Entered CNET Catalog: 01/05/2006
SKU: 0609585114234
Manufacturer: Philips Consumer Electronics
Manufacturer description
Combining style and performance, this elegant and hassle-free system indulges you with endless hours of viewing and listening pleasure. So sit back and immerse yourself in movies and music in the comfort of your home.Product summary
The good: The Philips HTS6500 is a high-style virtual-surround home-theater system that offers upscaling DVD playback via its HDMI output. In addition to DVDs and CDs, it plays a wide variety of file formats including DivX; MPEG-1, -2, and -4; MP3; WMA; and JPEG files. Front-panel USB and mini-jack inputs offer easy hook-ups for portable music players.
The bad: The HTS6500's passive subwoofer lacks precision and punch, and you can't independently control the subwoofer's volume. Sound customization options are very limited. The virtual-surround effect doesn't match the surround-sound capabilities of a true 5.1-channel setup. The remote control can't be programmed to control other devices such as your TV.
The bottom line: The unremarkable sound quality of the Philips HTS6500 is outweighed by its winning combination of slick aesthetics, impressive features, and affordable pricing.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 07/20/2006
The Philips HTS6500's compact design makes it a decent choice for small apartments and bedrooms, or any environment where you don't want to mount rear speakers and run the associated wires. The relatively small (4.8 by 12 by 3.8 inches each), magnetically shielded front speakers have integrated tabletop stands and are also supplied with wall-mounting brackets. Each satellite speaker incorporates three 3-inch drivers angled to help create the virtual surround-sound effect. The curvy, silver-and-black gloss passive subwoofer (14.6 by 8.6 by 18.5 inches) incorporates an 8-inch direct-firing driver and has a modern appearance that matches the other components. The speakers' and subwoofer's 16-foot, hard-wired proprietary cables are long enough to provide adequate installation flexibility.
Measuring in at 2.8 by 13.4 by 13 inches, the main head unit has a wedge-shaped, silver-and-black gloss front panel with a slick, slot-loading disc player. The integrated amplifier is said to deliver roughly 200 watts to each of the satellite speakers and 100 watts to the sub, enabling the system to play pretty loud. In addition to a basic backlit text display, the front panel hosts a large volume wheel and a full selection of playback controls. The HTS6500's onscreen menu system is well designed and makes it easy to navigate digital content. We like the remote control for its iPod-like white-and-gray styling and uncluttered button layout, but we wish it were backlit and could be programmed to operate other devices.
The Philips HTS6500 supports a decent assortment of digital file formats including MP3 and WMA audio files; MPEG-1, -2, and -4 and DivX video files; and JPEG image files. The disc player is compatible with DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW and CD-R/RW media, so it should play back just about any home-burned movies, music, and photos. Of course, the system offers the requisite Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, and DTS surround decoding capabilities.
If you own a fairly new HDTV set, you'll appreciate the HTS6500's inclusion of an HDMI digital output. The device also has component, S-Video, and composite video outputs, so it will connect to any older TV as well. Unfortunately, it's completely devoid of video inputs. As a result, you'll have to separately connect any of your other A/V devices--VCR, cable/satellite box, video game console--directly to the TV, then switch the TV's input to change sources. That said, all-in-one home-theater systems that offer video inputs tend to be either larger, bulkier component-based systems, such as the Onkyo's HT-S580, or much more expensive than the Philips, such as the Bose Lifestyle 3-2-1 Series II, the Sony DAV-X1, or the Denon S-301. The HTS6500 does have a passable selection of audio-only inputs, including two stereo analog RCA ins and a coaxial digital audio jack. So if you can't use the Philips as a video switcher, you can at least use it to amplify the audio from any of the aforementioned devices.
The HTS6500 offers a couple of nice front-panel extras, including a USB port for connecting a flash drive or a memory card reader, and also a minijack audio input. We were easily able to view JPEGs and play video and audio files stored on a connected USB flash drive. The only snag we ran into was with large MPEG-2 files, which didn't play smoothly from the device. The minijack audio input worked as advertised--it'll stream audio from any iPod, MP3 player, or anything else with a standard headphone jack. Rounding out the HTS6500's feature list is an AM/FM tuner with 40 programmable presets.
After the straightforward setup, we auditioned the HTS6500 with both DVDs and CDs. The system sounds OK but doesn't offer much flexibility in terms of sound customization. Your options for tweaking the tone are pretty much limited to selecting a handful of preset DSP modes. There's no user-programmable EQ, for instance. Annoyingly, you can't independently adjust the subwoofer volume either.
