Philips HTS3555 Home Theater System with iPod Connectivity (Black)

Amazon Customer Reviews

(4 out of 5)

Only one drawback

This is a great surround sound system, and easily fills my 19' x 17' living room with sound. The only drawback is that the speaker wires are integrated right into the speakers, and into custom inserts for the unit. So, to change the length of the wires, you have to splice them instead of just buying new, higher grade wire. It also means you can't upgrade the wire, of course.

(5 out of 5)

Great value!!!

I was willing to spend about $800 on a Home Theater System when I found this one during a search. It caught my attention, because it has an iPod dock. Anyway, I thought why not try this out and if it sounds bad, I'll return it. Well, I'm not going to return it, because I'm so impressed with it. The 5.1 sounds really awesome, but you have to buy the speaker brackets for $8.45 @ Wal-Mart, that really made the difference for me. DVD player really upscales it to 1080i and the iPod dock works good too. Bought it @ Best Buy for $189. I'm sure there are better HTS out there, but for this price it is worth to try.

(5 out of 5)

A Beautiful Little System

I've been using this Phillips Home Theater System for about a week now. I've held off on buying a new theater system for some time, looking for the right one. Saw this in a store and was immediately taken with it. After checking out the stellar reviews for it, I took it home and immediately turned my living room into a war zone of cables, speakers and old av equipment.

There's a lot of stuff to hook up to get your system running, but it's all easy to figure out. The color-coding on the speaker inputs is a helpful touch. The receiver / DVD unit is long, short and heavy with a rear fan - very solid, with a nice volume control.

The satellite speakers are simply and elegantly designed, very stable without being overly heavy. I have them sitting on shelves. If you were to mount them, I think getting a mounting kit would be a good idea. The bass speaker is fairly unique looking, though I've got it placed somewhat out of sight. It provides excellent bass response without generating huge vibration. The system sound, overall, is crisp, clear and impressive. I tested out several different movies with varying levels of sound effects and background music, and all sounded superb.

I have an HD TV, and can see a noticable image improvement from this DVD player from my old one. The remote is nicely laid out and easy to use.

One of the features that really grabbed me with this unit is the included iPod dock (it also works with the Philips MP3 player). My wife and I both have iPods, and they have replaced the use of CDs in our household. I had a standard Apple dock hooked up to my old stereo. The audio was great, but using the Apple remote with the dock left A LOT to be desired. So far, the Philips dock actually seems superior in functionality. Using the system remote, I can easily control our iPods, and they soudn absolutely amazing through this theater system. It comes with a ton of dock adapters for just about every iPod. These adapters have back supports, too, with rubber runners which provide a little more stability for your pod (another improvement over the Apple dock). There is not, however, a specific adapter for the most recent version of the Nano, which we have, but it works just fine with the older version. The one for my Photo/Color 60gb fits perfectly (again, better than the actual Apple dock).

The only drawbacks on the dock: it only seems to charge the Pod when the system is on and set to Dock. Also, the pod doesn't automatically stop when you switch to another function, so it might continue playing (and burning battery) while you use the system with a dvd or while watching TV.

The bottom line: for the price, this is a fantastic little system. Hardcore audiophiles may be looking for something more, but this system sounds wonderful in all ranges and really fills a moderately-sized room with theater quality audio. It's simple, clean-lined aethestic makes it low profile - friends have spun in circle in our living room looking for the speakers and not even noticed them, placed among picture frames on the mantle and even isolated on the entertainment unit. I can't speak for longevity yet, but I've very happy so far.

(5 out of 5)

exceeded expectations - new stereo system

Considering the price, I didn't expect more than a replacement for my worn-out DVD player and some extra speakers. This blew me away. The sound is great - the speakers come with long wires, btw - and the menu options are plentiful. It makes the most of my HDTV-ready television, and I didn't even take notice of the iPod connection, which works like a dream, and charges the iPod too. We also enjoy the AM/FM radio. It's almost a whole rack system - if you're willing to say goodbye to your LPs and cassettes.

(5 out of 5)

CRISP, CLEAR, PERFECT

While hooking up this system which was extreamly easy, I didn't set my hopes to high. But when I turned it on and played the Halo 3 trailer off my Xbox 360 I was blown away by the diffrence from my old system. I heard clarity and lows and highs I never heard before it was amazing. It really changed the way I play videogames and watch HD-DVD's which sound so much better. The 250 watt subwoofer and center speaker are excellent. Now I can hear even the softest of voices from the center speaker I used need to jack it up to max on my old system. Buy it I love it, the only con is no optical input but coaxial does for that.