Audio Shopper's Guide: What do you want--sound or style?

Samsung's state of the art home theater in a box.

(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung's brand spanking new HT-BD2 home theater in a box put me through some changes. It's the world's first Blu-ray HTIB, so sure, it's got picture quality to die for, and even boasts state of the art Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio surround 7.1 channel processing. The HT-BD2 also looks pretty hot, the Blu-ray player/A/V receiver's curvaceous, high gloss style is drop-dead gorgeous, and the super-model thin tower speakers and chunky subwoofer are likewise designed for eye appeal.

But just that, the HT-BD2's sonic splendors are in short supply, or to put it another way, it's all show and no go. I'll get into more detail about the sound in my CNET review that will appear early next month.

But the HT-BD2's hefty price tag, $1,500, put me off. The Samsung sounds merely OK, not bad, just painfully average for a HTIB--clearly the product designers know that features and looks sell, and sound is a low priority. I'm sure Samsung will sell a ton of these things, but if you care about sound you can do a lot better for your $1,500. How good, let's see.

I didn't want to forfeit Blu-ray for this $1,500 dream system, so I selected Samsung's BD-P1400 Blu-ray Player (street price, $350). It duplicates the HT-BD2's video capabilities. Pioneer's VSX-817 receiver typically goes for around $200-250, and would be a good match for our $900 speaker/subwoofer package.

Speakers? I have two favorites in this price range, Atlantic Technology's sweet sounding System 920; you can read my CNET review here. PSB Speakers' Alpha Series is a little pricier, but truly excellent. Four B1 bookshelf monitors, the Alpha C1 center speaker, and SubSeries 1 subwoofer would bring us in on budget. OK, maybe a little over, depending on the deals you score.

The shootout between this separates based system and the Samsung HT-BD2 wouldn't take very long. The Samsung sounds like a home theater in a box--dynamically undernourished, with boomy, poorly defined bass, and no actual treble detail. Yes, the Samsung can play pretty loud, but sound quality isn't a happening concept. It sounds like a very large table radio.

The Samsung Blu-ray, Pioneer receiver, and Atlantic Technology or PSB Speakers based system will sound awfully nice on music and movies. Bass will be deeper and tighter, with freewheeling dynamics, an open sounding midrange and yes, actual treble extension.

We're talking big differences here, but it's your money and you get to choose--slick style or good sound. Don't say I didn't warn you.

[filmfan214]

The appeal of the HTIB to people who don't know much about the subject (like me) is that all the pieces are put together for you, so it's nice when an expert like you can tell someone like me a better way of doing it. Thanks.

I think you've mentioned before that mixing and matching pieces from different manufacturers doesn't always work. How do you know when it will or will not work?

I own a Sony HTIB that I bought several years ago when I was in college (and on a small budget). The sound may not blow anyone away, but it is better than the TV speakers. Recently a friend said he was thinking about redoing his theater room and getting different speakers and thought I might like to have his floor-standing speakers (I can't remember what kind they are now, but much nicer than the tiny Sony ones I have). Do you think I could use them with my Sony receiver? I would really like to get a new receiver but I'm not in a place right now where I can update my entire home theater so I was thinking about doing it incrementally.

[ndurantz]

You should be able to use those speakers with your receiver. Check a couple of things:

1) What kind of wattage can your sony receiver drive? Your manual should tell you. You don't want to try and drive speakers with a peak wattage higher than your receiver. It will get really, really hot and could end up with damage.

2) Check the ohms on both your receiver and the speakers. If they match, you are good to go!

At least that is my novice advice. You can always check the internet for advice. Just search for the model of receiver and the speakers and you should find some good info.

[ematcion]

It does take some knowledge to put together a good sounding system. However, if you are reading cnet and is literate enough to understand the site, I don't see how it can be complicated. The problem I see is that a lot of consumers are just too lazy to read the owner's manual or to make an effort to understand the technology. It's really not that hard.

[d06svt]

Like most things in life, you can have your cake and eat it, too. It all depends on your definition of "style." Budget aside, a stylish (nay, sexy) home theater speaker system can be had from the likes of Definitive Technologies, JBL, or Klipsch (like the RF-83 system Steve reviewed) that is far and away superior to anything sold in one box. Unfortunately, new and exciting TVs have all but extinguished consumers' zest (and funds) for high-quality audio, and if they ever do invest in a "surround sound", it is either a bargain-basement, sub-par sounding all-in-one set from Sony or Samsung, or if they go "high end", it is often an over-priced, boxed system from Bose (because anemic 3" woofers and a "bass module" are stylish!) .