With music and movies, the satellite speakers delivered middle-of-the-road performance without noticeably skewing any one part of the frequency spectrum. Dialog was clear despite the absence of a center-channel speaker. The system's SonoWave effect fell short of delivering a convincing surround-sound experience--these so-called virtual-surround setups always do--but the soundstage did sound wide and fairly enveloping. It occasionally seemed as if portions of the sound were coming from the sides of our listening position, although the effect was subtle, sporadic, and less localized than it would've been with dedicated surround speakers. The boomy and uncontrolled sounding sub is the weakest link. Explosions in action movies and the bass lines of songs lacked the definition and punch we appreciate.
On the video side, upconverted DVDs and high-resolution still images looked nice and sharp displayed on our HDTV. Firing up a photo slide show, then selecting its musical accompaniment was straightforward, and the resulting presentation played smoothly.
While the Philips HTS6500 won't win any awards for its sound quality, it's more than adequate for basic home-theater duties. No, it's not on the level of the aforementioned Sony DAV-X1 or the Denon S-301, but--significantly--the Philips costs much less. With a list price of just $400, the HTS6500 packs enough high-end features--HDMI output, DivX playback, USB connectivity--to outweigh its sonic limitations. If you're looking for a slick-looking 2-channel home-theater system for the den or the bedroom, this Philips model may just fit the bill.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56out of 56 user reviews
Started out okay, now we've scrapped it
Pros: Style. Sound. Input for mp3 player.
Cons: DVD player broke/malfunctioned. Didn't work with Harmony Remote well.
out of 56 user reviews
Extremely irritating
Pros: Great sound quality
Cons: Trying to watch a DVD is nearly impossible. Switching the system back to TV is even worse. .
The only thing more annoying is trying to switch out of the AUX setting back to TV. For some reason the player gets stuck in FM mode and no matter how many times I press "Source" it will not change back. I literally have to press all the buttons on the system rapidly before it will switch back to TV.
We had great expectations for this home theater system, but with all the problems we've had to deal with we are no longer happy with our purchase.
out of 56 user reviews
Another Philips P.O.S.
Pros: Cheap price
Cons: Cheap product.
out of 56 user reviews
Better to spend and extra
Pros: The unit is perfect for smaller rooms and smaller entertainment consoles. Although there is no equalizer, the system puts out a decent sound spectrum of preset configurations.
Cons: No equalizer on main unit/adjustment settings for the Sub. After 4 months system had problems. The tv setting became unreliable...either it works or doesn't. On three different occasions, the dvd player wouldn't play at all.
out of 56 user reviews
Good Sound - but the DVD didn't work after 7 months
Pros: 1. Easy to setup
2. Good sound
Cons: The DVD didn't work after 7 months - no picture but had audio.
out of 56 user reviews
It's a P.O.S.
Pros: I loved the reviews. I loved the look. Loved the IDEA of 3 speakers and virtual surround - after all, I'm an apartment dweller.
Cons: It's incredibly cheaply made - I know, I know; whaddya expect for sooooo cheap.
out of 56 user reviews
If you don't have warranty you are out of luck.
Pros: Very good price and excellent sournd quality.
Cons: Sound quality is very good but DVD player is something to worry about. After using for year and half, the DVD player stop recognizing disk in the drive. It takes good amount of time to read disk. I heard this is very common problem in this model?
out of 56 user reviews
Very temperamental. Would not buy again
Pros: Good sound, DVD and Sound system in one unit
Cons: DVD does not always play the first time. Many times you have to insert/eject numerous times and wait between cycles. Little ones have short attention span to wait for thier movie, which can take sometimes 10 minutes to get the movie playing.
out of 56 user reviews
Been great for two years now.
Pros: Sound Quality
Cons: Nothing. You get whatyou pay for.
out of 56 user reviews
Amazing HTIB 2.1 System!
Pros: *Sound is amazing Very Crisp and Clear...
*Picture the Upconverting Dvd player works flawlessly makes your regular dvds look beautiful.
*Quality Very durable.. not cheap and thin plastic very sturdy!
Cons: NOTHING FOR ME! But for the people that are looking at this system follow the Manual and go to the website and install firmware first VERY SIMPLE!
