Samsung HT-D6750W review

Samsung’s HT-D6750W is the company’s top-end home cinema package. With a 3D Blu-ray player, surround sound column speakers and a wireless receiver for the rear speakers that helps make setup a breeze, it looks like a worthy upgrade to your TV’s built-in speakers.

However, looking beyond its admittedly impressive specifications, the HT-D6750W isn’t quite the fantastic system it appears to be. Samsung is marketing it as a 7.1 system, even though there are only five speakers and a sub. The reason is that the front speakers have two sets of drivers, and you swivel the top set to make audio bounce off the walls to create the illusion of another set of speakers to your left and right. The effect isn’t particularly impressive and doesn’t work as well as having physical speakers to your left and right; in all our video tests, which use a combination of Dolby DTS and TrueHD content we struggled to notice any significant improvement over a 5.1 setup. However, we feel that you only need a 7.1 system if you have an enormous living room.

Audio quality was otherwise rather good –two drivers in each front speaker handle the mid-range well, but we found treble from the 50Hz tweeter was slightly harsh. Also, the tall column speakers’ height means you have to mount the centre speaker fairly high to avoid the centre track feeling out of balance with the rest of the soundtrack. Bass response from the compact subwoofer was impressive, without overpowering the other speakers. There was enough volume to fill a small to medium sized room with clear sound, but the speakers aren’t hugely powerful.

It’s a shame audio quality, arguably the most important feature in an all-in-one system, wasn’t up to the standard we were hoping for, as the HT-D6750W is an otherwise well-equipped home cinema package. The 3D Blu-ray player looks stylish in glossy black, with a glowing white LED display. A USB port and sound calibration microphone input are hidden beneath a plastic flap to the right of the slot-loading disc tray, with all the other connectivity at the back.

Two HDMI inputs let you connect other equipment to take advantage of the speakers, and you can output to a TV or projector using either the component, composite or HDMI outputs. Audio inputs are limited to one digital optical and one analogue RCA. An FM antenna, Ethernet port and proprietary iPod connector for the bundled dock are other useful additions. Finally, there are proprietary speaker inputs for the subwoofer, front and centre speakers. The rear speakers plug into a separate transmitter that connects wirelessly to the main unit, letting you position each satellite without having to worry about hiding cables.

The player itself is standard Samsung fare – as well as local media playback from a USB memory stick, you can also access your files over a wired or wireless network using DLNA. We couldn’t get our DivX or XviD files to play, but we could at least watch MKV files. The Smart Hub features from Samsung’s TVs also make an appearance, letting you access BBC iPlayer, YouTube and social networking apps such as Twitter and Facebook.

We had no trouble navigating the simple menu system, although we would have liked some more audio settings – you’re able to adjust the level and positioning of each speaker, but not the frequency crossover points.

Overall, the HT-D7650W is a mixed bag that’s difficult to recommend based on sound quality alone. Because it has been priced as a 7.1 system, it costs more than other all-in-one 5.1 systems yet doesn’t sound significantly better. The system’s 5.1 playback is still immersive, and the main unit is a capable 3D Blu-ray player. It’s a shame there are cheaper alternatives, such as the Sony BDV-E380 or Samsung’s own HT-D5500, for anyone looking for great value rather than gimmicky features.