Samsung HT-X810T

If the primary appeal of soundbar speakers is based on their significant reduction of wires and clutter--as compared with 5.1-channel home theater-in-a-box systems--then Samsung's new HT-X810T soundbar should be a winner. While it's not the first single-speaker system with a built-in DVD player or a wireless subwoofer--that'd be the Philips SoundBar HTS8100 and the Boston Acoustics TVee Model Two, respectively--it is the first such unit to combine both of those features in one product. That means--if you're not hooking up any other AV sources to the Samsung--you can get away with hooking it up with just three wires: an HDMI cable from the speaker bar to the TV, and two power cables (one each for the speaker and the subwoofer). Toss in the built-in FM radio and Bluetooth receiver capability (letting you stream A2DP Bluetooth sources, such as many music phones and some MP3 players), and you've got an all-in-one entertainment system that's about as compact and easy to set up as can be expected. The major spoilers are the system's sparse connectivity options (you can only connect three audio-only sources plus a USB drive--and doing so will ruin the system's sexy lines with more dreaded cables), so-so surround effects, and occasionally uneven HDMI video quality. None of them, however, is likely to dissuade those searching for a quick and easy all-in-one home theater solution, which the HT-X810T capably provides.

Design
As mentioned, the HT-X810T is a two-part device: the main speakerbar and the subwoofer. The speaker bar's curvaceous black cabinet is significantly taller than most soundbar speakers; it's 7.1 inches tall, 5.6 inches deep, and 39.3 inches wide. You can mount the speaker on a wall with the included bracket, or place it on a shelf above or below your TV. It weighs 17.5 pounds.

The top edge of the speaker has a small readout display, a motorized, flip-down door that reveals the disc-loading slot, and touch controls for the player, power, and volume. Most of the speaker's front baffle is covered with a black perforated metal grille (nonremovable). It's attractive, but the HT-X810T's may be a bit bulbous for those who are into minimizing the footprint of their flat-panel TV.

The subwoofer's black gloss front and top panels are handsome, but the medium-density fiberboard cabinet feels a bit lightweight. The black box measures 10 inches wide, 16.2 high tall and 12.7 deep, and weighs 19.6 pounds. A nonremovable grille covers the woofer on the right side of the box. Of course, the main attraction here is the sub's wireless operation--the power cable is the only wire, and there are no inputs or connections whatsoever. The built-in 150 watt amplifier drives the sub's woofer (size isn't specified). In most circumstances, there won't be any need to adjust or tweak any sub controls. Setup was plug and play--just power up the speaker and the subwoofer--and the wireless connection was glitch free. That said, the user manual acknowledges the sub's 5.8GHz wireless transmission system might be susceptible to interference with Bluetooth, microwave, or Wi-Fi devices. In those cases, you can change the sub's ID settings via the remote.

The remote control looks much like Samsung's TV and Blu-ray player's remotes, so it was easy to use. You can adjust the center channel and subwoofer volumes directly from the remote. It controls Samsung TVs right out of the box and can be programmed easily to control sets from other manufacturers.

Features
The HT-X810T is an all-in-one home theater system that can play DVDs, CDs, and a variety of digital media formats. The unit can also wirelessly stream Bluetooth audio from any A2DP-compatible source, as well as a built-in FM radio with 15 presets.

The built-in slot-loading disc player will play all manner of DVDs and audio CDs. DVDs can be upscaled to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p resolution via the HDMI output. While most varieties of home-burned discs will work just fine, don't look for compatibility with Blu-ray or SACD discs. The Samsung does work with DVD-Audio discs, however.

The HT-X810T supports a better-than-average selection of digital file formats: DivX, Xvid, and WMV video files; MP3 and WMA audio; and JPEG photos. These files can be played off recordable CDs, DVDs, or from flash drives plugged into the USB port found on the unit's right-hand side.

Connectivity is not the strong point of the Samsung HT-X810T. Because it's an integrated system, it has just the bare minimum of outputs for connecting to a TV: composite, component, and HDMI. Inputs are limited to just three audio-only connectors: two analog (one pair of analog stereo jacks on the rear panel, one minijack input on the right side) and a single optical digital in. That means you could have, say, a cable/satellite box connected to the optical in (for surround sound) and game console plugged into the analog jacks, with the side port open for temporary connections to an iPod. The dearth of video inputs means that video switching duties will fall on the TV. In other words, if you have more than two or three AV sources in your home entertainment system, the HT-X810T probably isn't your best bet.

That said, the Samsung does offer quick and easy hookups with any A2DP Bluetooth audio source, which includes many music phones and a growing number of portable media players. Unfortunately, Apple portables aren't compatible unless you add an adapter dongle.

Performance
Our initial impression of the HT-X810T's sound was very positive. CDs were clear and clean, and that's not always the case for single speaker surround systems. There was a fullness to the HT-X810's sound that brought out the best from K.D Lang's Ingenue CD. The CD's lush orchestrations sounded rich and Lang's vocals were natural.

Rocking out with Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run CD, we noted the sub was powerful, if not all that clear. All in all, the sound seemed to come from a much larger speaker system, but we did note the stereo spread barely extended beyond the edges of the speaker.

We certainly felt the sub's contributions when we played the Star Trek: Insurrection DVD. The ship engine's low drone during the scenes inside the Enterprise were nicely handled, but we could sense the sub's distress during the big battles when we cranked the volume. We also noted the HT-X810T's dynamic oomph was in short supply. Easing back a bit on the volume helped, and the sound improved.

We were even less pleased with the HT-X810T's capability to conjure some semblance of surround sound. There was precious little surround until we switched on the HT-X810T's Virtual Sound processing, which did provide an increased sense of spaciousness, but it also had more echoes, which we didn't like. If you tend to play movies that rely on a lot of surround effects, the HT-X810 may not be the best choice.

On the digital media side, things were quite positive. We had no trouble setting the Sprint Mogul to stream music to the Samsung system in less than a minute. And the system's digital media playback was excellent: plug in a USB drive or an optical disc with digital images, music, and video, and it's dead simple to play all of them back. The interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, and the system even played back MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos, in addition to the other formats listed. That's a major contrast to the overly complex digital media interface found on the JVC TH-F3.

On the video quality front, we had an interesting experience with the unit's HDMI output. At first glance--when viewed on a 56-inch Samsung DLP rear-projection TV--it looked abysmal: edges displayed noticeable stair stepping, and the overall image looked very dull--not unlike what you'd expect from maximizing a YouTube video on your computer screen. The artifacts were more than enough to detract from Pirates of the Caribbean and Aeon Flux, even for casual viewers. Before we trashed the system, though, we gave it another chance on a wider selection of flat panels (50-inch plasmas and 52-inch LCDs). Across the board, the images were significantly improved. While it didn't measure up to the best upconverting images we've seen from better Blu-ray and DVD players, it was more than adequate for casual viewers sitting at a reasonable distance from the TV. In other words, the HDMI image will probably suffice for most folks, but if it looks funky on your TV--as it did on our first attempt--you'll want to go component instead.

In the final analysis, we felt the Samsung's all-in-one luster was somewhat supplanted by the Sony HT-CT100, which delivers a soundbar plus subwoofer setup for almost half the price. However, that system requires quite a few more wires, as it lacks the wireless subwoofer and built-in DVD player. By contrast, the HT-X810T will primarily appeal to buyers who want to keep clutter down to a bare minimum and who don't have many other AV sources in their living room. Just be aware that it's better suited to small rooms where its sonic limitations will be less apparent.