Takes care of the problems people post on here.... they didn't listen to instructions!
out of 56 user reviews
Good intro 2.1 HTIB but with drawbacks
Pros: HDMI connectivity, good sound from a low-end product, good upscaling DVD player
Cons: Refuses to spit out DVD's or allow "source" change
out of 56 user reviews
After 1 yr warranty - product not eligible for repair!
Pros: I had no problem with this product for 17 months - or 5 months after warranty expired. It is small, and provides good sound when watching DVDs.
Cons: Found out it needed a firmware update - that must be done via CD - AFTER IT STOPPED WORKING. Google the model number and you will see multiple problems reported on forums.
Bottom LIne: Phillips service policy is BOGUS.
out of 56 user reviews
The worst piece of electronics I have ever purchased.
Pros: The price was the only thing going for this system.
Cons: DVD works only when it wants to.
out of 56 user reviews
Superb System for Those on a Budget
Pros: - Quality construction (sturdy speakers and subwoofer)
- Great sound
- Cost Friendly
- Takes up little to space
- None compared to other 5.1 systems
- Easy and quick set-up
Cons: - Unadjustable woofer
- Supposed DVD loader problem later in life (discussed in more detail)
- Obviously not true 5.1 sound but still very nice
This system is meant for smaller,closed areas and rooms, not open rooms where sound can get easily lost. I have this system set up in my dorm room, and it takes up very little space. I wouldn't mind having a smaller subwoofer, but that is a neglibible complaint. I would rather have a large woofer with ample sound than a small one with weak sound.
Now, onto the dreaded "No Disc Loaded" problem I'm sure you've either heard of or will soon.
I have read many reviews of people complaining of their head unit/DVD player eating DVDs or not playing. The warranty on this unit is for one year, pretty much a standard warranty today. Unfortunately, we are no longer in the age where technology lasts for 15 years. It used to be that TVs and stereo systems could last a long time, but today units are designed to break down after a while so consumers are forced to continuously update their technology. This is one of the main ways companies actually make money. There is only one way to combat this issue. Purchase an extended warranty, problem solved. Circuit City offers 3 and 5 year extended warranties. Since I have 3 years left of college, I purchased the 3 year extended warranty to cover me through graduation when I plan on investing in a more serious system. An extra $39.99 will save you the hassle of having to deal with customer service reps and $183 cost to replace the defective part. If my system breaks down, I will return it to Circuit City where they will deal with Philips, fix my system, or replace it. Do it or take the risk of having your system break down and leave you out another $220.
Now onto the sound.
The sound of this system is nothing short of phenominal. After watching Saving Private Ryan, I was floored how 2 speakers could truly replicate surround sound. I truly feel that they are as close to sounding like 5 speakers as is possible. The bass was spot on and the highs weren't too bright. The overall balance was characteristic of $800 systems. You will hear sounds you have never heard before. I unfortunately cannot say the same for MP3 playback. The quality for music playback from my Zune was sub-par at best with little to no bass. Again, this is a home theater system, not a music system. Another addition to this, I would consider myself an audiophile. I am very critical and know exactly what I like. I have heard several systems that just did not cut it, but this system definitely made the cut.
As a side note, the upconverted HD picture looked superb on my 32'' LCD. It was as good as any upconvert DVD player I've seen.
Overall, this system is worth every penny and more. I am very happy with my investment, and with the purchase of an extended warranty, I am worry free of any malfunctions and the stress following. I would recommend this system to anyone entering the home theater market or looking for a second system for a smaller room i.e. similar to the size of my dorm room at 13' by 16'. Buy this system and you will not be dissapointed. Prepare to be amazed.
out of 56 user reviews
low end sound in high end clothing.
Pros: Good price for feature set (I paid 299 CAN)
1080i upconversion via HDMI
Compact and easy set up
Design is futuristic (if looks are important)
Cons: Lack of "surround" feel
No tactile bass (even in small rooms.)
No custom options for sound or bass levels
HDMI output does not support HDMI to DVI conversion cable!!
High end looks dont deliver high end sound
Although the video processing seems very good, and it can decode DIvX formats, I found the overall lack of depth in sound, both in mid and low range dissapointing. Sometimes, as with the opening scene of Batman:Begins, the small front speakers become shrill and overly bright. I am not sure whether it is my room interaction or not, but I do consider my room "average" in terms of rectangular shape and furnishings. The sub woofer is grossly under powered and has no options for level or crossover settings for the user.
