JBL 5.1 Channel SCS145.5 Surround Cinema Speaker System Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my first home theater system. The speakers work great. Other then the need to switch out the stock speaker wire for something a little more hefty like say, 12 gauge, the sound quality is far more then I expected. The powered subwoofer is Ok, but I wanted something heavier - at least a 10". I got a 12", 400 watt subwoofer, and I think my neighbors don't like me anymore :) I would recommend JBL speakers over BOSE speakers any day!

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JBL Surround Cinema Speaker systems are designed to deliver the high-performance sound that JBL has been known for at a price anyone can afford. Despite its small size, the incredibly affordable SCS145.5 delivers a sound experience equal to systems much larger and much more expensive

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Wharfedale MovieStar 70 Surround Sound Speaker System (Beech) Review

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(More customer reviews)I wanted a home theater speaker system, that was good with movies and music too! I listened to Polk 6700 speakers (very good) JBL 160 (nice) Energy 5.2 (very nice) Athena (ok+) and Wharfedale Movie Star 70's (awesome)! The biggest difference was the music end of the spectrum! All of the mentioned systems were very good to excellent for movie/tv viewing, but ranged from good, to adequate, to so-so on music! Except the Wharfedales, which were excellent for theater use, and awesome on music, probably due to the fact they are a bit larger than most! No tubby lower midrange, or ear bleeding, thin highs! Bass was rendered very well too! A great value, and they are decor freindly.

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Wharfedale's Moviestar 70 subwoofer-satellite speaker system offers a no-compromise solution for those who seek a small, tidy loudspeaker package, but refuse to tolerate the inadequate sound traditionally found in such systems. The Moviestar 70 combines chic retro styling in a package of loudspeakers with modest dimensions. But despite their diminutive size, these stars of the silver screen pack plenty of punch when it comes to home cinema. Speakers as small as these are made possible by the system's powered subwoofer, which fills in the bass below about 80 Hz. Further, the subwoofer is still effective when hidden from view.
The package includes all the speakers you need. The four satellites are front-ported, single-way units that dispense with crossovers, which can cause phase and frequency problems in two-way and three-way speakers. The frequency-matched subwoofer has all the features you'd expect of any subwoofer, such as phase and crossover adjustment. All fixings are supplied to allow wall or ceiling mounting, and plenty of cable is included for easy installation.
What's in the Box Four satellite speakers, center channel speaker, subwoofer, speaker cable, mounting brackets, user's manual.

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Bose Lifestyle 28 Home Entertainment System Review

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(More customer reviews)While the sound quality is good, this $3k system is definitely not up to the hype due to poor UI and Usability designs by Bose. I would not have bothered if I was buying even $1500 system but for 3k it is not really worth. While everyone talks about how great this system is, let me talk about some major drawbacks of this system that no one talks about:
1) It does not display Track/album info for CDs (for e.g. the ones you ripped off from online music stores) and MP3 CDs! Yes, thats true! How can anyone browse through 100+ songs from an MP3 CD and select the song that they want without seeing any track/album display on the TV Screen? I am extreamly upset with Bose lacking "common sense" here! Come on Bose, even my old $100 cheap DVD system can display this info on the screen! If you let the users play mp3 CDs didn't it occur to you that they would perhaps would like to choose the song they want to listen to?
2) It does not let you store MP3 CDs.
3) It does not let you transfer music from your PC.
4) It does not import the Title/Album info for the custom CDs that you burn with music that you have downloaded. It just names all the tracks and album info for the this type of CD with '-No Label-' title! You have to spend days to Edit (BTW editing is horrible too) all this info to make it right (if you have patience at all). If you end up storing more then one custom CDs, they all look the same when you browse through music library! So, there is no way to distinguish between them and hence you are really screwed! If you were to edit the title of a song/album, there is no way to listen to the song (to make sure it is the right song) while editing it! While listening, you can't edit the title! How stupid!
5) Browsing through music library is a pain. If you have 200 CDs, there is no way to skip to a particular CD in a second. for e.g if you want to go to 100th CD, you have to cick 100 times to get to it in the list! Same thing goes for Artist, Album and track selection.
6) The playlist feature is not really good. You are stuck with UMusic and a very basic playlist option.
7) Editing feature is not really intutive. There is no way you can key in letters using the Remote controls number pad (such as the ones you have with Cellphones. Each number will have 3 letters assigned to it etc...) There is no way to play and doublecheck the song while editing the title for a song/album. So, imagine yourself editing a bunch of songs with no preview!
Well the bottomline is that this pricy system is lacking so many basic features showing how Bose did not do a good job of focussing on usability. It is not just about the sound, the system should be functional too! I hope Bose realizes this soon! In any case Bose just lost their image as far as I am concerned!


