Samsung HT-X710 2.1 DVD/DivX HDMI/USB Home Cinema System (Set of Four, Black)

The touch of color looks really nice with my ln40a650. The iPod cradle was definitely a selling point for me. The Sound quality is great but some might find the 5.1 underwhelming compared to a "tru surround sound" experience. I love these speakers and DVD player. Their functionality is impecable. It really completes my Entertainment unit and looks very tasteful in my living room. What I especially like is that the unit ran me about FREE-NINETY-NINE!! I had to jump on that.

Received this Cinema system as a bonus with a television purchase. It arrived ahead of schedule and in good order.

Opening the package revealed the main control/player console, a subwoofer and two speaker towers. These units are in Samsung's gloss piano-black finish with A Touch of Color (red) accents. Everything was packaged very securely in the box, and wrapped to prevent scuffing.

The box also contained a multi-function remote which could be programmed for your tv, an iPod/portable media player dock with many cradle adapters, speaker wire, and wall mounting brackets for the console (and the other bracket may have been for the subwoofer).

A brief glance through the setup and owner's manuals told me that my current system, at least in terms of audio, blew this system away. So rather than connecting it, I gave it to a college-bound friend for his dorm room.

Without evaluating sound quality, I'll share some of my discoveries.

The speakers, at around two feet tall and with a touch of red, were incredibly sexy, and I considered keeping them for back-channel speakers on my current system (replacing the bland little gray boxes), but I didn't want to break up the Samsung system. The console and subwoofer also feature an attracive, rounded-corner, fluid aesthetic -- very non-traditional.

The console has only 2.1 speaker outs, and did not have an optical/digital out which might allow the system to share multi-channel audio with other components (ie: into my HT receiver). It wasn't clear if the HDMI connection would pass 5.1 or 2.1 audio to the TV.

The speaker-out connectors look similar to a large Firewire connector - not an RCA, spring-clip, or screw-down post. The included speaker wires have this connector on one end, the other ends are bare.

It does have component-out and HDMI out for video, but no composite out - meaning it must be connected to a newer/better tv. The console has a composite video and left/rt audio in to receive from a VCR for example. It also had an iPod port and a USB port...altogether I was pleased with the amount of inputs. It also has an antenna-in for the stereo receiver (and included antenna).

For existing HT owners this system will probably be a step backwards. However, it would be an excellent starter system for someone who had a rag-tag assortment of devices and wanted to simplify, or who was otherwise starting from scratch. The 2.1 sound is only a limitation for users wanting an immersive HT experience. The beautiful styling make this a system to show off.