IT168 Review With the popularity of Blu-ray discs and the richness of online videos, digital, high-definition, and 3D have quietly entered our home entertainment life. As a traditional audio-visual equipment manufacturer, Philips has also followed the trend. It has launched a series of high-definition digital audio-visual products. The Philips HTB9550 home theater we will see today is one of the products that integrates many high-end technologies.
HTB9550 belongs to the Fidelio series of Philips audio product line. Fidelio is synonymous with excellent design and excellent sound quality at Philips. This series of home theaters, speakers and headphones are known for their highest-end materials and exquisite workmanship among similar products. They take the highest standards of being as faithful to the original sound and comfort as possible and strive to create a real listening experience.
▲Philips HTS9550 Home Theater
As a 5.1-channel 3D Blu-ray home theater, Philips HTB9550 also consists of a host that supports 3D Blu-ray and a built-in power amplifier, and 2 front It consists of 1 center channel, 2 surround speakers and 1 subwoofer. On the whole, Philips HTB9550 has chosen an elegant silver metal aluminum casing, with a compact and regular geometric three-dimensional shape, which is simple but stylish, takes up very little space, and is full of modern technology.
Appreciation of Philips HTB9550 Blu-ray 3D home theater host
Let’s start with the host of HTB9550. Like most combined sound systems, this host adopts the All in One design , integrating the three main functions of a home theater, including a Blu-ray player, AV amplifier and radio tuner. This kind of design can save space on the one hand, and simplify the connection process on the other hand, making it convenient for consumers to use.
▲Philips HTB9550 host
The appearance of the Philips HTB9550 host is very slim and simple. It adopts two designs of silver metal sides and black mesh top cover, which gives people a Elegant design with a sense of technology.
▲Philips HTB9550 host material
The operating buttons of the host are designed on the front edge of the top. The buttons adopt a touch design, and the button operation panel adopts an inclined concave design. This design is both It is convenient for button operation and also adds to the aesthetic appeal.
▲Philips HTB9550 host operation panel
The design of the front panel of the host is also very simple and elegant. The baffle of the disc compartment does not adopt a conservative design, but extends to almost the entire front panel. The width is very integrated and linear, with silver-gray PHILIPS and Fidelio logos in the middle part.
▲The front of the Philips HTB9550 host
Below the logo is the LCD screen of the host, and on the right side are the USB and 3.5mm audio input interfaces. The USB interface is used to connect and play USB storage The audio and video content in the device, and the 3.5mm interface is not only used for external analog audio, but also for connecting a random automatic calibration microphone.
▲Philips HTB9550 host front interface
There are rich interfaces on the back of the host. The right area is mainly video/audio and functional interfaces. In terms of video/audio, there is composite video Output, red and white analog audio input, optical/coaxial digital audio input, 1 channel each, 1 HDMI output, 2 HDMI inputs.
▲The video/audio interface on the right side of the back of Philips HTB9550 host
In terms of functions, it is an FM antenna, Apple base, wireless surround module, network interface and SD card slot, plus The built-in WiFi network multimedia function is very scalable.
▲The functional interface on the right side of the back of Philips HTB9550 host
The left area is the speaker interface. Philips HTB9550 adopts an anti-misplug design interface, with 5 four-pin interfaces in different colors. , used to connect front, center and surround speakers. When installing, you only need to insert according to the color. Even if it is used for the first time, it can be installed accurately.
▲The speaker interface on the left side of the back of the Philips HTB9550 host
The ten-pin interface on one side is used to connect the subwoofer speaker.
Why is it ten-pin? Because there is no power interface on the host. The power module is built into the subwoofer and supplies power to the host through six of the ten pins.
▲Philips HTB9550 subwoofer connector
These video/audio, functional interfaces and WiFi functions enable Philips HTB9550 to support a variety of media playback methods, in addition to playing any 3D Blu-ray In addition to DVDs, it can also support USB, wireless/wired network multimedia playback, etc. If you purchase the Dock base accessory separately, you can also add iPod or iPhone playback methods. It should be said that it takes into account all current mainstream video and audio playback modes.
Philips HTB9550 Blu-ray 3D Home Theater Speaker Appreciation
In addition to powerful multimedia functions, 360-degree surround sound technology is the killer feature of Philips HTB9550. The 360-degree full surround sound effect is completely different from the traditional 5.1 home theater. It adopts a unique design. Each satellite speaker is equipped with three speakers, one front and two angled side reflection speakers, which can bring lingering sound effects.