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The exciting new Bose® Lifestyle® 38 features a unique uMusic™ intelligent playback system. Hundreds of your favorite CDs can be stored in the elegant music center. As you listen, the uMusic system "learns" which songs you like and which you don't, then intuitively selects what music you may want to hear next.

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Pioneer S-31B-LR Bookshelf Speakers (Black, Pair) Review

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(More customer reviews)I replaced my slightly larger, fairly expensive Cerwin-Vega speakers with these Pioneer S-31B bookshelf speakers. While the S-31's were smaller than the speakers they replaced, the sound certainly wasn't. The Pioneers handled highs and lows quite admirably, sampling both hard rock/heavy metal and classical music quite well. Hard Rock is good to identify the low end and tolerance for range, while classical is excellent to test subtle highs and clarity. I was impressed with these speakers. If you are looking for big sound but need a compact package, you should be quite pleased with the S-31 speakers.
My S-31's are black, and are very attractive and compact. While I could really care less what speakers look like as opposed to what they sound like, it is a plus that they look stylish in my living room. I also really like the mounting screws for the speaker wire on the backs of the speakers. The screws are large, well-machined, and secure the wire leads quite well. This may seem like an obvious point, but I have had other speakers that had much lower quality screws and it matters when one of the speaker wires in the back comes loose from poor quality construction. I like that Pioneer demonstrated quality craftsmanship all the way around with the S-31's.
Depending on the size of the room you will be using these in, you could use these as main speakers (right front, left front) in a small to medium room, or as rear surround speakers as part of a home theater system. The obvious issue is price; $350 at the time of this writing is not inexpensive, but as with most things in life, you tend to spend money on what matters to you. Some of us spend it on clothes, others on computers - it really depends on where your interests lie. If you are an audiophile, spending more for quality speakers will make sense to you. If not, you probably won't be seriously considering these speakers. If you demand high quality audio reproduction, I expect you will be quite pleased with these speakers.



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Exhibiting clean lines and innovative features, our Series 3 speaker system offers an uncompromising combination of design and performance for its class. A global engineering feat, our Series 3 speakers build upon decades of audio expertise utilizing Pioneer\'s exclusive proprietary tuning technologies in the process. The end result is a superb entertainment experience that brings you closer to your music and movies.

