Review of Samsung Samsung HT-BD8200 Home Theatre Sound Bar with BluRay player
OCWorkbench 2 Nov 2009

It is always a headache when considering what is suitable for a home theatre system. Do you want wires running on the floor or a wireless solution that creates the stunning audio effects in your living room.

Samsung seems to have a almost perfect solution for the AV enthusiasts. Dubbed the Samsung HT-BD8200, this is a 2.1 sound bar system that replaces your front speakers of your LCD TV and adds in a wireless connected sub woofer for that 'Ummph' bass.

Integrated within the sound bar is a BD-Live capable BluRay player. With that, you can download the latest firmware and update it via the Ethernet port hidden behind or though a wireless Samsung USB dongle which comes seperate from the package. Also interated into this AV amp sound bar is AUX input and FM Radio. On top of all these features, it also has support for iPOD docking station. You can also stream audio from A2DP compatible bluetooth audio devices.

In our test, we threw a few titles to it ranging from Bluray disc, DVDs and Divx. The first title was "Kungfu" by Steven Chow. The sound effect on the 'Gu Zheng' assassinators scene is spectacular. Although there is a V-surround button on the remote which allows shoudl give it a virtual surround sound, the sound seemed to be very different from what you would get from a true 5.1 speaker system. The speech became softer and the audio level has to be increased to compensate that.

The DVD titles "The Day After Tomorrow" was put to the test. Although Samsung did not mention about up scaling of DVD, I suppose that should be a norm. The quality is as good as HD. You can hear the clarity when the tornado is spinning and wiping the Hollywood billboard. Another movie we put to the test is the "War of the worlds". The scene where the city square's floor tumbled and the horning sound of the tripod is awesome!! The subwoofer is able to deliver the theatre effect.

Most of the titles tested ran without problems until the disc loader rejected the title "Terminator". That is probably because it is a Code 1 disc. Perhaps we should have a multicode player instead of being locked down to region.

Video aside, this BDLive capable bluray player is also able to playback Youtube via the internet. With this feature, you no longer need to power on your PC to watch your favourite youtube videos. Unfortunately, the client on the bluray player does not allow you to choose the options of High QUality or HD Quality.

The player is slim and fits nicely with black theme LCD TVs but it blocks the infra red remote control port of your tv set. So, you probably have to place it slightly lower to ensure the there is line of sight.

The Samsung HT-BD8200 is definitely worth consideration but it would be nice if Samsung can have a true 5.1 wireless solution, with 2 speakers wireless connected and place at the rear to give us a true cinematic effect.

The Samsung HT-BD8200 Blu-ray Home Theatre Sound Bar is now available at a recommended retail price of $1,499.