Philips HTS-6500/37 Theater System

Pros: reduces clutter, decent surround, cheap, light, elegant.
Cons: no sound controls, poor sub, limited connections, worrisome distortions.

The Philips HTS6500 is an elegant and simple surround sound solution that promises a lot to people with tight spaces, tight budgets, or little patience. Being a long time home theater devotee I am at a point when just the speakers of the TV would never ...

Pros: Best 2.1 1080i up converting DVD/HTiB on the market for under $300.00
Cons: Needlessly large sub.

I wanted a system that would nicely complement my Plasma without a terrible expense and without having to spend a fortune or have too much of a headache with respect to setup. I also needed to upgrade my current DVD player to one that will up convert ...

Pros: sound, simplicity, cost
Cons: none

I will start off by saying that I am not a person who writes reviews, ever. But I have read several reviews on this product and just felt I had to chime in. I have seen a couple different times that the sub on this system is weak. I think that is ...

Pros: Great looking, HDMI output, sound and picture are pure.
Cons: None - Unit is the future of 2 & 1 speaker multi-channel sound.

I have been visiting many showrooms to see and hear all home theaters that I could before I made a choice to buy. Panasonic with its wireless advantages, Samsung with its eastern qualities, and this Philips Home Theater, that won my admiration for its looks, sound/visual virtues, and the ability to play numerous cd/dvd formats. I think this is the best 2 way home theater on the market. The disc is slot loading, the system finds the AM/FM stations and sets them to memory (up to 40 channels can be memorized). The blue light power button and the black/silver stealth case brings the unit well into the 21st century. The 5-1 channel sound is the best I heard on a 2 speaker/1 woofer system. It is far better than BOSE, and others 2 & 1 speaker systems. The Solowave is the reason for this. Each speaker that is housed in the speaker case has its own amp to not simulate surround sound BUT create multi-channel sound! For the money, its the only unit hands down to own.

Pros: Sound quality, picture quality, ease of use, and PRICE.
Cons: Lack of input connections. Does not replace a full function reciever

Just got the system and I couldn't be happier.

Sound: Listened to parts of Star Wars and Superman Returns. Sounds fantastic. The 2.1 system really does replicate a surround sound system. Great if you don't want to fuss with rear speaker wires. Now of course it does not sound as good as my $1500 system in the living room, but for my bedroom and for $300 I don't think you could do any better.

DVD player upconverts to a beautiful 1080i. It looks better than anything in the movie theater. Having an HDTV that uses HDMI is a must.

Cons: this does not have a lot of inputs so don't consider it as a replacement for a full feature reciever, but it is perfect for my bedroom.

I highly recommend this product.

Pros: Easy set-up, HDMI DVD upscaler and AM-FM tuner sound very good! compact,CD's, MP3, JPEG.
Cons: No overpowering sub woofer, TV input volume is just OK, remote has built-in delay.

This is a HTIB, A 'home theater in a box'. Everything is included except a $49 HDMI cable. The good: sleek, modern, and compact, this HTIB has tons of features! Most important it has DVD upscaling to 720P/1080i and a HDMI connection to your new HDTV that is not always available on $500 plus systems. It has a AM-FM tuner, USB conecction for JPEG pictures and reads CD's, MP3's. The Multi Channel and Dolby 2.1 sound and volume is very very good but not great. The not so bad: The universal remote to the unit has an annoying delay and the TV input volume could be a bit louder. (Even after the firmware upgrade). All in all for aprrox $300 it sounds very good, plays great and easy to setup and use. If you have a limited budget, this Philips HTS-6500 is a must buy because it has the features you need and sounds like a home theater should! By the way, I did hours of research and this is what I bought. This is not for the home theater purist with lots of cash.

Pros: compact
Cons: IT'S JUNK

I service the home theater display at a major chain that has this model and every time I walk in to check on the display this model and the HTS3544 is not working. With the HTS6500 It either has no sound or the sound is distorted. It seems that this problem happens when you crank the volume up to 20 + and the audio hits some hard bass.
The HTS3544 has no sound and it does not respond when you push ANY button. The temporary "fix" is to unplug it then plug it in again.
Funny thing is that last years model,the HTS3440, had the same problem as the 6500.