Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips HTS9800 6.1ch Cineos Multi-region DVD Home Cinema System - With SACD Playback - Black

Over the years I have had numerous home theatre systems but as technology improves ,I try and keep up.The Cineos system was easy to set up with all speakers being colour coded. The looks completely compliment any new lcd/plasma tv. The actual dvd player looks awesome with its touch sensitive buttons and display,It plays virtually all disc formats including picture slideshow discs. The surround sound really immerses you in the film, especially with its central rear speaker, I felt I was on the deck of the ships in Pirates of the Caribbean .The volume on each speaker can be individually controlled to suit the shape of your room. The rear speakers are connected to a wireless reciever, which saves you having to get wires from the amp/subwoofer to the other side of the room.
The sub woofer gives a nice deep sound also.Auxillary inputs let you play your tv through the system, and with the majority of broadcasts being stereo,the sound through the front speakers and subwoofer really brings shows like the x-factor and mtv alive. For the price, I think this is a
superb system,not forgetting it also won a design and innovation award 2006 .Highly satisfied with the product.

I've had my system for about 6 months now and so have had a while to get to know it.After much searching and reading reviews I decided that this system was obviously pretty good.After much waiting for my order last Christmas-as demand was out stripping supply-I became the proud owner of the Philips HTS9800 Cineos and dancing Home Cinema System, without teasmade!(Shows my age).The system is capable of playing many formats-MP3 meaning you can get a huge amount of audio tracks on a CD and sounds great too.I thought Rudolf and Santa must be in the box as well as it was quite substancial.It was easy to connect- the box in the pictures that looks like a toaster, being the rear radio/amp for the rear speakers of course.The main unit looks good and illuminates with a magic blue colour- but Philips should have made it a lot brighter- it having a dimmer facility.The front screen will become covered in greasy finger prints-cloth supplied-but the remote will be the main usage I'm sure.Stepping round to each source is slow.I tend to put my hand over the remote and choose the source I want and then fire the remote again at the main unit.If you step past "DISK" you do not pass go or collect £200 until a long time later with lots of whiring and clunking.You can almost hear it say "my brain hurts".Sorry Philips,that logic chip needs looking at.Please don't be put off though-it really is outshone by other things.I have had no problems with the rear speaker levels as someone commented somewhere although they are just behind my couch.The rear middle speaker may seem to be quieter because of not using true 6.1 processed material.The built in level test shows the channel to be equally balanced.The sound has much clarity with the neodym er neodin er neo er the tweeter thingys.I believe they have smoothed off over time thankfully.You'll find yourself at times wondering if the sound is coming from the TV program or from your own surroundings.Amazing what cooking foil can do- Keep speaker prodders armed with biro's, well away! There are 4 sound presets for listening to CD/DVD/ etc and found this to be very useful to get the right balance for personal taste.I have to admit that the bass and treble adjustment doesn't seem to do much.I like loud sound on music/dvd etc. not distorted! or ear ringing but enough to give a realistic presence.The 800 watts can get easily used up but even head banging rockers shouldn't be disappointed.Have you noticed how cunningly DVDs are at a lower level generally to make you turn the volume up to give a better dynamic range.If you don't understand that, you "will" when playing Pearl Harbour etc on DVD. You have to duck in your chair to let the Japanese Torpedo planes over your head.When the first torpedo hits I thought I was going up through the ceiling with the poor two guys painting the ship.Yep, as a surround you will not be disappointed.Regarding the previous point when setting up-try balancing the level of the woofer well below the other speakers-don't worry it will be loud enough when the time comes else it might sound over blown-trial and error.Everyone who see's the system says it looks the bees knees especially the flat speakers.The bass is fairly low and seems to integrate quite well with the rest of the audio range and the preset tonal balance does the rest.Having been a Hi-Fi nutter for many years and having to kick my Valve amp/sub woofer out as a compromise to keep my partner happy- I have to say it will not quite compete with true high end gear but you probably will adjust and get used to it.If your used to a Dansette and shoe box speakers-man you are going to be blown away.My subwoofer is in the corner of the room and thus the majority of the wiring ends up hiding behind it.I would be careful of the connection/junction box as the cable can put a bit of a stain on it and its sockets-if certain channels disapper this might be the problem if your wiring is as tight as mine.Also upgrades are possible by going to the Philips site and recording them to a CD and then playing it on the system-very clever.So after all this blurb please don't be put off by the niggles it's-A GREAT HOME THEATRE SYSTEM I'M SURE YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPPOINTED WITH.

Having ordered via Amazon (9 days for an express delivery!!!!)... I recommend the Philips Home Cinema System.. Very easy to set-up, although I was expecting it to connect via HDMI.. The HDMI connector is an additional accessory so initially mine connected via SCART to the TV. I note one of the other reviews stating the wireless rear speakers wiped out his home wireless, the same happened to me. However a quick look in the manual and you can choose between four wireless channels for the system and it quickly resolved my issue. I agree with the changing "source" option, a bit slow but definately not a major problem. The sound quality is good, as mentioned most people have 5:1 Digital sound DVD's so 6:1 a nice rarity and excellent experience. Well any system will have cables and yes they need hiding, I also hid the woofer into a corner and hid as many cables as I could behind it. The system plays all the formats of CD's MP3's DVD's I have and very well. Although I was going to hold out for an HD based DVD system I (perhaps like many) have an XBOX which can take HD DVD for £100 or PS3 for the BlueRay. Very pleased with the system, I recommend it.

Great looking system and very well packaged, but my subwoofer made a loud electrical buzzing which was extremely noticeable during quiet parts of movies or music. My guess was that mine was faulty, and returned it.

Beautiful looking speakers. Maximum sound level was however very low for an 800w system. My old system from 10 years ago (same wattage) is actually alot louder, and plays music CDs better (it was about the same price as this one). One would have expected systems to sound as good if not alot better over the years !!

The main unit which smoothly takes in your DVD/CD sounded very plastically when it grabs your disk. This is just the brushes which help clean the dvd during insertion, however the noise does give off a cheap sounding noise.

Rearless speakers worked good, but again slight buzz from the wireless receiver. However this is quite minimal, and as it would more than likely be behind a sofa, less likely to distract. Extremely slow switching from DVD to TV (c'mon Phillips, no excuse for this !!), although process to upgrade the unit to the latest software is impressive, done by burning the patch to a CD and loading CD into unit. The cable from the display unit to the rest of the system is very thick (same thickness as a VGA cable for a PC), so can be a bit difficult to hide away.

Having said all that, if you are keen for a good looking system, this hits the spot, just don't expect the sound to blow you away.

This system looks fantastic and sounds gigantic. The subwoofer will make your liver quake.

But it only worked properly for a few days. The wireless rear speakers won't activate any more in normal use; they only come on for the first 5 seconds after power-up, until the DVD player goes into standby. Thereafter the rear receiver simply won't activate any more.

I've had the DVD and wireless rear receiver replaced already. So now I'm going to have to go through the rigamarole of returning the whole, extremely heavy package back to the retailer (not Amazon, by the way!) for yet-another-attempt at getting a working unit.

It's hard to believe that Philips' QA would approve such a highly strung product. Avoid.