Best Place Subwoofer Home

Review by gailcny : problematic & bad warranty experience with Philips!

When this unit works, it's great. Compact size, good sound. I'm able to stream my own music from the computer through my TiVo HD. Negatives out of the box: 1. when you buy this for a small apartment - small soundbars like this are not easy to find - how do you make room for the clunky sub-woofer? I guess this is unavoidable. I only remember seeing one soundbar that didn't use a subwoofer, but the size and price were unacceptable. I do have to keep the sub-woofer volume at the lowest level, but that seems to be ok for me.2. The remote is awful. Tiny buttons crowded together with labels that are nearly unreadable.3. The remote has to be used separately from my TiVo remote, even after I bought a new (expensive!) TiVo remote that is supposed to be able to sync, or "find" other components.BIGGEST NEGATIVE - after several months, the subwoofer started groaning and humming when turned on. I didn't bother to do anything for a while, because it would quiet down after a minute or two. But then I noticed that even after the worst noise subsided, there was still a fairly annoying hum/rattle that would continue for quite a long time.Philips was very easy to deal with on the phone, and promised to send out a "new or refurbished" unit. When I questioned that, she referred me to the warranty on the last page of my user manual. Finally (nearly two weeks later!) the replacement arrived, and it was a mess. The styrofoam packaging was all broken and randomly stuffed around the pieces. Every single item had obvious dings and scratches, and one thing was even broken - the cheap plastic stand that snaps to the bottom. I just kept my original one. I would have liked to keep my own soundbar and just return the sub-woofer, but I didn't want any hassles over the serial number. And just to add insult to injury, they stuck a big white sticker on the top of the soundbar, partially over the grill. Wouldn't come off cleanly, so it looks awful until I can find time to deal with that.So far, it is quiet when I turn it on, and that's the most important thing. But given that other people have complained about this same problem, I'm not very optimistic. I was assured that my original warranty is still valid - so I have six months to send this one packing if it develops the same problem. But I'm pretty annoyed and disappointed, I thought Philips was a better company than that.

Review by Greg : Liked it, but returned it

I was looking for a small soundbar and subwoofer to replace a 5.1 surround system when we remodeled and got rid of the big armoire that held all my audio gear. I looked at several brands and models, but many bars got poor reviews. Additionally, many soundbar/subwoofer systems include a very large subwoofer that wouldn't fit where I needed it. When I spotted this system (Philips HSB2312A) at a discount membership club for $150, I took it home and hooked it up to my Vizio LCD using an optical audio cable. Connected to the TV, I have a Motorola HD set top box (HDMI), a Sony Blu-ray player (HDMI), and a Wii game system (standard AV cable). I also connected my MP3 player through the AV input on the soundbar, which was a nice bonus. It sounded great and seemed to be just what I was looking for, but after we used it (lightly) for about two months I decided to return it for two reasons: (1) The sound would drop out when watching Blu-ray movies. I'm not sure why this happened, but I watched three or four different movies and this happened several times during each movie. The only remedy I could find was to change the input on the soundbar from optical to another input, and then back to optical. I never experienced this when playing my MP3 player through the AV input, playing the Wii, or watching cable TV. It only occurred when watching Blu-ray movies. (2) The main reason I returned it is because the soundbar itself would get extremely hot to the touch and had a "burning electronics" smell. It wasn't enough to be alarming, but I noticed every time I used it. At first, I assumed this was just because it was new and thought it would fade over time. However, it smelled the same way after two months any time the power was turned on. I decided that I didn't want to take a chance on it burning up or malfunctioning in the future. LIKES: small size, great sound, MP3 input, great price DISLIKES: hot to touch/burning smell, instructions were not very helpful, didn't like having another remote

Review by M. Zambuto "slautterback" : Up to date technology

Light weight small footprint full rich sound loaded with features and options. I have a Philips HTC 8100 and this unit has the same power and sounds better with half the size and weight of the HTC 8100. Thats because I believe its up to todays standards. I fully recommend this unit, it marrys up to my Philips LED 46" TV perfectly. Oh yeah, the price makes me happy as well.

Review by Transformer_fan : Decent but needs improvement

I just finished hooking up my PS3 and cable box to this soundbar/woofer combo via the 2 HDMI inputs in the back Everything works well, sound quality is decent and its really easy to set up But come tomorrow I'm sending it back ... WHY ? Simple ! the device loses the video signal as soon as I change the channel from HD to SD on my cable box and/or vice-versa. Only workaround is to cycle through the inputs before it picks up the picture again. If you like to flip channels between SD and HD as most do, this system is not going to work for you Oh and why is it so that the device turns off when the signal is cut but doesn't turn back on when it comes back ? Shouldn't this 'green eco stuff' work both ways ? Why must I turn it on manually every time I turn the cable box/ps3 and TV on ? I don't think this merits buying one of those macro-programmable remotes anyway

Review by iEmpower "i really do Empower!!" : Great Soundbar but with a bit louder bass!!