Overall I would recommend this system as an auxilary to another dedicated home theatre in the home. The bang for buck is here. Perhaps this unit serves best as an introduciton into home theatre, but it you are anything like me, you will soon crave a fuller experience and begin looking at upgrading....
out of 56 user reviews
amazing, and the poor sub is replaceable for the audiophile in us all!
Pros: amazing clarity of front speakers, brilliant build quality
Cons: subwoofer is clearly cheapest component and the bass cant be adjusted.
yes you cant mess with the EQ but have you not seen the philips moto simpler is better (or is that panasonics moto?? who cares!! they are right, the system sounds its best left alone.
ok you cant adjust bass level, yes this is a slight downer but again...a nice sub in place works wonders, you wont want it adjusting. the actual front speakers are very nice, they bounce away with suprising clarity and very nice treble extension. this is not a 5.1 surround system and it does not try to be, but it does what it says on the box, it adds very nice subtle surround effects and is powerful to boot!
overall its a nice system and the sub out being 4ohm is open to a nice selection of subwoofers with varying power handling and quality. again yes the subwoofer should not have to be replaced and in all honesty it isnt that bad, but for those that like a bit of rumble and quality it holds back a bit and can rattle, invest in a nice not too expensive subwoofer and this system rivals systems $$$'s more
out of 56 user reviews
I'm satisfied; perfect for my needs.
Pros: Excellent sound, surprisingly good surround elements, 3-way speakers project forward and to sides, good subwoofer, DVD unit small form-factor, PAL support, good audio input options incl. digital co-ax
Cons: Few video inputs, questionable build quality/sophistication of DVD unit, no optical audio input
out of 56 user reviews
My take on the HTS6500
Pros: Ease of set-up, Price value
Cons: No backlight on remote, Lack of tonal controls
out of 56 user reviews
GREAT FOR SMALLER ROOMS
Pros: Gives you a surround feel in smaller rooms
Cons: Can't adjust the sub-woofer volume
out of 56 user reviews
great system, great price
Pros: good sound, good picture, ample inputs, mp3/ipod jack in front, competitive price
Cons: limited sound controls, discs load slow, remote not intuitive
I saw this system at an Office Depot. It was on sale for $250 and had a $70 mail in rebate on top of that. They did not have a display, but I took a chance and bought the unit thinking I didn't have much to lose at this price.
So far, I really like the unit. It does have it's drawbacks, but for the money it sounds great and has a lot of nice features. I personally think the unit sounds better than the Bose system that I mentioned before and will end up being 1/5 the price.
The system sounds really good in my living room and pumps out ample volume with no noticeable distortion even when you push it to the higher levels.
It was easy to hook up and had enough cabling to place the speakers where I wanted to. The amount of wire on each speaker is almost a drawback making cable management a must. This is something all of the companies that produce these type units need to work on.
I have only played a few movies on the unit so far. The enhancement feature seemed to make the more recent movie look really great, but didn't seem to help an older DVD. I was not impressed with the load times of the DVDs or CDs. Also, I am curious as to why you cannot jump to a track on a CD with the number pad on the remote. If you can do so, I have not figured it out yet.
I love the MP3 input jack on the front. That will come in handy during the holiday season as we will just load up one of our ipods and let it play. I have tried this feature and like the sound quality. Now, if my iPod had a remote I would never unhook it from the system except to update playlists and add songs.
The remote does feel a bit cheap as it has no weight to it. I don't want a barbell, but I would like to feel it's presence in my hand. It also could have been layed out better with more intuitive controls. And it is silly I know, but the Karaoke button (not even used on this model) should have never been put there in the first place.
I would like to see more indepth controls for the sound like bass and treble outputs. But, I have found a preloaded setup that sounds great with everything I have tried so far. It took a little trial and error which is inconvenient, but not a real hassle.
The FM tuner works well, but the sound from the radio really makes you appreciate CDs and digital music. Once you play around a bit, you can make it sound acceptable. I don't listen to radio much around the house, so for me this is not a major concern, but if you live with the radio on, you might want to hear the system in action before purchasing it.
Even with it's quirks I really like it. It has great sound quality and some extremely nice features for the price. I know high end audio buffs would not agree, but my needs are much more simple than theirs. I also don't have the $1,000-5,000 it would take get one they would "recommend" or to piece together a system.
