Philips HTS8100 home theater system

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By Matthew Moskovciak, CNET.com
Aug 1, 2007

A lot of people love the idea of a home theater system until they realize they need to run wires all over the living room to make it work. Companies have tried to solve this problem with a variety of solutions--wireless rear speakers, virtual surround from less than six speakers--but there's no denying the appeal of recent single-speaker solutions for design-conscious buyers. The Philips HTS8100 SoundBar is one of the newest virtual surround systems with a single speaker plus a subwoofer, and it manages to stash one more trick up its sleeve: A built-in DVD player.

In all, the HTS8100 comes through on most of its promises. It does a pretty good job of approximating the surround experience. We liked the styling, and it even impressed us with its video quality while upscaling DVDs. We had some minor gripes, namely that it lacks video inputs and doesn't sound great with music, but we're betting many style-first buyers are willing to live with those compromises. We can't say we're thrilled about the S$1,599 (US$1,070.07) list price and it's competitively priced compared with many other high-style virtual surround systems, such as the Yamaha YSP-1100 and the JVC DD-3.

Editors' note:

This review is based on evaluations conducted by our sister site. Review ratings on similar products may differ due to differences in regional market trends and competing product lineups.

Design
The Philips HTS8100's look is extremely stylish. The main unit consists of a long, thin speaker system--the SoundBar--that measures a svelte 935 x 146 x 136mm. For a system this thin, you may be surprised to find out there's a DVD player packed in there as well; with a tap of the open/close button, the black reflective panel in the middle slides back to reveal a vertically aligned drive. The SoundBar can either stand on a table or be mounted on the wall with the included bracket. All in all, it comes close to the ultimate in minimalist home theater--just one component under (or over) your TV that acts like your receiver, DVD player and surround-sound speaker system.

Of course, it's not quite that simple. The SoundBar unit must also connect to the included subwoofer, which definitely makes it harder to wall-mount and still keep the wire concealed. The smallish sub measures in at 295 x 446 x 295mm and has a modern look that goes well with the aesthetics of the SoundBar.

	The separate iPod dock complicates the SoundBar's design a bit. (Click for larger image)

Philips also includes an iPod dock in the package, and this connects to the main SoundBar using a proprietary connection. We love that Philips included the dock, but the extra wires and separate component do put a damper on the simple design. It would have been nice if Philips had designed the dock into either the SoundBar itself or the sub, but with a separate dock you'll need to pull off some creative cable management to hide the additional wire.

The cool-looking remote features a glossy black finish, which may look nice when you take it out of the box but quickly becomes a magnet for fingerprints. Button placement is fine for important buttons like volume, playback controls and the main directional pad, which are clearly separated and easy to use by feel. On the other hand, the rest of the buttons are all the same height and directly adjacent, making them more difficult to differentiate.

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