Hi forum
I was seduced by an article in a sunday magazine about this system, I had been searching for something like this since wall mounting my Samsung LCD, my Sony DAV-SR2 is a big flat box which "stuck out" once the TV was on the wall.
I couldn't find much in the way of reviews as it is so new so here are my opinions so far....
I Purchased form Broadbandstuff.co.uk for a total of £635.09. I ordered on a thursday afternoon and it arrived on the friday!
The HTS arrived in a very heavy box. Ripping out all the wiring from my old system took ages but the whole job was completed in an afternoon and evening.
There are 6 identical speakers, 4 good quality heavy stands which are not height adjustable and all six speakers are wall mountable without requiring additional brackets, just attatch small plastic spacers (included).
The Sub is a "cube" and is mains powered, it also contains the amps for the front three speakers, it is connected to the main junction box by a vga lead. There is a cooling fan in the unit and the speakers are connected to the rear by plugs.
The rears are wired into a metal box which is also mains powered, this contains their amps and the wireless RF reciever. There are 4 diferent RF channels to choose from.
The DVD contol unit is very light and can be free standing or wall mountable it has a mains connection and a hardwired lead to which you connect the remote junction box. The only other sockets on the unit are an HDMI socket and FM antenna socket. The DVD slot is on the right hand edge of the unit and is lit internally by blue light. The contols are illuminated blue and touch sensitive. The main display is also blue and can be dimmed.
The remote junction box can be hidden away and all other connections are made to this, it has component sockets, S-Video, Aux phonos, Co-ax Digital, and a hard wired flying scart lead to connect to the TV.
It all looks very modern and stylish and complements the style and colours of a modern black and silver LCD or plasma tv perfectly.
The speakers look fantastic they are very slim (4cm) and the front is black glass with cut outs for the speakers. They are very easy to mount on the wall. The front L/R and rear L/R are mounted vertically and the front and rear centres are horizontal can freestand.
I have had no trouble with RF connection to the wireless rears, on one channel I get a faint hiss but the other 3 are all silent and don't drop out, I have the reciever next to my PC which is emitting all kinds of stuff including bluetooth.
What does it sound like?
I am not a "seperates, component building" sort of bloke, I like my home entertainment to look good and sound great but not dominate the look of the room. If the look of the philips exceeded my expectations, the sounds has amazed me, my Sony HTIB (DAV-SR2) was good but the Philips is on another planet. The sounds is crystal clear and the sub really shakes the room without distortion, surround effects from the 5.1 & 6.1 decoders are well positioned and the whole room is filled with pleasing sound. The DVD HDMI upscaling works surprisingly well on my Samsumg Tv via the HDMI connection.
Audio CDs benefit from upsampling and sound stunning especially in straight forward stereo mode and the louder the volume he better it sounds, I don't have any super audio Cds so I can't comment on those.
There is built in FM RDS tuner but not Medium Wave. The sources available are Disc, Tuner, Aux (Phono analogue), TV (via scart) & Digital In (Coax digital).
Cons?
A couple of niggles,
The height of the speaker stand is not adjustable and they are quite tall, I would like to have lowered the overall heght by about 4 inches but it is just not possible.
I have twice had to cycle power on the system as once time it had trouble starting a DVD and another because it got stuch on mute. I hope this is not a sign of unreliability....
In Conclusion
If you want a lifestyle HTIB system that delivers on performance as well as design and looks then I would recommend this system especially if you are upgrading, like I did, from another HTIB.
I can't comment on how it compares to a component system as I have never had one.
I was seduced by an article in a sunday magazine about this system, I had been searching for something like this since wall mounting my Samsung LCD, my Sony DAV-SR2 is a big flat box which "stuck out" once the TV was on the wall.
I couldn't find much in the way of reviews as it is so new so here are my opinions so far....
I Purchased form Broadbandstuff.co.uk for a total of £635.09. I ordered on a thursday afternoon and it arrived on the friday!
The HTS arrived in a very heavy box. Ripping out all the wiring from my old system took ages but the whole job was completed in an afternoon and evening.
There are 6 identical speakers, 4 good quality heavy stands which are not height adjustable and all six speakers are wall mountable without requiring additional brackets, just attatch small plastic spacers (included).
The Sub is a "cube" and is mains powered, it also contains the amps for the front three speakers, it is connected to the main junction box by a vga lead. There is a cooling fan in the unit and the speakers are connected to the rear by plugs.
The rears are wired into a metal box which is also mains powered, this contains their amps and the wireless RF reciever. There are 4 diferent RF channels to choose from.
The DVD contol unit is very light and can be free standing or wall mountable it has a mains connection and a hardwired lead to which you connect the remote junction box. The only other sockets on the unit are an HDMI socket and FM antenna socket. The DVD slot is on the right hand edge of the unit and is lit internally by blue light. The contols are illuminated blue and touch sensitive. The main display is also blue and can be dimmed.
The remote junction box can be hidden away and all other connections are made to this, it has component sockets, S-Video, Aux phonos, Co-ax Digital, and a hard wired flying scart lead to connect to the TV.
It all looks very modern and stylish and complements the style and colours of a modern black and silver LCD or plasma tv perfectly.
The speakers look fantastic they are very slim (4cm) and the front is black glass with cut outs for the speakers. They are very easy to mount on the wall. The front L/R and rear L/R are mounted vertically and the front and rear centres are horizontal can freestand.
I have had no trouble with RF connection to the wireless rears, on one channel I get a faint hiss but the other 3 are all silent and don't drop out, I have the reciever next to my PC which is emitting all kinds of stuff including bluetooth.
What does it sound like?
I am not a "seperates, component building" sort of bloke, I like my home entertainment to look good and sound great but not dominate the look of the room. If the look of the philips exceeded my expectations, the sounds has amazed me, my Sony HTIB (DAV-SR2) was good but the Philips is on another planet. The sounds is crystal clear and the sub really shakes the room without distortion, surround effects from the 5.1 & 6.1 decoders are well positioned and the whole room is filled with pleasing sound. The DVD HDMI upscaling works surprisingly well on my Samsumg Tv via the HDMI connection.
Audio CDs benefit from upsampling and sound stunning especially in straight forward stereo mode and the louder the volume he better it sounds, I don't have any super audio Cds so I can't comment on those.
There is built in FM RDS tuner but not Medium Wave. The sources available are Disc, Tuner, Aux (Phono analogue), TV (via scart) & Digital In (Coax digital).
Cons?
A couple of niggles,
The height of the speaker stand is not adjustable and they are quite tall, I would like to have lowered the overall heght by about 4 inches but it is just not possible.
I have twice had to cycle power on the system as once time it had trouble starting a DVD and another because it got stuch on mute. I hope this is not a sign of unreliability....
In Conclusion
If you want a lifestyle HTIB system that delivers on performance as well as design and looks then I would recommend this system especially if you are upgrading, like I did, from another HTIB.
I can't comment on how it compares to a component system as I have never had one.