To sum up, if you want good sound quality, but don't have the budget for a high end system, that you might be disappointed in anyway, this might be the unit for you.
out of 56 user reviews
Useless piece of junk
Pros: SonoWave technology
Cons: So many cons...
out of 56 user reviews
HTS6500 Rocks!
Pros: Great Sound, Price, and Easy Set-Up
Cons: Digital Audio Input Not Optical
out of 56 user reviews
Great all-in-one home theater system
Pros: Cheap, sound, small footprint
Cons: limited sound stages, not true 5.1
Now the cons - sometimes when I watched dvd movies, the dialogs were too low and I have to switch from multichannel to stereo to hear them, switching to different sound stages would not help. It's not true surround system as I really don't hear any sounds behind me as with a 5.1 setup.
However the pros of this system outweight the cons by a landslide, and considered the cheap price I paid, I couldn't be more happier with this purchase. I just hope it will last me for a few years.
out of 56 user reviews
Congenital failures
Pros: Stylish, great picture
Cons: DVD electronics failure prone
I have no illusions that it will continue to work very long after I get it back. I believe it's not a coincidence that it seems to fail every 5 months.
It's a shame as in all other respects it's a nice piece. However, the DVD "detunes" itself or goes out of alignment or something after a while and then you are scr*wed.
Worse yet is that Philips is pretty strict about the 1 year warranty and repairs only have a 90 day warranty. And no refunds. So if the last failure occurs after the warranty period you're simply out the money.
And, as someone else remarked, you are stuck with the shipping costs to the repair center in Arkansas.
out of 56 user reviews
Great prodduct, no big problems so far.
Pros: Cheap, easy set up, picture quality, sound quality
Cons: Quirky controls, no headphone jack?!
As for music, the highs are a little shrill and the bass is heavy but it still sounds better than my old stereo set up and a few adjustments help a lot.
I wish it had a headphone jack, but I can live without it and I would also like to be able to eject a DVD without interupting the audio from the TV show I'm watching. Like I said, it's quirky, but overall I could not be happier.
out of 56 user reviews
Looks nice, sounds better than the TVs built-in speakers
Pros: Good Looks, Good price, if you get it on sale for $200
Cons: everything else: sound, mechanicals, support
out of 56 user reviews
BOUGHT AT HHGREGG AND IT HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE
Pros: WORKED FOR 3 MONTHS
Cons: STOPPED WORKING 3 MONTHS AFTER PURCHASE
out of 56 user reviews
Cheap P-O-C
Pros: Looks good, cheap
Cons: Breaks and Philips customer service stinks
I had to return something to Nintendo and they shipped the new unit (taking my credit card number in case I failed to return the defective unit) and then I had a box to return the old unit AND they paid for shipping both ways.
So my review - the unit is cheap and breaks quickly (did I mention it broke after two weeks), and Philips is horrible to work with.
out of 56 user reviews
Nice Picture, Cheap Price.
Pros: DivX, 1080i upscaling, Only 3 speaker units
Cons: Not up to 1080p. DivX features unrefined, remote
I like that there are only three speaker units that handle 5.1-"ish" sound. The subwoofer is too big, though. The required horizontal placement of main speakers doesn't fit well in my room. I had intended to mount them vertially on the cabinet, but manual says they must be horizontal.
Philips has DivX compatibility down, but they still have not refined user interface. (I've been using Philips DivX for 4 years, and user interface is worse than ever). The filenames are only the first 6 characters ("~1" make up the last 2 characters). Hopefully you don't have more than a few .AVI files on your disk. Since I put a bunch of Kids Show Episodes on the same DVD; the first 6 characters are the same. So I have no idea which episode is which.
Only accepts simple analog stereo from cable box. Would prefer HDMI pass through.
Less importantly, the on-screen volume display looks cheap. The on-screen volume display doesn't even appear when playing DivX files.
Remote control is ugly, ugly, and the letters are impossible to read in a dimly lit room (but you'll eventually memorize which button is where).
I tend to stack a bunch of units one on top of the other, but this unit must be on top, but to design.
Bottom-line. I'm returning this unit for lack of 1080p. I'll get Philip's 1080p DVD for $60, and continue to wait for a better set-up. Not worth the $250 when it doesn't get me all the way to 1080p.
out of 56 user reviews
very good product
Pros: the price is very low
Cons: the eject button is just locate in the system, but not in the remote comtrol
out of 56 user reviews
Great Bedroom HTIB
Pros: Good Sound, Nice Upconvert DVD, Sleek Look
Cons: Remote not programable, No Optical In, No HDMI In
out of 56 user reviews
Fatal Problem!