▲Philips HTB9550 home theater
In addition to using the dipole principle, Philips also uses a patented algorithm to further improve the surround sound effect. 360-degree full surround sound technology allows us to enjoy a true theater experience at home through built-in soft dome subwoofers, neodymium magnets and class D amplifiers and other high-quality sound components.
▲Philips HTB9550 satellite speaker structure
The front and rear speakers of HTB9550 are the hardware foundation for creating 360-degree surround sound. In traditional home theaters, each satellite box has a certain directivity, which results in some missing parts in the sound field. The satellite speakers of Philips HTB9550 are not only directional on the front, but also have two full-range subwoofers on the sides to make up for the blind spots in the sound field, so that 4 speakers and 8 side speakers are just right on the horizontal plane. Being on a circle theoretically puts the listener in a perfect circular sound field.
▲Philips HTB9550 Satellite Speaker
▲Philips HTB9550 Satellite Speaker Material
The Philips HTB9550 satellite speaker looks like it is made up of two parts. They are all made of aluminum casing, and the surface is treated with metal wire drawing process, which is very textured. The unit grille is also made of aluminum. The workmanship is quite good, both overall and in detail, and it can effectively reduce resonance. Each satellite speaker also has silver-gray PHILIPS and Fidelio logos under the front unit grille.
▲Philips HTB9550 satellite speaker interface
The interfaces on the back of the speaker are distinguished by white, red, blue, and purple, and their respective home theater systems are marked in English below. placement in . Each speaker's connecting line has a corresponding color ring. When connecting, consumers only need to connect and place the speakers according to the color. And due to the special design of the interface, it effectively avoids the reversal of positive and negative poles that may be caused by traditional binding posts.
▲Philips HTB9550 center speaker
The center speaker of Philips HTB9550 is also made of brushed aluminum and uses the same metal unit grille as the satellite speaker. It looks the same as the front and surround speakers. The speakers have a unified style. The five units are arranged symmetrically according to "small, large, medium and large". As the key responsible for vocal dialogue and sound field stability, they are well-deserved as the soul of this home theater.
▲Philips HTB9550 center speaker connection cable
The connection cable on the back of the center speaker is installed directly inside the speaker and is a non-pluggable design, while the interface on the other end is The corresponding color is green.
▲Philips HTB9550 subwoofer
The subwoofer of Philips HTB9550 does not have the same silver appearance as the satellite speakers, but uses a low-key and calm black, with a piano paint process on the top processing, the PHILIPS and Fidelio logos are prominently placed in the center, and the grainy veneers are used on the sides to avoid large-area reflections from disturbing the viewer.
▲Philips HTB9550 subwoofer material
The cabinet is made of thick medium-density board. The four rubber feet ensure stable placement. The 6.5-inch long-range woofer is enough for general use. home environment.
▲Philips HTB9550 remote control
In addition, the standard remote control of Philips HTB9550 is also very fashionable, which is visually different from traditional home appliance remote controls. The buttons on the entire remote control are reasonably laid out, the function labels are intuitive, and it is easy to hold and operate.
Philips HTB9550 Blu-ray 3D Home Theater Menu Settings
If you think that connection is easy but debugging is difficult, you are wrong. Adjusting the speaker placement of the Philips HTB9550 home theater is quite simple. You only need to follow the steps marked on the screen to complete it step by step. The editor below will introduce the intuitive operation interface of this product
▲Philips HTB9550 first use setting screen 1
The operation and setting interface of Philips HTB9550 is very user-friendly. When starting the device for the first time, the system will first allow users to set the placement of each speaker according to their home environment.
▲Philips HTB9550 first-time setting screen 2
▲Philips HTB9550 first-time setting screen 3
The speaker layout includes the left and right walls of the room. What material is it made of, the distance between the rear speakers and the back wall and the side wall, etc. Because walls with different hardnesses reflect and absorb sound to different degrees, and the distance between the rear speakers and the wall will also have different directions. properties and reflection angle, the system will automatically optimize according to the user's settings to achieve the best effect.
