3. Philips HTS8100 Ambisound Sound Bar

by Ed Tittel

This innovative Philips product packs five speakers, an AM/FM tuner, an iPod dock, and a stylish DVD player into a long, low enclosure ideal for placement in front of a flat panel HDTV. The HTS8100 delivers rich, convincing multi-channel surround sound from the Sound Bar itself, plus a separate self-powered subwoofer for extra bass punch and realism. In addition to support for Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Prologic II, plus conventional stereo, the unit supports Philips' own Ambisound surround sound scheme, which works very well to simulate multi-channel surround sound effects from mono, stereo, and other audio inputs.

The Philips Soundbar is a long, low, rectangular unit with a separate subwoofer, at the right in the photo.

In addition to its surround sound handling capabilities, the HTS8100 also offers numerous pre-set EQ schemes for sound, including rock, concert, classical, drama, jazz, MTV, RnB, gaming, party, and more. The main unit incorporates two 1" soft dome tweeters and two 2.5" full range mid-spectrum speakers, while the subwoofer includes a 6.5" long throw woofer to handle sounds in the range from 30 to 120 Hz. The primary enclosure dimensions are 36.8" x 5.75" x 5.35" (93.5 x 14.6 x 13.6 cm) and its weight 15.4 lbs (7 kg); the subwoofer measures 11.6" x 17.6" x 11.6" (29.5 x 44.6 x 29.5 cm) and 23.1 lbs (10.5 kg). These are great dimensions for those who want to put sound in front of a 32" to 46" flat panel display of some kind. The subwoofer can go anywhere nearby on the floor.

The DVD circuitry in the soundbar doesn't disappoint, either. Though it handles only conventional DVDs, this player offers DVD picture enhancement and video upscaling to its users. Thanks to the Faroudja DCDi (Directional Correlation Deinterlacing) adaptive motion circuitry, the HTS8100 can also clean up fast-moving images, especially sports and high-speed action scenes. The unit can deliver 720p, 1080i, and 1080p video outputs from conventional DVDs to make the best possible match to whatever HDTV resolutions are available to viewers.

Video playback from the DVD unit is also pretty impressive. It supports a wide range of compression formats, including DVX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x, 6.0, and Ultra, as well as MPEG1 and MPEG2, and will accommodate DVD-Video, DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW, Video CD/SVCD, and CD-R/RW formats.

On the audio side, the unit includes an external iPod dock, plus MP3 line-in and a USB port for USB Flash drives, along with support for CD audio, MP3, and WMA formats, MP3 bit rates from 32 to 256 kbps are supported, as well as variable bit rate (VBR) format. It can even display JPEG photos from CDs (-R/-RW only), DVDs (+R/+RW only), and USB Flash drives as well. It also includes HDMI (1.2), component video, and composite video outputs, as well as TV audio input, and an HDMI output (most likely, for connecting up to an HDMI equipped TV).

This unit is a pretty good deal even at its MSRP of $1,000, but we found discounts on the HTS8100 as low as $600. With its good looks, broad range of capabilities, great sound, and good DVD playback capabilities, it's well-suited for any grad or dad who will appreciate its many playback capabilities when used with a medium-sized flat-panel display that needs a sound boost to match the picture.