Pros: easy to set up
Cons: doesn't work with new DVDs!!!!
Three nights ago I rented a DVD which didn't work. I thought it was a scratched DVD, so I returned the disc and brought home another one. I once again had the same problem...the DVD player was stuck on the blue Philips screen. I wasn't able to access the DVD menu or any other part of the DVD. It was like I was locked out of the disc.
I called Philips and they told me some very upsetting news. Many new DVDs will NOT work with this DVD player. Due to more complex copyright protection on the newer DVDs, this Philips HTS6500 is unable to play many of them! I am in the process of returning this product and I urge everyone to avoid purchasing this outdated machine
Looks like a jumped the gun on my review. It turns out that many of Sony's new DVDs are not compatible with certain DVD players. Thanks Sony. I'd change my review froma 2 to a 7
Looks like a jumped the gun on my review. It turns out that many of Sony's new DVDs are not compatible with certain DVD players. Thanks Sony. I'd change my review froma 2 to a 7
out of 56 user reviews
Great bang for your buck!
Pros: Easy Install, great 2.1 sound, sleek looks, great price!
Cons: Remote cant control other TV equipment, subwoofer not adjustable
out of 56 user reviews
Options Ok, average sound quality
Pros: MPEG USB - MP3 plug in - HDMI -
Cons: Sound quality
CNET review first, how long did it take CNET to review this product ? Their review does not give any idea on the test criteria ? How did they test the sound quality ? Did whoever did it, tested all the options that Philips claim in this product (The virtual sound) ? What did they test the sound with DVD,Tuner,MP3, TV, HDTV what !
Anyone who tested The virtual sound would be able to notice wihtout a doubt that it is not working well and that the sound quality suffer a great deal when its activated. I ran the setup and made sure I tested the speakers in short, middle and long range .... same.
The MP3 player plugin is nothing but micro audio input with sound quality averaging a 6, 7 out of 10.
If you are looking for a HiFi quality sound for your DVD,TV with USB port to play MPEG this is allright but it does not certainly rival the 5.1 home theater out there, its simply a different category.
Philips has a history of great quality products, but this is not one of them. I wrapped it back and returned it, after almost 25 days of testing. I'll wait for the next generation with wireless streaming house wide.
out of 56 user reviews
'State of the Art' features, Good sound for less than $300
Pros: Easy set-up, HDMI DVD upscaler. Sound is very good! Compact design, Use CD's, MP3, USB and more!
Cons: No overpowering sub woofer, TV input volume is just ok, remote has an annoying built-in delay
out of 56 user reviews
NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER
Pros: SLEEK LOOK, MATCHES THEIR ABMIENT LIGHTING TV
Cons: POOR CUSTOMER SVC, WINDOWS BASED WRITABLE CD ROM REQUIRED FOR FIRMWARE UPGRADE.
out of 56 user reviews
nice little system
Pros: customer support
Cons: small sweet spot - remote hard to read
out of 56 user reviews
Great System for the Price! Sounds just as good as the big boys that cost $800 and up!
Pros: Sounds Great! Looks Great! Plays Great! It's Fantastic!
Cons: The only Con is no Bass or Tremble controls but it is not a factor!
out of 56 user reviews
This products right on with loaded features and nice price tag
Pros: Obviously price, loaded features and playback, slot drive
Cons: No independent sound control and weak am/fm reception
out of 56 user reviews
Good alternative to 5.1 surround
Pros: Size, style, price, HDMI
Cons: Limited preset sound options, weak sub
I picked it up at Best Buy for $279.
What I love about it is the sleek compact design, which was perfect for my needs. It fits and blends with my entertainment unit.
I put on Disney's "Cars" DVD to see how it would sound. It sounded pretty good. The preset sound options are pretty much limited (action, concert, sci-fi, drama) and there are only 2 surround modes ( stereo and multichannel Dolby Surround). The subwoofer was ok, but I thought it could be more powerful.
As far as the picture quality, it looked great even when hooked up with component cables, so I can't wait to see what it looks like with the HDMI connection ( I just ordered the cable today).
Bottom line is this is a good alternative to a 5.1 system.
After hooking it up with the HDMI cable, the picture is great. Although the component cables were good also, the HDMI has a slight edge in picture quality.