▲Philips HTB9550 first use setting screen 4
▲Philips HTB9550 first use setting screen 5
In order to achieve the best sound experience, Philips HTB9550 comes standard with A calibration microphone is connected to the 3.5mm audio input interface on the front of the host and placed in the listening position. After starting the calibration function, the built-in intelligent sound calibration software will start and send out a speaker test signal. After the auto-calibration microphone captures and analyzes these signals and makes the necessary adjustments, your sound experience is reasonably optimized within 60 seconds.
▲Philips HTB9550 menu
After the initial setup is completed, you can enter the main operation interface. The main interface in Jiugong format can clearly display the functions supported by Philips HTB9550: playback CD, browse USB content, browse content in iPod, browse computer, settings, etc. It can be said that it has the functions that most users want most.
▲Philips HTB9550 settings video menu
▲Philips HTB9550 settings audio menu
▲Philips HTB9550 settings network menu
▲Philips HTB9550 settings EasyLink menu
▲Philips HTB9550 settings preference menu
▲Philips HTB9550 settings advanced menu
In the setting options, it includes video, audio, network, EasyLink, Preferences and advanced settings for six items. The above is the setting menu corresponding to these six items.
Philips HTB9550 Blu-ray 3D Home Theater Audition Review
As a Blu-ray home theater with 360 surround sound effect, in this audition session, the editor paired the Philips HTB9550 with a 1080p The high-definition projector plays the genuine "Mission: Impossible 4" Blu-ray disc.
▲Philips HTB9550 listening test
The powerful video decoding ability of HTB9550 is reflected in the playback of Blu-ray discs. The playback effect of each scene is very clear, with full colors and outstanding details. In the performance of several fighting and explosion scenes, the effect was smooth, and there was no picture pause and quality degradation due to the increase in scene dynamics, bringing a very shocking visual experience.
Looking at the sound effects section, Philips HTB9550 perfectly supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio next-generation high-definition audio. Before testing the music, we adjusted the sound effects to multi-channel mode. In this mode, we can try our best to May show the singer's voice.
▲Philips HTB9550 home theater
Thanks to the strength of 360-degree surround sound, we can enjoy the same emperor effect in different positions, and the circular sound field is very Rigorous, the sound comes from the ears rather than a fixed speaker position, which shows that 360-degree surround technology is still mature and available.
For example, in the movie, you can really feel the accurate positioning, volume and shocking effect of the sound of wheels from left to right, from back to front, from far to near; when the side door behind you opens , it feels like it is real, and it is very consistent with the position of the protagonist in the picture, and it has a strong sense of presence. Of course, the 360-degree surround sound effect also has shortcomings, that is, the lack of cohesion in a large number of character dialogue scenes, which shows that one of the two needs to be chosen.
▲Philips HTB9550 audition test actual shot 1
▲Philips HTB9550 audition test actual shot 2
▲Philips HTB9550 audition test actual shot 3
< p>The Philips HTB9550 home theater has a very smooth hearing, and the mid- and high-frequency are excellent. However, in terms of analytical power, it is slightly insufficient due to the limitation of unit size. In the low-frequency section, the energy of the 6.5-inch unit is just right. Although home theaters are not often used for listening to music, this top-of-the-line equipment is enough to handle it, but it emphasizes multi-channel and information content. Generally speaking, the sound details of the Philips HTS9550 home theater in the front, rear, left and right of the sound field are clear, and there is room for improvement in the character dialogue of the center speaker to adapt to current Blu-ray movies.Summary: While owning a large-size flat-screen TV, many people actually yearn for their own home theater, with 3D, Blu-ray, power amplifier, 5.1-channel theater and 360-degree surround sound. Philips HTB9550 home theater provides a good choice for non-HiFi users who pursue sound quality. As a compact home theater designed to enhance space and fashion taste, its appearance is small and exquisite, and its brushed metal aluminum shell has a fashionable and textured visual impact. Such a stylish compact home theater combination is placed in In a living room that is not too big, it can be placed and combined freely. At the same time, it can also play a very good decorative role in the home environment and enhance the taste.
A good home theater is not a pile of equipment, but a systematic and scientific comprehensive design. In the end, people's feelings are the most important. The excellent audio-visual design of Philips HTB9550 integrates a complete set of home theater systems into as few devices as possible, providing us with integrated home theater enjoyment. I believe that if conditions allow you to choose it, your home theater dream will be endless. No matter how far out of reach it is.