Surround sound is the final piece of the puzzle for most people when putting together a home theater system, but not everyone wants to spend thousands on a 7.1 A/V receiver and loudspeaker system. There are domestic issues to consider when buying a surround system, and some people just don't have the space for it. The popularity of HTiB (home theater in a box) systems has only continued to grow as manufacturers include better Blu-ray players in these kits with 3D capabilities, more power, wireless streaming, and more attractive looking loudspeakers. When you add it all up, some HTiBs are a pretty good deal.
Samsung has been offering this type of set-up for a number of years, but for 2011, the gloves have really come off. The new line-up of home entertainment systems from Samsung offer everything from Blu-ray 3D playback to 3D Sound Plus surround sound technology.
The new line-up offers ten different models across three different categories: Blu-ray home theater, sound bars, and the traditional A/V receiver (with a twist). Samsung started offering Blu-ray 3D playback in 2010 in their home entertainment systems, but new for this year is their 3D Sound Plus technology. 3D Sound Plus is designed to give traditional surround sound the feeling of greater depth (wider and deeper soundstage), and height. That sounds a lot like Dolby ProLogic IIz to us, but we'll believe it when we get to hear it in a more controlled listening environment.
The flagship HT-D6730W (available in March 2011 for $799.00) Blu-ray home entertainment system is a 7.1 channel system, finished in a really classy looking midnight black gloss, which includes: a center channel speaker, subwoofer, two tower super tweeter speakers that include height channel and surround speakers, and two additional surround speakers. The system offers 1080p HD playback of Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Discs, and puts out over 1,300 watts of peak power. It also supports all of the HD audio surround formats, as well as Samsung's Crystal Sound Plus and 3D Sound Plus technology. The system also includes two HDMI inputs so that you can connect devices such as set-top boxes and gaming systems.
The biggest surprise from Samsung was their new HW-D7000 ($599.99, May 2011 availability), which is the world's first 7.1 A/V receiver with integrated Blu-ray 3D playback. This combo unit should prove popular as it allows the user to match the system up with their favorite speaker system -- typically the weak link in a packaged HTiB system. The player/receiver can also be connected to the Internet and access content such as Samsung Apps, and stream movies and music from Netflix and Pandora. It has built-in Wi-Fi and is DLNA-certified.
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