Just hooked it up with the HDMI cable and the picture is great.
out of 56 user reviews
Excellent Product for a great price
Pros: Small, easy set up, loud, great for small to medium size rooms
Cons: None right now
out of 56 user reviews
Don't expect miracles...
Pros: Very affordable, simple set-up, compact, nice DVD picture
Cons: Poor FM reception, weak bass and treble, disappointing performance
(Mind you, I am probably a bit impartial because I have a 1250 watt Technics component system that is Dolby 5.1 Surround equipped that I was just too lazy to hook up to my Home Theater equipment. It has now been fully integrated into the rest of my system.)
The sound from the HTS6500 at easy listening levels was tinny and with no fullness or depth. FM reception was poor as was the sound for FM listening. However, when listening to CDs or DVD sound, if you raise the volume to louder levels the sound improves greatly. Probably just giving the sub-woofer enough power to start helping. Otherwise the bass is just not there.
This system might be a good choice for a smaller bedroom or for someone who just wants to improve the sound of their poor sounding television.
out of 56 user reviews
Decent replacement for a 5.1 system
Pros: Price;Video quality;DVD upconversion;USB input;Easy setup
Cons: SonoWave active by default;To much bass
I love photo display and mp3 play from external memory. What I love most is that doesn't have a tray, so my son cannot break it...and accepts mini-DVDs!
However, I'm very happy with it! I wait for the next version, I hope with EQ, separate volume and setting per input.
out of 56 user reviews
Great for small spaces
Pros: Simple set-up, sleek design
Cons: Huge subwoofer but lacks power; remote buttons are too small
Like other reviews, the black cover attracts dust and fingerprints. The prints on the remote are so tiny. The antenna seems weak as it only searched 2 FM stations (or it could be just the area that I'm at).
I'd like to give an 8 but the subwoofer was really disappointing. Also, 500w seems to be low when there are other units offering more wattage for the same price.
out of 56 user reviews
i read the ok review after i already paid for it ......
Pros: great sound good price and sleak look
Cons: if you dont read your manual and set it up like it is recomended it will sound poor
out of 56 user reviews
great system for the price
Pros: loud and hdmi out
Cons: virtual surround is lacking
out of 56 user reviews
Excellent product if a 2.1 system is what you're looking for
Pros: The Price, gorgeous asthetics, excellent sound, small package,and crispy upconverting DVD player
Cons: No digital optical input and no external base control
An excellent feature of the Philips HTS6500 is the upconverting DVD player. Although I just bought a 1080p tv, I didn't want to drop another wad of cash on a blueray or HD-DVD before the industry has selected a standard. Movies on this system look AMAZING connected to my tv via HDMI. Although I have seen Gladiator many times, I felt like I was watching it for the first time on this set-up. The picture was so crispy and I was pleasant suprised with the simulated surround sound. My fiance and I my never watch a movie in a theater again.
The asthetic appearance of the Philips HTS6500 is truely sleek. The piano black finish compliments my Samsung LCD perfectly and combines for a sexy look. The eye-pleasing appearance and small size of this 2.1 system are its best attribute. While the system does sacrafice the sound quality of a true 5.1 system, the size and appearance outwigh this sacrafice when considering my needs.
While I am exceptionally pleased with this product, I do have a few minor qualms. First, the reciever lacks a digital optical input. This is annoying becuase most cable/satellite boxes now use digital optical. This problem can be easily remedied however by purchasing (for $20 online) a digital optical to digital coaxial converter. I did this and the DTS sound coming from my satellite reciever is phenominal. Another annoying feature of this product is the lack of an external subwoofer control. While I love the base to thump during movies (which it does!), a little less base is desirable over cereal and the morning episode of Sportscenter.
All in all the Philips HTS6500 is a fantastic buy when all is considered. I would strongly recommend this product to anyone who has similar needs as me.
out of 56 user reviews
Best Price/Value in it's Category
Pros: sleek/compact design at an excellent price
Cons: sound is just ok
Best Buy finally coughed up a store credit for me after 3 months of negotiating with them (minus sales tax & service plan). I used the store credit and purchased this unit, plus a deluxe X-Box 360 system w/an extra controller & 3 games, plus a video I-Pod for my daughter.
