Home > Consumer Reviews > Samsung HT-X810R - 300 Watt Soundbar - HDMI Home Cinema - With Bluetooth -Black

"Pros: Looks great with my piano black Samsung 42" Plasma, very neat with no wires, S/W is wireless and was picked up first time when switching it on. DVD Upscaling is quite a bit better than my ordinary Samsung DVD/VHS Recorder which I still have connected. Playing MP3's from my Samsung G600 Mobile phone via Bluetooth is quite cool for visitors to see and very easy and handy to do. It has dropped the signal a very few times, but not too many to annoy me yet. I have connected a HDMI cable from the soundbar to my Samsung 42" Plasma TV, the picture from the upscaling DVD player is very impressive and the sound is fantastic, you feel as if the sound was all around you.
Cons: S/W can be a bit overpowering but by using the sound edit button on the remote it can be adjusted and this can be annoying. I set the S/W to "0" when listening to the FM Radio. Remote control is poor compared to other Samsung remotes, buttons are too small and it is easy to press the wrong button.
Overall: It really surprised me, didn't think it could be as good as my old 5:1 system but I am really happy with it except for the bother of adjusting the S/W and the remote. I haven't connected my iPod Touch yet but it shouldn't be a bother. I have quite a few USA DVDs & got the Region Free code online and it plays the US THX mastered DVD's really great. Gets 5 stars from me for invention, Upscaling DVD, wireless S/W, bluetooth and USB connectivity and its excellent looks."

I had been looking for a soundbar type home cinema set up for 12 months since buying a Samsung LCD TV and being disappointed with the sound quality from the built in speakers. The Yamaha systems seemed to be the best option but too expensive for me as this is a 2nd TV set up. I saw the Samsung system in What Hi Fi in comparision with the new Yamaha.

The system was delivered when requested from Amazon. Out of the box the soundbar and sub woofer are very impressive looking and match the Samsung range of LCD/Plasma tv's perfectly. Connection is really easy, HDMI out for the upscaling DVD and I have used audio in from a Sky + HD box until I can get a 1 meter long audio optical cable. The sub woofer connects to the sounbar via wireless and connecetd straight away after switching on.

Tried the system 1st with the car chase scene from Bullitt. The upscaling DVD player looks more impressive than another player I have tried, the picture is visably improved over standard DVD players. The sound is incredible, rich tones and clear speech. I have read other reviews about the sub being too overpowering. I find this to be down to the location of it, if you place it in a corner behind a chair etc it will "boom". I have now tried a few locations for it and have found it works best freestanding.

I would recomend this product to anyone who needs a wirefree, neat one (two) box system (to keep the wife happy) especially if you already have the Samsung Flat Panel TV to partner it.

The Samsung HT-X810R is a very elegant solution to a common problem: tiny little in-built speakers that come with new plasma TV's. This system is simple, affordable and surprisingly versatile! I have it hooked up to an LG Scarlett TV with audio input from a high-def FreeSat box, an AppleTV and a Wii.

Out of the box the soundbar plugs-and-plays perfectly - just hook it up to your TV with the supplied HDMI cable and it's ready to go. The sound is clear and resonates well (even in my high-ceilinged room). The sub-woofer is very powerful, almost overpowering when playing music, so reducing the bass level is definately the first thing you'll be doing! (Another small point to note: When the wireless sub woofer is placed further away than 4-5 metres there is an audible delay between the two speakers leading to a 'double-bass' sound. The instruction manual recommends the bass unit to be close to the main unit, and so do I! (It's fine when the units are close together)

Once you've fiddled with the levels you can get a great room-filling sound. The system is definately better suited to playing movies than pure music. Plugging in an AppleTV via the optical input allows for great sounding movies and music - though you may prefer to use different sound settings for each use.

Although the DVD player is technically not the best on the market, with the HiDef upscaling the images look just fine and I have absolutely no complaints. Playback is at very good quality and the sound - although not equal to a 5 speaker set-up - definately adds a huge amount of atmosphere and depth. Casino Royale looked and sounded better than ever! I had a smile on my face!

I would however like to see two optical audio inputs - as I imagine most people will have both a blu-ray player and some form of games console or satellite box.
(In fact - three would be perfect - one more for the AppleTV). - I had to buy a seperate TOSlink splitter to combine the audio from two sources - not a pretty solution.

Added surprises include the ability to integrate the remote with your existing set-up - so one remote can turn everything on, change volume and channel.

I haven't yet tested the bluetooth or USB capability so can't comment on those functions.

Overall - very impressed.

Good points: Sleek, elegant, easy to set-up, versatile, great atmospheric depth.
Bad points: Overpowering bass, only one optical audio input, speakers need to be quite close together.

(This system would be amazing of it came with an inbuilt blu-ray player! hint hint Samsung!)

After much deliberation reading reviews etc I finally opted to buy this early last thurs morning. I have a Sunsung 42inch and this goes beautifully with it. I chose next day delivery and at 930 fri it was delivered!! Definately choose next day delivery for the extra 8 quid.

Set up is easy and I was playing MI 3 within minutes. The first thing I noticed and everyone has mentioned this is that the Sub Woofer is OTT. The bass is too much. Ive now turned this right down and still thers alot of bass but dont let this put u off.

There are also a few configurations with the sound that is all down to personal choice. Some make the sound better and some in my view dont really do anthing eg) sound upscaling, virtual sound on/off and Smart sound.

Playing AVI off USB is fine but havent really found anything too noticible with the upsclaing of a dvd.

My main dissapointment was that I was hoping to hook up my Virgin cable Box to it by an HDMI inpoint so it would upscale this but the unit has no inpoints apart from audio and aux jack.

Overall very happy and has reinvented my dvd library.

Quite disappointed in it really. I have been tracking soundbars for about a year. A big fan of Samsung appliances but this falls short of expectations. The item is larger than you think. You would need a massive TV and wall to make the wall mounting look reasonable. Had numerous sound problems where the sound cuts out intermittently. I have to constantly re-boot the system to get sound back. As normal nobody is interested in sorting it out when it is an internet purchase.