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Denon DHT-FS3 Home Theater in a Box Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased the DHT-FS3 hoping not so much for a 5.1 sound-alike experience but simply hoping for a good "TV speaker replacement" system. Unfortunately, while the Denon is the best sounding system of its type, it simply wasn't to be for my application.
First, the size of the unit is a bit larger in some ways that one would expect and smaller than others. Denon obviously designed the unit to fit in front of a flat screen TV, as they thoughtfully provided feet that are widely spaced (about 20") so that the unit can straddle the front of most TV manufacturer's flat screen pedestals. But it's also wider than one might expect - it's wider than a 16:9 32" TV, but a bit narrower than a 37".
The sound is GOOD, but not great. At no time will you think you're in front of not only a 5.1 surround system but even a decent stereo system using bookshelf loudspeakers; however it does sound better than any built-in TV speakers could, and it outdoes most "mini" systems as well, likely including offerings such as Denon's own S-101 HTIB system. Like most such systems, the bass is a bit "thumpy" - the sub just doesn't integrate well with the satellites and crosses over fairly high - around 125-150 Hz - so you never lose sight of the fact that most of your sound is coming from "up there" but the bass notes are coming from "down there."
The unit has multiple inputs - two sets of RCAs for analog, including one set that can be used with one of Denon's iPod docks, two optical digital and one coaxial digital. The setup has many nice features, including distance to the listener, bass/treble (unlike Bose systems, but here the adjustments are in fairly large 2dB increments) and a nice universal remote to control your TV, DVD player and the speaker unit. It can play in straight stereo, "wide" surround, Dolby Digital or even DTS, and all sound reasonably good for this application.
The design flaw? While not Denon's fault, most every flat panel TV manufacturer puts the sensor for their remote control along the bottom of the TV, meaning if the Denon's sitting in front of the TV, I can just about guarantee it will be blocking the TV's remote sensor unless you're using it with a larger set (40" or more) and the sensor's in the corner, or your TV somewhat more intelligently placed the sensor along the TV's sides or top frame.
I don't mean to come across as overly harsh, but I really had high hopes for a product like this from Denon, and sound-wise it really didn't sound as good as I thought it would. That's not really their fault; you can only do so much with smaller drivers in a rather small enclosure. But on the other hand, it does do a better job of producing a virtual surround effect than any TV's built-in surround effect (e.g. "SRS") or the similar Yamaha Sound Projectors.
So in short, it's worth a try if you're looking for a product like this, but the fact that it would block my TV's IR sensor immediately made it a non-starter for me as soon as I removed it from its box. Perhaps in a future model Denon can thoughtfully provide an "IR blaster" on the back of the unit to automatically repeat IR signals it sees to any TV sensors that may be located behind it.
It's truly a beautiful LOOKING unit, the piano black finish blending nicely with the similar finish used on most flat panels that don't use a silvery frame. It's certainly a reasonable value for the price, given what it would cost to build a similar quality system for components or find as high quality a HTIB ("Home Theatre in a Box") system.
However, for the sole reason that it blocks my TV's remote sensor, I've no alternate place to place it, and it neither has an IR blaster nor provision to drive one, it's back in its shipping box just about three hours after first opening it.

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Home Theater in a Box

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Bose Lifestyle 38 - Home theater system - 5.1 channel - white Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)While the sound quality is good, this $3k system is definitely not up to the hype due to poor UI and Usability designs by Bose. I would not have bothered if I was buying even $1500 system but for 3k it is not really worth. While everyone talks about how great this system is, let me talk about some major drawbacks of this system that no one talks about:
1) It does not display Track/album info for custom CDs (for e.g. the ones you ripped off from online music stores) and MP3 CDs! Yes, thats true! How can anyone browse through 100+ songs from an MP3 CD and select the song that they want without seeing any track/album display on the TV Screen? I am extreamly upset with Bose lacking "common sense" here! Come on Bose, even my old $100 cheap DVD system can display this info on the screen! If you let the users play mp3 CDs didn't it occur to you that they would perhaps would like to choose the song they want to listen to?
2) It does not let you store MP3 CDs.
3) It does not let you transfer music from your PC.
4) It does not import the Title/Album info for the custom CDs that you burn with music that you have downloaded. It just names all the tracks and album info for the this type of CD with '-No Label-' title! You have to spend days to Edit (BTW editing is horrible too) all this info to make it right (if you have patience at all). If you end up storing more then one custom CDs, they all look the same when you browse through music library! So, there is no way to distinguish between them and hence you are really screwed! If you were to edit the title of a song/album, there is no way to listen to the song (to make sure it is the right song) while editing it! While listening, you can't edit the title! How stupid!
5) Browsing through music library is a pain. If you have 200 CDs, there is no way to skip to a particular CD in a second. for e.g if you want to go to 100th CD, you have to cick 100 times to get to it in the list! Same thing goes for Artist, Album and track selection.
6) The playlist feature is not really good. You are stuck with UMusic and a very basic playlist option.
7) Editing feature is not really intutive. There is no way you can key in letters using the Remote controls number pad (such as the ones you have with Cellphones. Each number will have 3 letters assigned to it etc...) There is no way to play and doublecheck the song while editing the title for a song/album. So, imagine yourself editing a bunch of songs with no preview!
Well the bottomline is that this pricy system is lacking so many basic features showing how Bose did not do a good job of focussing on usability. It is not just about the sound, the system should be functional too! I hope Bose realizes this soon! In any case Bose just lost their image as far as I am concerned!