I am much happier overall with this Philips system over the Denon. It looks good, sounds good, and fits into my 2br apartment perfectly. It has HDMI connection that I am using with my new Sony 50" LCD and connects to an I-Pod through the headphone jack. The Denon was a little more rich sound and flashy features but this system is a MUCH better price value overall.
I'm happy with my purchase.....finally!
out of 56 user reviews
Great Value & Performance
Pros: Nice Styling, Excellent Price & Features. Great Sound & Picture.
Cons: No manual bass & treble controls, the speakers are big compared to the Sony & Bose 2.1 systems.
out of 56 user reviews
simple yet rich in advanced features
Pros: crisp surround sound and HDMI
Cons: quite big speakers but nice design though.
out of 56 user reviews
the sound pulls you in
Pros: HDMI; DivX Ultra;
Cons: Lack of publicity
out of 56 user reviews
What a bargain! Great sound, great design, great price
Pros: Good sound, sleek design
Cons: big subwoofer, small display
out of 56 user reviews
Looks and Sounds Good
Pros: Clean Surround Sound, Good Value
Cons: Sound cannot be made very loud, but loud enough for any room
out of 56 user reviews
Great Product.
Pros: CHEAP!! Easy to Set up. Sound
Cons: Remote labels are to small.
Bose 321 GSX. Cost $1299-$1599 Demo sounds great, picture looks good but does not have HDMI output. The reviews I read from other customers said the DVD player was terrible. I could not find one Demo that would let me play my own DVD. This made me think Bose was hiding something.
Denon S301. I was pumped about this product. Cost 1300-1600 Does have HDMI Output. I could not find one negative user review on this product. I didn't want to purchase one until I could hear the sound.
Sony, This is the worst 2.1 on the market. The sound is terrible and does not have HDMI output.
Philips, DIVX ULTRA I stumbled onto this product by accident while surfing the web. It was just released on June 06. I could not find any user reviews at the time of purchase. However CNET had written a description of the unit while they were at CES 2005. (CES is a huge home entertainment technology show in Vegas every year) This product does have HDMI output and cost far less than any other 2.1 on the market. $399.00. Amazon has it for $308.00. I figured for that price I have to try it. I hooked it up last night. Easy to install. I reccomend reading the operators manual. In the manual it talks about how to set up the system in the Menu options to your needs. You can choose options such as Video and Audio Output type, How far your speakers are spaced apart, the room type (cement walls or wood) How far you sit from the speakers. This helps. I tested the system the same way I test all systems. I popped in Saving Private Ryan, the part when they are storming the beach. The picture was awesome and the sound was great.
Obviously a 7.1 or 5.1 is the only way to achieve actual surround sound. If space or laziness prohibits you from ordering a 5.1 product I'd say the Philips DIVX Ultra is for you.
out of 56 user reviews
Great show for the money
Pros: Great price and sound; marvelous footprint; quality DVD video, CD sound
Cons: No bass/treble controls. Nit picky... no rear audio in for iPod; limited options for Tivo or additional boxes; remote small
Quick to set up, and the "tweaters" (old school me) are rock solid and well built. The Av unit itself is exactly the form factor I was looking for- small and non-blingy; it fits perfectly on top of the Tivo. The sub seems oversized and cheap in comparison to the tweeters (-). Nice touch including wall brackets for the tweeters too.
I also went with the HDMI hookup to my Sony 32 LCD. I tested my iPod first, using the front input (be nice to have a rear as well- nitpicky, but -). Depending on your MP3 settings, you'll need to fiddle with the presets to find the sound you are looking for.
Next came Metallica Black.... most excellent and rich sound. Not a Bose or Denon 5.1, but for hundreds less, amazing- I don't have the space or patience for speakers and wires all over the place- I just got rid of all that. After that, I threw in a West Wing DVD to test the video quality. The 1080i was incredibly clear and brilliant.
I did not have the TV audio set through the HDMI, so that remains to be seen. But seeing as I am more concerned with music quality and picture quality from the unit, I am very pleased.
Certainly the pros outweigh the cons, and as mentioned above, the biggest disappointments are the lack of the bass/treble control (presets only) and the poor remote- you need to be a fighter pilot to read the text. For the amount of "thump" coming from the sub, it should be smaller. All in all, an 8+ (just can't quite rate a 9) with a marvelously rich sound coming from a unit which is next to invisible.
out of 56 user reviews
Great product for the price.
Pros: Sound. Looks. Size.
Cons: Some functions tough and no backlighted remote
