theuerkorn's Full Review: Samsung Electronics HOME THEATRE SPEAKER BAR Speak...
Smaller isn't always better, and that certainly holds true for miniature speaker systems. Although there has been some impressive progress regarding sound reproduction with smaller devices, Physics are still hard to overcome. This has been my major issue with Samsung's latest LEDTV, which is a great TV overall with only wimpy and tinny sound to distract from the overall experience. Of course, the thin design makes you wonder how they fit any kind of sound in there anyway, but it soon becomes an annoyance. That's where the sound bar steps in, and Samsung released a matching model to the LEDTV in the HT-WS1.
IN A NUTSHELL
A sound bar in general is more about style than absolute sound. It's also typically limited to a 2.1 system and some try to simulate a 5.1 system (like Yamaha's much pricier model). So, if you're sound aficionado, stop right here and move on to a dedicated 5.1 or 7.1 system.
The HT-WS1 strives to improve sound to a "Good" level and make it overall more enjoyable without all the bulk (wires, mounting etc.) of a multi speaker system. It does a decent job to achieve this goal and the separate bass can be quite rich at times.
It's not without flaw as the humming noise (fan?) is quite noticeable at low volumes and it's not directly controllable from the TV. (Hence two remotes etc., and two separate power buttons) The style is excellent, though the status LEDs are quite distracting at first (right hand), and the white Bottom LED a mismatch to the red LED in the TV.
DETAILS
Setup: [****-] The sound bar is typically located directly underneath the TV and can use the included clear stand or mounted on the wall with the also included bracket. For the most part, simply plug both sound bar and sub-woofer into the power outlets and connect the sound bar to the TV (or other sound source) via the included optical cable (approx. 4 - 5 ft). and you're ready to roll. At least Samsung's TV doesn't seem to recognize the presence of the sound bar, and needs to be configured to use External Speaker. That's pretty much it. The sub-woofer is wireless and can be placed in a different spot without having to run a cable. It linked right up and despite having a wireless router sitting right next to it, there seemed to be non of the described drop-outs I found in other places (which Samsung attributes to possible interferences in the 2.4 GHz band).
Design: [****-] This being the main point for this device, the matching design to Samsung's LEDTV's makes it an eye-pleasing addition to the home theater. It's available in the ToC (red frame) and the Grey frame (to match Best Buy's version or the 8000 series. Either way, the sub-woofer is an elegant understated design without bells and whistles and fits any modern decor with ease. The status LEDs on the right are cool at first but become quickly annoying when the focus is off the device and onto the movie. Despite it being an integrated solution, there is no controls on the TV to allow using OSD instead of these LEDs (which make your eye wander to the right hand bottom corner). At least the bottom LED turns off during use and only light up in stand-by (the scheme I prefer for my TV as well).
Size: [*****] This can be easily determined by looking at the dimensions, but for reference, here a few comparisons. The sound bar is about the same width as the 40" LEDTV by Samsung. It's a little bit deeper that when mounting the TV via the ultra slim wall mount (about 1/2 inch). The sub-woofer is about the size of a toddle chair ... which the same will use as such given the opportunity. ;-)
Sound: [****-] It's all relative and one certainly has to take the limitations of the 2.1 system at such diminutive size into considerations. With that, it's actually quite an impressive little system and able to generate a pleasant movie experience. Unfortunately there is no custom sound field (setting) to allow adjustment to your liking and the four provided settings sure don't take needs for a specific room into consideration. The bass is overall very strong unless you're using the News mode. (Keep that in mind when having others that are trying to sleep somewhere in the house.)
The most distracting issue was a slight buzzing noise that starts as soon as the device is turned on. What appeared to be a faulty left speaker in the soundbar, turned out to be a design problem. Of course, the cooling fan in the sub-woofer emits a very slight noise too, but it shuts off as soon as the sound is quiet. "Massaging" the device seemed to reduce the noise occasionally until I noticed that simply touching the rear housing near the center greatly reduces the noise. It turned out that there is a pcb mounted to the rear cover for the wireless link to the subwoofer. With it tightened down the housing seemed to somehow generate audible resonances, and touching the part changes the resonance frequency of a part. Decoupling the pcb from the rear cover (loosen screws and add foam underneath) completely eliminated the problem. (I wonder how many of the reports online about the fan noise are actually traceable back to this pcb.)
Update: Over the course of about a month, the sub's fan became more audible. It's not a problem with full sound or silence as the noise is either masked by the sound or the fan is turned off anyway. However, if the sound stops suddenly (i.e. after an explosion) it's noticeable as the fan's slowing down lags a bit and becomes very noticeable. I am still investigating an alternative fan, but simply removing appears to do just fine when not running the volume all that high (approx. 50%).
Remote: [****-] Samsung includes not one but two remotes with this soundbar and the pebble is more of a stylish novelty than it's usable. It's pretty much limited to control volume and tuner channels, but cannot be configured to be useful for other configurations where you don't rely on the QAM tuner. On the positive side, you can choose to control the tv with the other included remote, or more interesting, the TV's remote can actually control the soundbar when the TV is configured for external speaker. That's pretty cool and unexpected, but of course doesn't have access to the sound fields as that remote doesn't have the buttons. (Not sure how the TV communicates with the soundbar.)
I ran into some issue with my universal remote Harmony 550 where the programming and even the learning seemed to go fine, but the HT-WS1 didn't respond at all (volume, power etc.). It turned out that learning the commands in RAW mode ("custom") was needed to capture a signal the HT-WS1 would understand.
Value: [****-] It's not cheap, even at the $299 offer I was able to get this for. It's not a full sound system either. However, it gives your new TV quite a boost in sound performance compared to the tinny built-in speakers (which even make news sometimes hard to understand). The justification for the HT-WS1 is mostly based on its design to match the LEDTV rather than absolute sound quality. Nevertheless, it meets my needs very well.
Amplify your listening pleasure with the slim compact HT-WS1R Home Theater. Difficult room configurations are not a problem ? the WS1 can be mounted ...More at HomeGoodz
Amplify your listening pleasure with the slim, elegant HT-WS1G speaker bar and subwoofer, both displaying Samsungs classy Touch of Color for a stylish...More at Vanns.com
Amplify your listening pleasure with a slim, compact HT-WS1R home theaterWS1 theater can be mounted on the wall for a convenient approach Wireless sub...More at Overstock.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.