I love the system once I figured out how to set it up. The instructions are not helpful, in fact, they describe the system operation opposite of reality. It's all about the wiring. The system comes with a Red/White RCA wire that merges to a 1/8" minijack. It also comes with a special HDMI wire with a mini HDMI on one side. The instructions say if you want the soundbar to be controlled by the TV remote (which is what I wanted) then you need to use a fiber optic cable (not provided). So I bought one for $17 and plugged it in. The sound bar worked but not as described. The TV did not control the soundbar. For grins I decided to plug in the HDMI cable they provided even though the manual said the TV would not control the soundbar in such a configuration. But exactly where to plug it in was another ordeal in itself. The HDMI cable goes in the "ARC" HDMI port on the TV. I didn't even know I had one...but I did. Neither the TV manual nor the soundbar manual provided much detail on what ARC is or how it works. I thought of the HDMI ports as input only. Turns out the HDMI #2 is also the ARC port (Audio Return Channel). I plugged the soundbar into the ARC HDMI port on my 8000 series Samsung LED and turned it on and then the magic began! The TV's internal speaker automatically shut off and the TV remote controlled the soundbar. I decided to test the Samsung BLU-ray which was still plugged in the TV (not the soundbar). To my utter surprise, the TV volume control on the BLU-ray remote also controlled the soundbar.
Other reviewers said their Samsung TV could not control this soundbar. My TV is last year's 8000 series and it controls the soundbar just fine with the HDMI cable provided in the box.
The subwoofer just plugs in and self-connects wirelessly to the soundbar. Put it anywhere in the room.
My only unfulfilled expectation is that I thought a Samsung soundbar designed for a Samsung 46 inch flatscreen would attach to the TV rather than just sit on the table they both share.
I recommend this system for Samsung TVs with ARC HDMI ports. Samsung Electronics HW-D550 Home Theater System
I connected this to Samsung UN55D6400 (Via HDMI port #2 ARC connection).
I can now control the soundbar with the Samsung TV remote and vice versa.
The blue tooth Subwoofer connected automatically !
Comparing this soundbar + sub Vs TV speaker. The TV speaker has high MID but lacks in bass and depth.
So far i'm very satisfied !
This Samsung HW-D550 Home Theater System is a simple, yet amazing set of speakers that gets the job done. Our Samsung LED has a very weak single speaker that needs to be set to near "20" to get somewhat room-filling sound. The HW-D550 takes care of that problem and the speaker bar fits on our mantle perfectly! As I said, this is a simple system that works sufficiently to meet our needs; we were not looking for room-rumbling lows or multiple speakers located in every corner. We just wanted a fuller sound at lower volumes with a little bit of bass thrown in.
I am no audiophile but the sound is crisp and great. It has a beautiful black gloss finish and looks very stylish next to the led hdtv. The front buttons in the center are touch sensors so no mechanical buttons. It has one HDMI out for ARC, and 2 HDMI inputs, plus one analog and 2 optical. What more could u ask for! Its enough for my tv, pc, and game systems. I have no problems with it out of the box, it gets an A from me.
My "TV" is controlled by a new mac mini running Windows 7 media center. I've been using home theater PC's since 1998 when I got my first HDTV, so for the last 10 years I've just been using the best PC speakers I could find. I've gone through 2.1, 5.1, and 7.1 systems, but always got fed up with the cables for the rear channels. So I finally gave up, and resigned myself to 2.1 for the last 6 or 8 years. My most recent speakers actually impressed me, the Logitech Z-2300's. Phenominal bass, good mids and highs, and no distortion. But the problem with that was that I've been using my TV as the input selector for my PS3, my Xbox 360, and the Wii. And the volume levels were drastically different between the game systems and the PC, so when I wanted to play a game, I'd have to remember to get up by the TV and turn down the analog volume control on the Logitechs otherwise the sound of any of the game systems starting up was enough to wake the dead.
So I've been looking at sound bars for while now, but never took the plunge because I knew I'd be giving up something... The subs aren't nearly as large as my Logitech Z-2300's, and the few times I'd seen sound bars, I was unimpressed. But I finally got tired of always having me or my 7 year old have to "point the volume to the left" to turn on a game and "point it to the TV" to go back to the Media Center input. So I started looking again, and since I'm so very impressed with my Samsung TV, I thought I'd give their sound bars a shot. I looked at this and the one that was a step down from this, but the little extra "oomph" on this model's subwoofer and the features decided me, and I spent a little more.
Package arrived the next morning ( overnighted it) in the actual package's box, not a normal brown box, so keep that in mind if you want to send this to someone as a surprise. Box was well packed with formed styrofoam to protect the pieces, although it was about 40% empty because the disparity in size between the sound bar and the subs - sound bar takes a little bit on the top long edge of the box, sub takes up a little on the short end, and the rest was just a spacer.