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Designed to change the way you think about movies, music, and even your CD collection, the Bose Lifestyle 38 DVD home entertainment system digitally stores and organizes up to 200 hours of music (around 200 to 300 CDs, depending on the timing of the discs). The system also lets you enjoy your movies on standard or high-definition-ready televisions in scintillating progressive-scan video. Meanwhile, the system's Jewel Cube speaker arrays and low-frequency-producing Acoustimass module fill your room with rich, full-bodied sound.The stylish, 2-tone silver/black media center features an integrated DVD/CD player and AM/FM tuner. You get Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround processing for lifelike surround effects from your favorite movies, as well as Bose Videostage 5 processing for turning mono and stereo sources into surround programs. The DVD/CD player plays your DVD-Video movies (NTSC or PAL, depending on your TV), DVD-R/RW homemade discs, and CD-based music, including MP3 files written to recordable CD-R or CD-RW.Among the Lifestyle 38's innovative features is its ADAPTiQ audio calibration system, which analyzes your room and adjusts the system's sound for optimal performance in the spots you like to listen from, and the uMusic intelligent playback system.The uMusic system uses proprietary Bose technology to turn the media center into a virtual DJ capable of playing a continuous stream of the music you most enjoy and--even cooler--adapting to your preferences, even as they change. You can instruct system to play what you want, when you want it. Giving instructions requires only that you react to your stored music as it plays. Pressing "Encore" tells the system to search for music with characteristics that closely match what's playing, narrowing its field of choices in response to your command.Pressing the - (negative) rating tells the system to move on because this particular track is not right for this time of day, this activity, or for the person listening. Submitting a + (positive) rating has the opposite effect: the system learns that you particularly like the track playing. Not every track you like requires a + rating, but you can always give special songs this nudge. Over time the system adjusts the type of music it plays when your preset is selected. And you don't need to worry that any response you make now will be etched in concrete: you may easily override your established preferences at any time.When you load your collection into the media center (copying takes about 5 minutes per disc), the system searches an internal and regularly updatable database to assign artist and track names, genre, and other details, which you can edit or update as you wish.The Lifestyle 38 features award-winning Jewel Cube speaker arrays, which measure just 4.5 inches high, for dramatically lifelike sound. These are the smallest and most powerful speaker arrays Bose makes, producing sound you'd expect from speakers much larger. The Acoustimass module (essentially a subwoofer) produces resounding low notes that bring action sequences to life and add fullness to music. Place the Acoustimass module out of sight, so all sound seems to come from the Jewel Cube speaker arrays.Other features include AM/FM tuning with 40 preset stations (20 FM, 20 AM), a sleep timer (10 to 90 minutes), and console input jacks for connecting other source components (such as a VCR, DSS, CD changer, or tape deck).Connections include digital and analog audio inputs and outputs for a range of ancillary components, with a choice of composite-video, S-video, or--with an optional-use cable that connects to both the composite- and S-video outputs--480i/480p component-video outputs, depending on your television.A feature called Bose link allows connections for compatible Bose products in as many as 14 additional rooms using optional hookup gear.What's in the Box Media center, 5 speakers, 1 Acoustimass module, FM/AM antennas, all requisite cabling, a remote control with batteries, a user's manual, a quick-setup guide, AC power cords, 2 system discs, an optional-use IR emitter cable, an ADAPTiQ audio calibration system headset, and warranty information.Note: This system is designed to store the audio tracks of regular CDs only. It will not store MP3 tracks or the contents of DVDs.

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lcd1080 theater Projector with Built in DVD Player by Vibrant Media Portable and Perfect for Family Movie NightIncredible Picture that is perfect for home or on the run Review

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(More customer reviews)My Husband and Kids Absolutely Love this Projector. We Are using it primarily for "Family Movie Night" and can't believe the picture! Easy to use and also very portable. We have enjoyed taking it to friends houses to share the fun! Not sure what previous rater is talking about with the fan? No problems with ours at all. This is our third projector we have had over the years and we were shocked with how great the sound quality was.

