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Samsung AS730 HTIB review
In a time when most people feel that the sound spilling out of the white earbuds that came bundled with their PMP is "really good," getting people to pry open their pocketbooks for sound quality is a tough battle. That doesn't mean it's not worthwhile -- ask anyone who has experienced a good HT demo and they'll tell you that audio is a significant part of the grin-inducing experience. Where price sensitivity intersects with a desire to experience surround sound, HTIB (home theater in a box) systems have found a nice market opportunity. For its part, Samsung's $500 AS730 HTIB promises a lot -- a compliment of five speakers plus a powered sub combined with a receiver that can accommodate your existing system and leave you with some room to grow with both inputs (three HDMI, two component video and an iPod dock) and outputs (an extra pair of speaker outputs for 7.1-channel rear-surrounds). Read on to find out how the Samsung AS730 managed the features/price balancing act.
Hands-on with Samsung's AS730 HTIB
When it rains, it pours, and no sooner did we unpack the Paradigm SUB 25 than the new Samsung AS730 HTIB showed up at our doorstep. The AS730 came in its own fairly big box chock full of good stuff -- for 500 clams, you get a 5.1-channel speaker set (four identical front and surround channels, a center and a powered subwoofer), a receiver, remote, iPod dock, calibration mic and even cables to hook everything up. As you'd expect from a HTIB system, all the cables are color-coded to help users get things set up quickly -- unfortunately that color coding couldn't help us navigate the tightly-spaced speaker connections. Sure enough, it's pretty crowded around the back of the receiver, with enough connections to wire up prospective buyers' systems via HDMI, component and composite. Best of all, there's some room for expansion as well, with 7.1-channel analog inputs and 7.1-channel speaker taps. We'll put this package in the review queue and report back when we've got a story to tell; until then, feel free to check the pics of the not-so photo-friendly glossy black kit after the break.
Samsung rolls out the AS730 HTIB system
For most people making their first foray into HT gear, springing for a full-blown audio rig to go along with a new TV is just too expensive, and while starting out with just a pair of speakers up front might fit the budget, it doesn't deliver the surround sound thrills that make on satisfied with the new purchase. That's exactly why HTIB systems like Samsung's new AS730 that get you going quickly but don't immediately "dead-end" your system make sense. For $500, you get a 7.1-channel receiver and a 5.1-channel speaker system with a powered subwoofer. With three HDMI inputs, three Toslink inputs, the requisite iPod dock (with analog video support), auto calibration and even 7.1 channel analog audio inputs, you can unbox this package and be set up before the popcorn is ready; better still, there's room to grow with this system. At this price point, some tradeoffs have to be made -- your Blu-ray deck will have to decode any Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA to LPCM, but that's just picking nits, isn't it? Full press release and a few photos after the break.
