Samsung HT-TX500
Pros
- Immense amount of power, strong bass and mid-range make it great for action-packed movies, attractive design
Cons
- Weak and poorly defined treble, limited connection options
Bottom Line
For a pre-packaged system in this price range, the Samsung HT-TX500 actually delivers impressive value for money. Fans of huge explosions and roaring car engines will love this system, although those looking for something a little more refined and subtle may be better served by a different product.
-
Price
$ 1,099.00 (AUD)
Samsung's HT-TX500 is an all-in-one 5.1 home theatre system, including a DVD player and receiver. With a whopping 1000W of power, a strong bass and mid-range, and 1080p DVD upscaling, the TX500 is highly suited to action movie buffs. A fairly weak treble and limited connection options hold it back, however, but an attractive design rounds the system out nicely.
Audio quality is dominated by the bass and mid-range. The front and surround speakers boast three mid-range drivers each, enough to occasionally overpower other parts of the audio, especially the treble. The bass and mid-range are generally clear and well defined, with a slight tendency towards muddiness in the bass. Treble loses a lot of definition, especially in the highest frequencies, and subtler notes are often lost under the weight of the mid-range and bass. Nevertheless, for the most part, the audio blends together well, although there is a noticeable bias for this system towards action movies and bass heavy music.
The volume is incredible, we couldn't get much past around 80 per cent of maximum without deafening ourselves. We didn't notice any undue distortion up until that point, and didn't dare go further. This system should be more than capable of projecting audio throughout at least one floor of most houses, although at high volumes the quality is likely to suffer somewhat. The sub produces some incredible vibrations, and should have the floor shaking in no time.
Samsung has employed a somewhat differing design for the HT-TX500 in terms of the floor-standing speakers, which are typically supported by thin metal poles. In lieu of this, the TX500 floor-standing speakers are entirely plastic, with a wide base and uniform diameter for their entire height. The DVD player/receiver is attached to a metal pole, consistent with the traditional design of floor-standing speakers. Although this does improve the overall aesthetic, we also found that, with our setup at least, it increased the chances of tripping over cables. Clumsy users beware! We found the complete packing to be quite attractive, however, and it should fit into most modern living rooms well.
DVD upscaling on the included player is quite respectable, and adds an extra element of sharpness and clarity to DVDs on large screens. Unfortunately, there is a somewhat limited amount of connection options on the receiver that may inhibit this, depending on how your setup is configured. The receiver lacks any video inputs at all, which means that you'll need to run separate video and audio cables from other devices, such as a Blu-ray player or digital set-top box to the receiver and to the television. This uses up extra connection ports, and requires a lot more fiddling with the remote to change inputs. It's a minor quibble, and shouldn't affect anyone but those who already have expansive home entertainment setups.
Samsung's HT-TX500 is an incredibly powerful home theatre system. The huge amounts of bass and mid-range power make watching action movies an incredible experience, although lovers of treble-based music or movies may be left slightly disappointed. The DVD upscaling and attractive design, combined with a relatively low RRP, make it quite good value as an entry-level system though.
Brand Post
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 2 HP Spectre x360 16 review: The right 2-in-1 at the wrong time
- 3 Acer K242HYL review: An affordable monitor for any occasion
- 4 GeForce Now review: You bring the games, Nvidia streams the hardware
- 5 Asus ProArt PA279CV monitor review: The go-to for content creators on a budget
Latest News Articles
- You can now rock out to Apple Music on Roku devices
- Complete guide to the new AirPods Pro 2
- Apple Music adds DJ mixes in spatial audio
- Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+ will be free for the first 12 weeks of the season
- Apple TV+ makes history at wild Oscars ceremony
Resources
Macworld
What's new, plus best mac-related tips
and tricks
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers
Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world
Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles
PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D
The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G
Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65
This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76
It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Which Lenovo Laptop Should I Buy?
- Every TV in Samsung's 2022 line-up: OLED, Neo QLED and more!
- Top 10 best Android and Apple phones for under $600
- Everything you need to know about Smart TVs
- What's the difference between an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7?
- Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better?