Home > Consumer Reviews > Harman Kardon HKTS-18 5.1 Channel Speaker System

I'll just confirm and add a little bit to what everyone else has said about these truly great speakers. They sound great, first and foremost. They feel very solid, like they are made entirely of metal (a good thing!). In fact, while many systems sport satellite speakers weighing around 2 pounds (USA), these weigh closer to 3 pounds.

The image on the Amazon page for these speakers does not do them at all justice! The base speaker is very big, looks like a fine price of furniture, and could possible sub as a side-table (but don't do it...hehe)!

I have mine connected to a Denon AVR-1908 receiver. I mention this because it took me a few days to figure the best setup for these speakers, and I want to mention some pointers. My receiver allows choosing between 'small' and 'large' when it comes to the front, back, and center speakers. For these speakers, set them all to 'small'.

But, most importantly, be sure the sub-woofer is turned on on your receiver! I used the system for a couple of days before I realized the bass speaker was not on! That's because the front speakers were set to 'large', so they took up the task of filling in the missing bass (so it was hard to notice the bass wasn't on). I figured out how to turn the bass on in the receiver, and - WHOA! - the entire room shook!

Which brings me to a special pointer - you can tell if the bass speaker is getting a signal by the COLOR of the light on top! If it is off, there is no power. If it is yellow, it is on, but no signal (or too low a signal to register if low volume). Blue means on and there is a signal!

So, in conclusion, these speakers are awesome for the price! Speaking of which, the price of Amazon fluctuates for this item more than the stock market! I have seen it go up and down on the same day as much as fifty or even two hundred dollars! So monitor the price and strike when it is low (I got mine for LESS than four hundred dollars!).

I bought these speakers because I wanted to go a step forward in the experience of enjoying movies at home and replaced my old Sony home theater system. I also bought the Harman Kardon AVR245 receiver to match the speakers. The result is amazing. I use my mac mini as media center and have it connected to the AVR245 with an optical audio cable and the result is great. I fully recommend this product and if you can match it with an Harman Kardon receiver, then you'll have an incredible sound for less than $1000.

The speakers sound great with my HD DVD and Blu-ray players. Incredible bass. Consider setting up your A/V with front and surround speakers set to "large" - that works great with my Sony amp. The surround speakers look especially good when installed in a corner due to their triangular shape. I was a bit sceptical when I read that it came with its own mounting hardware (espcially since I already had universal mounting that I could use), but it was easy to install, and looks/works great. I also purchased the H/K stands for the front speakers, which also look great. All-in-all, this is quality through-and-through.

I told myself when I purchased this system that I would write a review on it. I just received the HKTS 18 system today and have played a few things on it now. This system replaced some Sony towers and bookshelf speakers which were purchaed around 5 years ago. To set this up, I am running a Harman Kardon AVR 635 receiver that pushes around 75 watts per channel.

Positives: This system is absolutely beautiful. I had never seen these speakers in the store, but upon receiving them from UPS today, the individual surrounds are just about the perfect size and have a great weight to them, which shows quality. I am usually one who likes to take the grills off to feel the quality of the woofers and mids, but these don't come off, which I'm willing to accept. The subwoofer is a 10 inch, piano finished beauty. It looks like a piece of art in the corner. I played the Bourne Ultimatium and the sound was absoultey superb. Everything sounded absolutely realistic and I was amazed that such small speakers could produce such good sound. Outside of movies, I played some mucic from my media player. I noticed that if you place the sub woofer in a part of the room which you are not near, the blend of the bass seamlessly fills the room. It is just fantastic.

Negtives: The first thing that stood out is that the sub woofer is open faced on the bottom, meaning that it is suseptible to damage. There is no grill underneath to protect it which I found a little shocking. Though I also think the shiny piano finish on the woofer is very nice, it can be easily scratched almost like the old black ipods. As for the surrounds, I actually don't have any complaints.

Overall for the $400 to purchase, these speakers just rock over my old Sony towers. I think having a Harman receiver and matching home theater speaker set goes a long way. This is a good purchase.

The sound is actually better than some of the Bose speakers I've heard at a fraction of the cost. I spent 12 times as much for another set of surround speakers and the difference between that and this Harmon Kardon set is not huge. I highly recommend these speakers.