Philips AmbiSound Home Theater Sound Bar with Integrated 1080p-Upscaling DVD MP3 Player,... by Philips at your Television Store

Sometimes the quest for home surround sound is as ignominious as seeking the holy grail. Where do you place all those speakers? Do you have to reshape the room? Philips engineers have tackled that problem. They've managed to take the output from 5 distinct channel amplifiers and placed them in a single speaker called a Soundbar. Within the soundbar, speakers are angled to provide a realistic audio environment that literally emulates sound as if it's coming from all sides. It's 5.1 surround without the mess! In addition to the latest audio technology, the Ambisound system is only five inches thick and can be easily mounted onto a wall underneath an existing Flat-TV. The simple, yet elegant design enhances the décor of any home theater space, regardless of the room layout or design. The center console is designed to be mounted on a wall or resting on a stand. For maximum audio quality and clarity, the Ambisound system features a 3-band equalizer and DoubleBASS deep bass performance, creating a smooth cross over between sounds. The speakers feature soft dome tweeters for increased clarity and clear voice performance and are designed for maximum efficiency for full midrange performance. Additionally, users will enjoy the Smart Surround feature, which automatically ensures correct surround sound settings whether a movie or music is playing. Though not exactly 5.1 channel sound, The HTS8100 uses a host of technologies including array processing, precise driver positioning and psycho-acoustic innovation to achieve the full surround sound performance that is 5.1 channel compatible. Auxiliary input ports Subwoofer Only five-inches thick, the Ambisound SoundBar provides a stylish system with amplifier and a DVD player all in a single sophisticated design Philips advanced Sonowave surround SonoWave surround sound technology is compatible with all 5.1 channel surround-sound sources, such as DVDs, SACDs

Always a tricky one when reviewing something which sounds great, but doesnt really do what it says on the tin. I read a few reviews on the Phillips sound bar and decide to go for it rather than the Yahama, due to its inclusion of an upscaling DVD player being built in. My house just doesnt lend itself well to placing 5 speakers, particularly rears, so I thought what the heck I'll try this. The audio quality is excellent, deep bass (not quite sharp enough with movies on normal settings but that can be fixed by tweaking the audion settings and cranking the treble)and a huge array of different pre set movie and audio settings to suit your ear. But as far as virtual Surround Sound capability goes...there isnt any as far as I can tell. I've tried various DVD's with scenes I know bring in the rear speakers on full systems and there is no distinguishable surround effect. Disappointing really, although I have to say I still love the overall sound when its cranked up, it really booms out. So if you want a boost to your TV sound and have a beautiful looking sound bar with built in DVD (and it does look awesome), you cant go far wrong. But if you are thinking you can change the laws of physics and have surround sound without rear speakers, think again, cause this just doesnt work!

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