Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
 Great All Around Sound System For The Price February 27, 2010
shaler78
I bought this system on sale at a local Sears Warehouse location for $119.00 in December of 09. This is a great little system to go with your LCD TV. It up-converts standard DVD's to near HD quality quite nicely. You definitely need to use a HDMI cable for picture and an optical cable for sound to get the full home theater effect. I replaced an 8 year old Zenith DVD/VCR combo with 5.1 surround sound that had 5 high quality 2-way 8ohm 200 watt speakers and sub-woofer with it. I used these 8ohm Zenith speakers on this Philips product that uses 4ohm output and the sound is just incredible. Twice the sound output at half the power output! You can use higher rated resistance speakers without damaging your amplifier, but do not ever use speakers with a lower rating or you will definitely fry your amp in no time. The i-pod cradle, USB input and FM receiver are very nice additions. You can also create MP3 audio files from CD's and you can update software thru the Philips web site with a USB flash drive. You can use the remote control of this unit to control your tracks of the i-pod and to change radio stations. Now for a few things I didn't like about this unit. It's not compatible with a Comcast HD remote, it does not support THX or DTS enhanced sound encoded discs and it doesn't have AM. Despite these shortcomings, this is a very good performing unit for the price.
Great System February 17, 2010
S. Lowe (Antrim, NH)
This is the third theater sound system that I have purchased and is by far the best. The price made it even more attractive. You can't go wrong with this one. The one thing that you might want to keep in mind though, is that everyone in the household should like the potential loudness or it could be a divorce maker (so says my girl friend).
Much bang for my buck! February 15, 2010
N. Kadlec (Atlanta, GA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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!!!
 Great System with 1 flaw February 7, 2010
J. Rose (Denver, CO USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Can't go wrong with the great value, superb quality, and perfect sound. December 30, 2009
Jeff (Texas, USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
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!!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
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