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Our Latest addition to the GrahamGannon Line of quality custom home entertainment products is the VibrantMedia "all in One" Portable Theater Projector with Built in DVD Player! Great for Families, as it's perfect for the home theater room or even better anywhere you wish to project to because you can take it with you nice and easy! No more bored kids as they will now be Thrilled while they watch their favorite movies or play their favorite games on the "big Screen" as you relax! As Always 2-5 day Express Delivery is provided free of charge through our manufacture, via DHL Express. Tracking numbers are always provided within 24 hours and we are always here for your support needs!

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SLS Q-Line Gold 650w 5.1 Surround Sound Home Theater System Review

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(More customer reviews)..... cause I didn't believe it either.
Quincy Jones + Studio Level speaker mfgr = quality I didn't expect at a value I could never get through normal channels. I'm not an audiophile, but these create a better sound space than my local movie theater. I didn't plan to add surround sound to my flat-screen till I found these, but now I actually look forward to sitting down to the sound as much as the picture with my new flat screen. For the first few weeks, we turned around on several occassions thinking someone might be in the house, when we heard a particularly clear back noise. It was eerie.
On the older silver line set that I own, lab analysis shows a nice, even sound across all bandwidths except for a narrow drop off just below the voice range. When I first bought these I thought I could hear that difference playing the same song back and forth with my home audio system. Now I don't hear it, but I think I've just gotten used to it. Of course my home audio system can't touch the clean simplicity of the highs on ribbon technology speakers.
As a point of comparison, when I sit in the comfy leather chair at Best-Buy to watch their top of the line set up, the sound is a little bit richer and beefier than this set up will deliver. Still, these aren't toys themselves. At 110 pounds there's a lot of mass in speaker magnets. When I come home to this I'm very satisfied with this sound. It's way beyond the cheese-factor of a typical home theater in a box, conveys movie sound tracks and football games well enough to entrance (too well - I've gained 20 pounds) and the sense of things moving in space is believable and real. For me it's clear enough that I've saved hundreds on movies I now watch at home instead of in the theater.
I think the way they can do this so cheaply is by not chasing the most recent audio format/standard on the receiver. You'll notice Dolby doesn't say "Dolby-HD." Note too that there's no built disc player, etc. Just sound stuff: a tuner and an amplifier. To my ears the quality of these speakers contributes a lot more than anything in the latest DTS or Dolby standard and, with good speakers, I can't tell the difference. If your ears can tell the difference delivered by the most recent standards you may want to upgrade the receiver at some point and keep the speakers, or you may be able to hear things I can't and need to be shopping in the 3-5k range. I love mine just as it is. They clearly have found an affordable way to harness ribbon technology too. I remember in the 80's giant ribbon tech speakers were ultra high-end.
Note too that there is no HDMI pass-through connection on the back. That may be a deal breaker for some, it works fine for me. I just connect the optical port out of my TV to the optical in on this receiver. So, for blu-ray discs my BD player connects directly to the TV with HDMI and the TV connects to this receiver via optical. Works for me. The lack of HDMI pass through is probably another way they managed to kept the cost this low.
I had trouble believing you could get sound this good at this cost. If I hadn't found the audio response data, I would have assumed the positive reviewers just didn't know sound. I took a risk and was well rewarded. I'm no audiophile myself but my sense is I could get this quality, more connections, and maybe a little more volume if I were willing to spend about $2k on something else.
Hope that helps.

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The Q Line Gold Home Theater Surround Sound System features 4 bookshelf satellite speakers and one center channel speaker, all utilizing SLS International's PRD100 Planar Ribbon Drivers and woven Kevlar midrange drivers. To meet today's demanding low frequency requirements, SLS has included a high excursion, self-powered subwoofer delivering accurate and controlled bass. A multi channel Dolby Digital/DTS surround sound receiver powers the system with 110 watts per channel featuring a built-in room balancing algorithm, component video throughput with video up scaling, on screen display, and a universal remote control. This unit DOES NOT INCLUDE A DVD PLAYER.

