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Samsung HT-D5500 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £328
inc VAT

Great styling, excellent audio and plenty of extra features – there are few all-in-one systems that do it better

Samsung’s HT-D5000 all-in-one system is all about style. From the slot-loading disc tray, pulsing white activity LED and touch-sensitive buttons to the satellite speakers finished in glossy black plastic and brushed metal, there’s very little not to like about its design.

Samsung HT-D5500

Unusually, the satellite speakers don’t include any speaker grilles. Keeping the driver cones on display certainly adds to the smart design but they will be more susceptible to damage. It might be a good idea to use the wall-mounting holes, as this will keep them out of the way of small children who are most likely to cause accidental damage.

The HT D5500 is also unusual in that it uses different sized speakers for the front and rear satellites. While the front pair use both mid-range drivers and high-frequency tweeters, the rear pair only have mid-range drivers. The centre speaker has two mid-range drivers, albeit slightly smaller than the satellites, and a single tweeter. This should make speech slightly clearer and easier to hear over background audio.

Samsung HT-D5500 front

Although the main unit has proprietary speaker connections, the cables provided connect to each speaker using regular spring terminals, allowing for easy extensions. Besides, the 10m rear satellite cables should be long enough for most living rooms.

Samsung HT-D5500 rear

The main unit also has plenty of other ports, including two HDMI inputs, a component out and optical S/P-DIF input, as well as an FM radio antenna, Ethernet port, single USB port and a proprietary iPod connector for the included dock. All the HDMI ports support version 1.4, so you can connect a games console and play 3D content.

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Details

Price £328
Rating ****

Connections

HDMI inputs 2
HDMI outputs 1
Component inputs 0
Component outputs 1
Output resolutions 480i, 480p, PAL (576i), 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Total SCART sockets 0
SCART socket type 0
S-Video input 0
S-video output 0
Composite inputs 0
Composite outputs 1
Stereo phono inputs 0
Stereo phono outputs 1
Coaxial S/PDIF inputs 0
Coaxial S/PDIF outputs 0
Optical S/PDIF inputs 1
Optical S/PDIF outputs 0
Multi-channel input yes
Speaker configuration 5.1
Main unit end speaker connection type proprietary
Speaker end speaker connection type spring terminals
Other connections USB, calibration mic, iPod dock
Wired network ports 1x 10/100
Wireless networking support optional 802.11b/g/n

Playback

Surround sound formats Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD HRA, DTS-HD MA
Optical drive yes
Supported playback disc formats BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW
Audio format support MP3
Video playback formats AVCHD, DivX HD, MKV, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, WMV 9, XVID
Image viewing formats JPEG
Radio FM

Speakers

Speaker configuration 5.1
RMS power output 1000W
Wall mountable yes
Centre speaker cable length 3.0m
Front speaker cable length 4.0m
Surround speaker cable length 10.0m

General

Extras Remote control, external iPod dock, FM antenna, calibration mic
Size 430x332x60mmmm
Subwoofer dimensions 168x385x350mmmm
Centre speaker dimensions 360x69x75mmmm
Front speaker dimensions 90x69x208mmmm
Surround speaker dimensions 90x69x142mmmm
Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption on 68W

Buying Information

Price £328
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.amazon.co.uk
Details www.samsung.com/uk