Philips SoundBar HTS8100 to simulate surround sound in one speaker

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.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 8th 2007 11:48AM]

The integrated DVD is a nice addition, assuming it does some decent upconversion and is progressive scan. I've heard the Polk SurroundBar and the Yamaha YSP's, and they are pretty good sounding pieces when in a small space and paired with a sub. What really can make a difference is if the system uses a microphone for room acoustic calibration. When in a square of rectangular room, the YSP1100 gives you easily discernible surround channels just from the one "speaker" (the unit actually uses about 40 little speakers). Besides that, most people where I live that get high-def television have a cable box, so if you've gotta connect a cable box to it, it shouldn't be any harder to also connect a separate DVD player, so the integration isn't really that important...unless it's for a bedroom where someone doesn't care about watching television while nodding off to sleep...