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Samsung HT-BD8200 Blu-Ray Sound Bar Home Theater System (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)When my 10 year old projection TV finally died recently, it was finally a good enough reason to buy a flat panel TV. I ended up buying the Samsung UN55B6000 55" LED. Of course once I got it home it confirmed to me what I knew would be the case, the sound on flat panels isn't great. It's just hard to make speakers small enough for a flat panel that are big enough to be good.
So after all of my hunting, I found the HT-BD8200. I thought it would be perfect. I could get rid of the stack of stereo and AV components and replace them with this. In theory it can replace the Radio tuner, CD player, DVD player, Blu Ray player and receiver.
I received it, hooked it up and started admiring it (I discovered rather rudely that Samsung does not put an HDMI cable in the $800 box so had to go buy one). The wireless subwoofer is awesome and I was able to hide it out of view behind the couch. The unit itself looks like it was made for my TV. It's the same glossy black glass look with the red touch of color.
I had visions of wall mounting my TV with the HT-BD8200 wall mounted right under it (it comes with a wall mount kit).
The controls on the unit are super cool touch controls. No buttons, just symbols on the top of the disc drive area that light up. Just touch the glass over the control and a small beep lets you know it's activated.
It comes with a wifi adapter so that you can stream netflix, pandora, blockbuster etc. to it over your wifi network at home.
I could babble on forever about the cool things it does which is why it breaks my heart to have to list the bad things and ultimately why I had to return it.
Once I got over the thrill of having a new toy, I started to notice buggy behavior that makes me think Samsung rushed this out or cobbled it together without enough QA testing.
- "MODE NOT SUPPORTED"
Since I connected the unit to my TV with HDMI, it activated the Samsung "Anynet" feature which basically let's the TV and soundbar talk to each other and activate Samsung specific features. For example, when you put a disc in the soundbar, it'll automatically change the TV to the correct input and start playing the disc so that you don't have to go through the "source" menu on the TV. What I found was that from time to time I'd put a disc in the soundbar, it'd change the source on the TV but then the TV would just display "Mode Not Supported".
Nothing in the manual said anything about this error and a google search came up with a million unrelated postings about the error on various Samsung products. I was able to get around it by switching the HDMI cable to another port on the TV. When the error would come up again, I'd switch it back to the original port and it would work again. Pretty crappy for an $800 product.
- "Misbehaving Night Light"
Like my TV, the soundbar has a small accent light at the bottom of the center of the unit. You can set it to be on while the unit is on, off, or all the time. I set to to be on when the unit is on. When I went to bed I turned the unit off and the light went off. The next day when I came home from work the light was on and the unit was off. I checked the setting in the menus and it was still set to be off when the unit was off... but it was on. Annoying
- "Ghost in the machine"
The soundbar started to turn itself on by itself. The first time it happened I thought maybe I had left it on without realizing it. So I made it a point to verify it was off when I went out the next day and sure enough it was back on when I came back that night. I had to start leaving it set to an unused input before turning it off to make sure it wouldn't come on blasting the radio mid day or mid night.
- "Low Volume on TV"
The volume when watching movies or listening to CD's can reasonably loud. Don't get me wrong, you cannot ever go deaf listening to this unit on max volume because it just doensn't go that loud but watching TV, the max volume seems to be roughly one third lower than on movies. I found myself watching tv on maximum volume all the time. If it was loud outside or someone was making noise in another room, max wasn't loud enough.
I thought maybe the HDMI audio was the issue so I went and bought an Optical Cable (buy the AmazonBasics one, good price and decent quality). I hooked up the Optical cable to my TV and the result was exactly the same. I then hooked the optical cable directly to my cable box. Exactly the same. Nothing could make the soundbar louder while watching TV. The TV speakers themselves were often similar in volume or louder than the soundbar. The difference was that the soundbar had richer sound. Still not acceptable when the main reason I'm buying it is because I need more volume.
- "Anynet" annoyance
As this list grew and my patience thinned, I finally hit the last straw. I wanted to play a music CD while putting around the house. The TV and soundbar were off. I turned the soundbar on and dropped in a CD. The soundbar automatically activated the anynet feature, turned on the TV and switched to the HDMI input for the soundbar as if I was going to watch a movie. Apparently Samsung didn't bother programming the soundbar not to switch if it's an audio CD. "no big deal, turn off the TV" you say? I did... and Anynet promptly shut the soundbar off with the TV. ARRRRGH!
Could I just disable anynet? Sure! But losing a big chunk of functionality when I bought two Samsung products that are supposed to work together is unreasonable to me, especially when they are as expensive as these are.
So I resigned myself to thinking this was a defective unit and I'd give it another try. I boxed it up and sent it back to Amazon. I was ready to reorder a new one, but they weren't in stock. I decided this was a good thing as if mine was defective, hopefully I'd get a newer one from a newer batch.
I waited a couple of weeks and Amazon finally got them back in stock. I ordered another and it arrived. I connected it and found that only ONE of the issues above had gone away. The new unit didn't turn itself on by itself. All of the other issues were still there.
I finally had to give up and admit that this product is just not what I hoped for and the quality was not worth $800. I sent it back and am now looking for an alternative.

