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ambisound posts

Philips debuts Soundbar with Blu-ray, Home Theaters galore

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 12:51PM

If there's one thing we've always maintained here at Engadget, it's that "HD people are good people." Hell, we have a whole website devoted to HD, home entertainment, and the whole "HD lifestyle," only because you warm our hearts so much. And the folks at Philips are obviously on the same tip -- as proven not only by all the wonderful products of theirs that grace these pages regularly, but by all the surround sound gear they've schlepped to IFA this year, including: a new SoundBar with Ambisound, featuring a Blu-ray disc player, optional iPod dock, 7.1 surround sound, and DoubleBASS. Available in black (HTS8160B) or white (HTS8161B). Just the thing for those of you who think that a single speaker could somehow replace seven (plus one) in the surround sound stakes. Also on hand for the less credulous, the company is unveiling a number of home theater systems with the now-mandatory Blu-ray playback, including: three separate 5.1 surround affairs for folks with on varying budgets, and a two speaker / one sub combo for those of you who want to try out "Dolby Virtual Speaker" technology after all. If all this appeals to you, you have two options -- check out the PR (after the break) or hit the read link to sift through a wild'n'wooly PDF.

Continue reading Philips debuts Soundbar with Blu-ray, Home Theaters galore

Philips intros the CinemaOne iPod / DVD soundbar

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 28th 2008 at 1:20PM

We suppose it was just a matter of time before iPod docks and HTIBs achieved some sort of unholy union, and their demonic lovechild has appeared at IFA -- say hello to the Philips CinemaOne. Essentially a mashup of an iPod speaker system, a DVD player, and a soundbar, it's designed to plug in to your flatscreen via HDMI and provide surround audio through five DSP-driven speakers and 4-inch sub, all in a package about the size of a football. The DivX-compatible DVD player seems decent, with 1080p scaling and Dolby Digital and DTS support, but even though the speakers use the same soundbar tech found in Philips' Ambisound line, we've got our doubts that this thing sounds any good -- most soundbars we've heard require a separate large sub to be effective. No pricing or release date yet, but we'd wait to actually hear this thing in person before we started to set aside spare change. Action shot after the break.

Continue reading Philips intros the CinemaOne iPod / DVD soundbar

Philips SoundBar HTS8100 to simulate surround sound in one speaker

by Cyrus Farivar posted Jan 8th 2007 at 10:13AM

We're not entirely convinced that a single speaker could ever replace or even come close to simulating true 5.1 surround sound speakers, but that hasn't stopped companies from manufacturing products that try to do just that. The latest one that we've spotted is Philips' SoundBar HTS8100, a single three-foot long piece that uses "Ambisound technology" and "Smart Surround" processing, which is supposed to replace those pesky speakers that you already spent hours properly mounting in your living room. Still, Sci Fi Tech wasn't all that impressed, calling the CES booth demo "a little shill," -- but if you disagree with their assessment, the SoundBar can be yours this coming June for $1,000. Hmm, how 'bout if we told you that it has an integrated DVD player? It does.




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