The sub had the peel away wrap on one side to protect the finish, and the sound bar had it on every surface except the speaker openings and the vents. So there's no chance of any damage or scratches unless something crushes or penetrates the box in shipping.
Setup is easy - two power plugs, and your input from the audio source to the bar. I started out with the normal L/R and 1/8" stereo plug, but found in the directions that if you use a digital Toslink connector, the unit will auto power on and off with the TV (or other source). So I ran out and got the Toslink.
Took me longer to pull the Z-2300's out than it did to get this hooked up and in place, but i started out my testing with this just sitting there in front of the other speakers, and the subwoofer in front of the TV stand.
First thing - the looks... MUCH nicer now than it was with the Logitechs, although they looked good for computer speakers. Another benefit was that since I had the Kinect for the Xbox 360 sitting on the surface in front of the TV, this forced me to mount it on top of the TV, which I was actually able to do for free with a small pill container and some double sided sticky tape - I just taped the cylinder to the top of the TV behind the bezel, and now the kinect rests on the top edge of the TV and that container, perfectly level and stable... With that gone, the speakers gone, and the little controller pod for the speakers gone, I now have a MUCH cleaner looking TV stand. I'm still kind of split between the open speaker look vs. grills, but these are starting to grow on me because they're very well finished, so it doesn't look like normal speakers would when visible.
I fired up a Star Wars movie and started playing with the settings. Immediately I noticed the good mids and highs, but it was far too upper frequency heavy. The default 0 setting for the subs is nearly nonexistent, and the range only goes from -6 through +6. I put it at +6, but it's still very underpowered compared to what I was used to. The movie still only sounded OK at the low end, and playing with the settings helped some, but not much. Then I hit myself in the head because I realized the sub was just sitting in front of the TV unit, so I wasn't getting the same reflection and such from the walls in the corner that I did with the Logitech. So I located it in the corner behind the TV (I have a rectangular stand for the TV in a corner, so I have that empty triangular space behind it for the subs and wires and such) right on top of the old Logitech one for testing, and that helped. SOME, not a lot, but it was enough to at least make it acceptable. It's still underpowered, though, and is the weak spot in this setup.
Working through the various sound settings such as cinema, news, sports, music, etc, garnered some changes, but the problem is the one that gives the best bass response also introduces a slight echo to the mids and highs, which is annoying when watching a movie and listening to dialog - like they're in a tunnel.
The 3D effects are also pretty negligible, but that may be due to the placement of my TV and the openness of my room - as I said, it's at an angle in a corner, so there's no side walls for it to hit and reflect anything off of, and the rear wall is only a partial wall that's open on top to the kitchen behind it, so I have no real back wall either. It may perform much better in a normal environment, but I have no way to test.
I use a Logitech Harmony One remote, and they had this in the database, so there was no learning needed to program my remote to do all the functions. I just chose TV and put in this sound bar model number, and it loaded it up. Works perfectly.
At lower volumes, things sound superb, far better than the logitech ones I loved for the last two or three years. Music especially was clearer and brighter. Once I tweaked my codec settings to not be the normal analog 2.0 stereo out, it helped some in the bass as well.
Movies sound good, but that bass lacking really is noticeable in some movies. But it's not as bad as it was when the sub was sitting in front of the TV. And I almost never crank movies loud anymore anyway due to the 7 year old that lives with me full time now, so at the volume levels I'm playing, it's satisfactory.
The ability to control the volume when switching to games more than makes up for the lack of bass to me, since that was such an annoyance. And the fact that it powers off with the TV (after a 20 minute lack of input, which I wish they'd allow the end user to adjust) is a bonus, since up till now, I simply left speakers on 24/7.
They're about 2 or 2.5 inches less on each side than my 46" Samsung TV, so it's a good look with these underneath it.
One announce though, if you're using the toslink connector, is there's no way to keep it "turned off" if you use the TV. I have a nice set of wireless headphones I use when my son is sleeping, and with the previous speakers, there was a headphone jack I could plug the base unit into which shut off the sound to the speakers and only sent it to the headphones. These have no such out, so I have to use another one of the audio outs on the TV to plug into the wireless base. But then it tries to send the signal to both. Powering off the sound bar works for a few seconds, till it powers back on again. So you need to remember to use the remote to turn off the "auto on" feature, or just unplug the toslink cable while using another source. Wish they had an out on these to help bypass the need to do either but at least it's a workaround.
If you're used to a "real" stereo system, this won't be a replacement, unless you're doing it for other reasons than just sound like I did. But for replacing PC speakers it's worthwhile. And if you're in a smaller area like an apartment or something and can't / don't crank it and get the bass to rattle pictures off the walls, this is a good choice. - Sound Bar - Home Theater Systems - Home Theater System - Samsung'
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