Philips Announces Four Blu-ray Home Theater Systems and Blu-ray Soundbar

Written on Sep 3, 2009 by Brian and filed under Philips

Philips has used IFA to launch four new home theater systems and a soundbar, all with Blu-ray. Three of the home theater systems are 5.1 channel packages with varying speaker combinations. The third HTiB is a lifestyle 2.1 channel system. The soundbar builds on Philips’ Ambisound line and comes in black or white with a subwoofer and touch controls.

Unfortunately Philips didn’t announce many specs, pricing or availability. All of these systems should come in reasonably priced however – likely in the $300-$700 price range for the series.

Philips SoundBar with Ambisound

Soundbars are all the rage these days for small rooms and places where full home theater systems just won’t fit. The Philips SoundBar with Ambisound offers Blu-ray, optional iPod dock, subwoofer and simulated surround sound to deliver a compelling experience. This isn’t Philips’ first go around with soundbars though. They’ve improved on their past offerings this time around by modifying the placement of the speakers so the soundbar delivers a wider soundstage and bigger sweet spot.

The soundbar also offers several sound features to make the listening experience better including: DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD for high fidelity 7.1 simulated surround sound, FullSound to bring CD listening experience to compressed MP3 music, Clear Voice for more audible vocals in movies and music and Proprietary DoubleBASS for fuller and deeper bass.

The Philips SoundBar with Ambisound comes in a black (HTS8160B) and in a white (HTS8161B) version. Interestingly, this is the first soundbar we can recall that comes in white – perhaps a perfect fit if you have a silver-trimmed television. Both offer touch screen controls as well as a stylish design with aluminium finishing and glass panels that will blend with most TVs.

Philips Home Theater HTS7540

The HTS7540 is a 5.1 Blu-ray system with four floor standing pillar speakers, shielded center channel and 8″ high efficiency subwoofer. The system supports DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD, along with Philips DoubleBASS for full deep bass tones, Philips Clear Voice, and Philips-patented FullSound technology which lets you enjoy even compressed MP3 music in CD quality.

Philips Home Theater HTS7520

The HTS7520 is a 5.1 channel system with Blu-ray that shares all of the same features of the HTS7540 except instead of four pillar speakers, it comes with two pillars for the front and two smaller speakers for the rear channels.

Philips Home Theater HTS7500

The HTS7500 is a 5.1 channel system with Blu-ray that shares all of the same features of the HTS7520, except it uses the four smaller speakers for surrounds.

Philips Home Theater HTS7200

The HTS7200 is a 2.1 channel lifestyle system with 6.5″ subwoofer and Blu-ray. Like the soundbars, the HTS7200 also offers touch screen controls.