Big Picture Big Sound

Samsung Unveils 2011 Blu-ray Home Theater Line Featuring 3D Sound Plus

By Ian White

Surround sound is the final piece of the puzzle for most people when putting together a home theater system, but not everyone wants to spend thousands on a 7.1 A/V receiver and loudspeaker system. There are domestic issues to consider when buying a surround system, and some people just don't have the space for it. The popularity of HTiB (home theater in a box) systems has only continued to grow as manufacturers include better Blu-ray players in these kits with 3D capabilities, more power, wireless streaming, and more attractive looking loudspeakers. When you add it all up, some HTiBs are a pretty good deal.

Samsung has been offering this type of set-up for a number of years, but for 2011, the gloves have really come off. The new line-up of home entertainment systems from Samsung offer everything from Blu-ray 3D playback to 3D Sound Plus surround sound technology.

The new line-up offers ten different models across three different categories: Blu-ray home theater, sound bars, and the traditional A/V receiver (with a twist). Samsung started offering Blu-ray 3D playback in 2010 in their home entertainment systems, but new for this year is their 3D Sound Plus technology. 3D Sound Plus is designed to give traditional surround sound the feeling of greater depth (wider and deeper soundstage), and height. That sounds a lot like Dolby ProLogic IIz to us, but we'll believe it when we get to hear it in a more controlled listening environment.

The flagship HT-D6730W (available in March 2011 for $799.00) Blu-ray home entertainment system is a 7.1 channel system, finished in a really classy looking midnight black gloss, which includes: a center channel speaker, subwoofer, two tower super tweeter speakers that include height channel and surround speakers, and two additional surround speakers. The system offers 1080p HD playback of Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Discs, and puts out over 1,300 watts of peak power. It also supports all of the HD audio surround formats, as well as Samsung's Crystal Sound Plus and 3D Sound Plus technology. The system also includes two HDMI inputs so that you can connect devices such as set-top boxes and gaming systems.

HT-D6730W.jpg
The Samsung HT-D6730W 7.1 3D Blu-ray home entertainment system
The HT-D6730W offers built-in Wi-Fi so that it can sync devices with AllShare and offers wireless rear surround speakers. iPod/iPhone users can plug their device into a supplied dock and have access to music, movies, and TV programs that they may have stored in iTunes. The system also works with Samsung's new Smart Hub technology that builds on Samsung Apps (which was launched in 2010). It is a menu system that allows users to easily search for content on their TV, receive recommendations based on their viewing history, and better utilize the Samsung Apps application.

HT-D6500W.jpg
The Samsung HT-D6500W home entertainment system
Samsung is also offering the HT-D6500W ($649.00, March 2011 availability) home entertainment system, HT-D5500 ($499.99, March 2011 availability) home entertainment system, and numerous sound bars including the HW-D450 ($349.00, March 2011 availability), and HW-D550 ($499.99, March 2011 availability).

HW-D550.jpg
The Samsung HW-D550 sound Bar.

The biggest surprise from Samsung was their new HW-D7000 ($599.99, May 2011 availability), which is the world's first 7.1 A/V receiver with integrated Blu-ray 3D playback. This combo unit should prove popular as it allows the user to match the system up with their favorite speaker system -- typically the weak link in a packaged HTiB system.  The player/receiver can also be connected to the Internet and access content such as Samsung Apps, and stream movies and music from Netflix and Pandora. It has built-in Wi-Fi and is DLNA-certified.

HW-D7000side.jpg
The front loading panel on the Samsung HW-D7000 7.1 receiver is really cool.
The HW-D7000 has a brushed metallic finish and a high gloss panel that hides a Blu-ray loading slot. The front panel is a touch screen and it worked flawlessly (okay, Chiarella had to show me how to use it) when we touched it. The receiver offers 120 watts per channel and decodes all of the HD surround formats (DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD), as well as Dolby Pro Logic IIz. There are 4 HDMI 1.4 inputs with 3D pass-through and audio return channel support. It was almost impossible to determine the sound quality of the receiver with all of the noise in the room, but it looks like a rather unique product that work well with Samsung's SMART TVs.

For more information:

Where to Buy:

What did you think?

View all articles by Ian White
Big News
Newsletter Sign-up
 
Connect with Us