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Blu-Ray Home Theater

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Bose Acoustimass 5 - Speaker System, ideal for stereo or home theater use - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I was having issues myself with sound quality with these speakers until I went to Bose.com and read the user guide. These speakers are meant to produce sound both directly and reflectively. If you have all of the elements pointing forward with no surfaces to bounce off of the experience is not satisfying. You need to tuck the sub away in a corner (to reflect off the walls) and the smaller speakers I find work great with one element pointing directly and the other pointing at a wall (each speaker has 2 elements). The sound with the reflection is much richer and satisfying than when everything's pointed directly at you.

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Experience enhanced sound from Bose's most affordable, next-generation Acoustimass stereo speakers. The Acoustimass 5 system in black delivers bass that's the deepest and fullest yet. Two single-cube speakers--smaller than ever before--are elegantly designed to fit virtually any decor. And the module easily hides away behind furniture or off in a corner, so all the lifelike sound seems to flow from the tiny cubes.

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Bose 161 Speaker System (White) - ideal for stereo or home theater use Review

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(More customer reviews)We bought several pairs of these 161 speakers when they were first introduced a little over a year ago. We use one pair for the surround speakers in our theater system, and a pair in each of the other rooms of our home.
Although we are longtime Bose fans, we decided to audition these in an audio store as we had been disappointed in a Bose center channel speaker we had purchased previously, (based on reputation, we didn't listen first!). We were favorbly impressed in the store and have been very pleased with them in our home. Regardless of room decor, the speakers produce clean, stereo sound. (Its possible to identify orchestral instruments and their location!)
These speakers are very linear above 80-90Hz, to the audible limits. They drop off rapidly below about 80Hz. Bass frequencies are adequately reproduced for orchestral music but will need to be augmented for heavy bass or special cinematic effects. (sub-woofer)
These speakers are intended to be wall mounted and are easily installed with the included brackets. They do not sit well on a shelf!

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Enjoy rich, full sound from music or movies with this compact pair of sleek Bose speakers. Whether placed on a desk or bookshelf or mounted on a wall for use as surround speakers, these speakers are designed to deliver balanced, spacious sound with minimal or moderate amplifier power (10 to 100 watts per channel). Automatic protection circuitry keeps the speaker drivers from being overdriven, heightening the speakers' reliability without interfering with your listening.

