The system's composure wasn't ruffled by the surreal war epic The Thin Red Line, as long as we held the volume to moderate levels. We credit the potent sub with endowing the system with a solid foundation. Surround effects from the rear speakers blended seamlessly with the front soundstage. Like any system with microsatellites, the MX966 sounds best in small- to medium-sized rooms. So don't expect the unit to play really loud--the speakers have their limits.
We tweaked the level and crossover controls on the sub to mesh with the satellites before we rocked out with James Blood Ulmer's tasty new blues CD, The Sun Sessions. The ensemble easily transmitted the band's funked-up blues grooves, but Ulmer's growling vocals lacked their natural warmth. We're just being picky, but we liked the MX966's sound on DVDs better than with CDs. And we felt the tuner sounded thin and a bit brash.
Those few gripes aside, we were mightily impressed with the MX966. Its combination of sound quality and features coupled with its affordable $400 list price are hard to beat. Philips offers a similar HTIB, the $450 MX1015D, which incorporates a DVD player but has less power and skips a few features.
What You'll Pay
- Set Price Alert
