Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips HTS3154 - 5.1 Multi-region capable DVD Home Cinema System - With Dolby Pro Logic II

This is a VERY nice little system for the money. I went out searching for a smallish home theatre for my 2 bedroom apartment. Looked at quite a few models, and the Philips seemed to be the best package for the price range (£120-£130). Nicely presented and very, very simple to set up with colour coded speaker plugs (and LONG speaker cables). Nice bright sound with decent performance from the subwoofer (and settings you can choose to emphasize the lowrange if you like it like that!) GREAT volume range (you will easily blast away in a small apartment like mine), oversampling on CD music playback. Nice to be able to play music from a USB stick, or plug in your MP3/Ipod via small cable (included), SCART cable included. The connections on the back are minimal, but this system is intended for use as a DVD/CD music/DivX/USB music & pics/MP3/Radio Tuner system, so what else would you really want to plug in anyway? (and if you want an amp with loads of back connections, then you won't be looking at this type of model anyway). For it's pure function, as a compact home theatre system to add some real "oomph" to movie watching in a small home, go for it. I have bought about 3 of these types of systems over the years, and this is the best so far. Highly recommended.

I've had this for about a year now - I bought it for £179, so at the current price it's a steal. Stunning picture quality, and the sound is amazing too. And it plays all the downloaded divx movies I've chucked at it. Looks the part too - very sleek and stylish.

Only a few gripes:

1) Like many DivX-capable DVD players, it takes an age to "boot up" - about 30-40 seconds. Also seems to take the same amount of time to eject a disc, for no apparent reason.

2) Doesn't play Divx files from the USB socket, only from discs.

3) Very limited inputs - just one set of analogue phonos, and no digital/optical inputs whatsoever. So forget about connecting your PS3/Xbox 360/SkyHD box to it to for surround sound.

Other than that. I'm very pleased I bought it, even at £179. I've owned many high-end systems at £500+, and this more than holds its own against them.

just got it today and provides a god sound, really thumps you watching star wars :P although does not provide a second scart for sky viewing but dosnt allow you to watch areal tv through surround, looks very stylish, and the subwoofer s a thing of excellence definate a must buy if viewing multiple suround units for sale

The other reviews have it about right so I will not go on too much just to add that for a low cost unit you cannot go wrong.

The niggles that I have is that firstly Phillips whilst they make technically great product cannot for the life of them design a decent remote. Had a few Phillips products and the remotes have not been thought through. It works fine but is just not as use friendly as it could be IMO.

The other thing to watch out for is that the speaker cables are permanently attached. They are quite long so for most it will not be an issue.

The addition of an USB port is great and a slide show of your photos with background music is a treat. As long as you know it is not HDMI and it does not have an optical output for SKY+ or whatever and you don't need it it has the quality for most average rooms without overpowering in looks or volume...saying that it is well loud enough to get you evicted I reckon.

I dropped a star because of the remote design and no easy way of extending cable connections but performance is 5 stars.

I received this last week and am for the most part thrilled with it. I will start with the 2 minor things that i have a problem with. The first being that the plugs on the end of the speakers are too big to go through the body of a speaker stand so bear this in mind when buying stands. I managed to get the plugs off and then thread the wire through but this is not ideal. Secondly if you are going to play an IPOD through it its not as loud as you would like if you like to play your music a lot. All in all though these are minor things. for the money it is FANTASTIC value and it is really easy to work and set up. I particularly like the fact that it isnt unsightly and in your face like some other types of home theatre as the speakers are relatively small and easy to place round the room. This is a great system with great sound for those on a budget and i have to say is more than loud enough if you live in a semi with neighbours attached like me. Highly Recommended.