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LG LHB975 1100-Watt Blu-ray Home Theater System, Gloss Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this system in May of 2010. When it worked, it worked great and I really enjoyed the quality of the blu-ray player and sound.
About a week ago the wireless subwoofer stopped working. It has power but will not link up with the wireless receiver. I tried everything I could possibly do and couldn't get it to "remate" (connect) again. I then called LG and they were unable to fix it.
LG offered to repair the system but they wants me to spend $70.00 for them to look at it and this does not include shipping. From what the customer service representative told me, the 1 year warranty means that regardless of the cost to repair, my cost is capped at $70.00. I'm not sure how that qualifies as a warranty but according to LG it does.
What is troubling about this issue is that this problem does not appear to be an isolated incident. I searched the internet for reviews from people who owned the system. There are a number of people who are having this exact same problem after using the system for about 6 months. Mine started in just 5 months. It's starting to look like this product has a defect.
I own an LG cell phone, washer and dryer, and this blu-ray theater system. I've never had a problem with any LG product before. I'm surprised that LG would put out a product that seems to have a systematic defect. I'm even more surprised that the LG customer service would be so bad and not customer friendly. This experience has really questioned my brand loyalty towards LG. At this point, they must know this product has a problem. Rather than do the right thing - which is to correct the problem and send a new unit to everyone who is having this problem free of charge - LG is instead forcing the consumer to pay for service, pay for shipping, and hope that the repair is a long term fix. I'm afraid I'll spend the money to get the system "repaired" only to have it break again in another 5 months.
Rather than deal with the nonsense I'm going through, anyone who looks at this home theater system should just avoid it.


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LG's NetCast Interface lets you easily access a vast array of internet content. This model comes with two tower speakers.

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New 5.1 Multimedia Powered Home Theater Surround Sound Speaker System TS511 Review

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(More customer reviews)These speakers are something incredible. They re much better than many more expensive speakers in the market.
Pros:
* Clear sound, powerful, with good definition.
* You can set the speaker volume independently.
* Remote Control.
* 5.1 + RCA inputs + Auxiliar input (Left and Right)
* The speakers do not distort.
* A powerful subwoofer with very good low.
Cons:
* Short cord (the cable from the speakers left, right and center are not more than 5 feet and the back of no more than 7').
* Does not have Coaxial or Optical input for receiving a digital signal.
This is an excellent speakers systems. I have it installed on a 28 mts2 family room and the sound is really big. The subwoofer make vibrate the glass accessories of the room. It has more quality than many of the most expensive equipment on the market. Now, I have to buy a signal converter stereo to 5.1 surround to get you maximum advantage of this set of speakers
Anyone would think that a set of speakers with 18lbs (small speakers, small magnets) can not be so much quality but is the opposite. I recommend this product for its sound quality, power and clear sound.

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SpecificationsNew 5.1 / 2.1 Switchable Home Theater Multimedia Speaker SystemPower Rating: 500 Watts RMS System PowerFrequency Response: 40Hz - 20KHzDistinctive Design: Features high tech design to dampen distortion and deliver crisp clear responseAdditional Features: Pro Logic function for incredible Surround Sound, Stand By function, Infa-red remote sensor lampRemote Control: At your fingertips separate volume controls for Sub, Center, Rear and FrontEasy Set-upMagnetically shielded systemSubwoofer Speaker: 1pcSub Unit is 6.5" x 12.5" x 11.5"Satellite Speakers: 5pcsEach Satellite Speaker is 3.75" x 3.75" x 5.75"Two Front and Center Speaker have 6' Single RCA CableTwo Rear Speakers have 12' Single RCA Cables25' Extension Single RCA Cables Available 2RCA1 (2 Cable Pack) and 5RCA1 (5 Cable Pack)Audio Cable: 1 pc 3.5mm (headphone) jack to RCA jackAudio Cable: 3 pcs RCA jack to RCA jackRemote ControlUser ManualThis Listing and Price is for 1 Complete SystemTheater Solutions TS511 5.1 Home Theater Speaker Systemis a compact, high-definition 5.1 home theater system that's simple to set up and use. The TS511 features a Pro Logic channel switch to integrate all your Dolby Surround formatted movies, music and games and deliver a true surround experience. The Speaker system consists of five speakers - left, center and right front channels with two rear surrounds - and one powered subwoofer. All five speakers in this home theater are identical, creating a seamless blend of sound and style.Inside each modern, high-gloss black enclosure, you'll find durable, high-quality components that will provide superior performances for years to come. Each speaker is magnetically shielded - so it won't interfere with your TV picture - and can be positioned vertically or horizontally next to your HDTV or other type of flat-panel.

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