away from wires for true enveloping effects.

A fine example of such 5.1 systems is the reasonably priced and feature-packed LG HY502THW.

Upside: With the weather going bizarre, it may be high time we go green and the HY502THW 's onboard 500W digital amplifier is a good start. This delivers higher power efficiency and at the same time runs cooler than its analog counterparts. You are spared the installation guesswork with a set of height-optimized tallboy speakers. These are complemented by a compact center equivalent and favorable timbre matched via an identical two-way three-driver speaker configuration.

Unlike Sony's infrared-based wireless solution, LG has elected for a more robust radio frequency (RF)-equivalent for this HTIB. It does not depend on line-of-sight between the radio transmitter and receiver modules, though it can be subject to interference from 2.4GHz band electronic devices. Some examples include analog cordless phones and Wi-Fi gadgets. Having said that, we have yet to experience severe issues in this area based on our past experiences.

Its connectivity is also one of the best we have come across. There is digital HDMI in addition to component-video, both with HD video-upscaling capability up to 1080i. The former has the added advantage of Simplink--LG's proprietary implementation of HDMI-CEC--for one-remote operation across compatible A/V boxes. Equally impressive are its four audio input sockets comprising digital optical, stereo mini-jack, analog line-in and USB terminals.

Downside: The Korean company has seemingly taken a step back in the RF receiver's design. Way back in late 2005, we had the LH-W753TA featuring innovative surround speakers with an integrated wireless receiver. This two-piece approach was easily one of the neatest in the market, though a duplicated component count and higher manufacturing cost might have resulted in a cut in profit margins. This may have led to the current less-than-elegant three-piece ensemble laden with four separated cables.

Another contention is its rather conservative multimedia playback compliancy, centered on MP3, WMA, JPEG and DivX. Obviously missing here are the various flavors of MPEG and WAV. They may not be the most popular formats around but since the Japanese have been supporting some of these since last year, we find it hard to comprehend the no-show for this latest LG entry.

Outlook: The biggest draw for the HY502THW is its value proposition, and at S$699 (US$496.59) you will be hard-pressed to find a similarly equipped wireless HTIB. No doubt there are a couple of quirks, but none are major show-stoppers to offset its strong feature set and enhanced connectivity.