Great Soundbar but with a bit louder bass!!I connected my BD Player to this Soundbar and from there to my Samsung TV. I don't have cable so I use antenna for OTA channels that is directly connected to TV. I have connected my TV's Optical-out to Soundbar's Optical-in. Everything works great but w/ a small problem. The bass from sub-woofer is too high even on the lowest setting.I live in a Town-Home and certainly do not want to disturb my neighbors. So everything is OK until 10:00 PM but when it's time for a reduced bass from subwoofer, this Soundbar fails.Does anybody know how to reduce bass to the minimum so there is no disturbance? Right now I am planning to exchange it w/ another similar model just to see if the newer one has a lower bass. Otherwise I will return for a full refund...

Review by KMaeJeff : Great Product, Especially for the Price

I purchased this after becoming aware (by reading user manual online) that the soundbar has a digital coax plug (orange plug). I had been looking for one with this input for some time since my TV has only an orange plug for an audio out source. I was slightly nervous about the purchase given some of the questionable reviews but am happy to report that, after having the product for a week, it is working fantastically. The sound quality is great. Some reviewers reported too much bass and I'm not finding this to be a problem at all (the remote can control the sub woofer volume from one to five, I listen to television or movies on 1 or 2 and music, played through iPod at a higher level). So far I'm really pleased with this purchase and will update this review if my story changes after further use.

Review by Wayne B : Well Enough for Apple TV

I only have an Apple TV hooked up to my TV. I use the HDMI pass through which is nice. Since my TV only has 1 HDMI input I now have 2 as there are two pass throughs. One thing I would have liked is if I can listen to my Apple TV without the TV being on. Turns out you can't do this because of the HDCP, so I might get a optical cable to bypass this. The bass is better than I thought it would be from such a small box, I keep it on level 1 (of 5) as any other setting the bass is overwhelming in my apartment. I got it from Costco for about $150+tax. So I can return it if I didn't like it, no questions asked. I will be keeping it. All my media is in 2 channel and I have a 1000 sqft apartment so I have been looking for a 2.1 sound bar that wasn't $300+. I am pleased with my purchase.

Review by adam hoban : perfect fit for me

this sound bar set up is a great solution for our family. small pakage but big sound. exellent compatibility. it does run a bit hot, but we only use it for movies and music. great looking product and easy to set up and use.

Review by Zeek : Affordable Quality

Bought this sound bar while it was on sale for $99 has all the possible connections you can need for just about any tv it has digital optical out which I needed, hdmi, as well as rc cables. If you are looking for an upgrade over your tv's speakers this is def an affordable way to go. It has strong bass great sound, you will hear things from familiar movies that you have never heard before using just your tv's speakers. Not the highest grade speakers in the world and the bass can be powerful(has bass volume control though so not a major factor) but for the price you pay there is no better option out there. Highly recommend.

Review by Christobear : Incredibly awesome

My hubby and I wanted to get a surround sound system for his parents but didn't want something TOO loud and couldn't imagine too many components dominating their living room. My hubby hit a homerun when he said, "soundbar." We found this after much online research and are thoroughly pleased with our purchase, as are the recipients:) The subwoofer is more powerful than expected and just the overall sound quality is pretty amazing - especially compared to what it was on the TV. They have a Toshiba Regza 46XV645U - [...]1. The TV is wall mounted above a fireplace, and the soundbar sits on top of the mantle, just under the TV. The subwoofer sits on the floor alongside the cable box and blu ray player. The soundbar acts as a receiver so all the HDMI cables are connected to it directly. The hook up was easy and haven't had any problems running it..

Review by R. Macias : Little problem at first

I purchased this product new. It came delivered just as promissed. I went to hook it up using the HDMI cables, but no sound came out. I know my DVD player and LCD TV is HDMI compatible, because when I hook it up direct, no problem. I tried a new HDMI cable, re-set the device, and still the problem exist. I contacted Philips about the problem and explained everything I did. They sent me out a replacement unit, and it works GREAT. I don't mind if there's a problem with a product that I buy, but I expect the company to make it right. The soundbar is great for my bedroom. The price was right, and dealing with Philips customer service was great. I recommend this soundbar to anyone who wants to upgrade from there wimmpy built in speakers on there TV..