You can safely dismiss the fluff and tricks when it comes to loudspeaker design. Size does matter and it usually boils down to cabinet volume for a rough gauge on performance. The smaller a speaker gets, the thinner it sounds. This is also where most petite home-theater-in-a-box solutions fail to live up to our expectations. Could the HT-XQ120's well-balanced tower speakers and chunky subwoofer prove an exception? Here's our indepth report on the new Samsung flagship multichannel kit.
Design of the Samsung HT-TXQ120 home theater system
The pinnacle of this all-black ensemble is a vertical DVD receiver. Standing tall at 1.32m and fashioned from top to bottom in mirror finish, the unit is tastefully crafted yet functional with an integrated cable management. User feedback here is handled by a retro-like LED array. This displays information in soothing blue which ranges from input sources to MP3 track name and elapse time. For additional wow, Samsung is throwing in a slot-in disc drive and quality brushed-metal buttons, all neatly tucked away on a recessed panel by the right.
This kit employs a two-way design throughout the speaker system. Details are scarce but a quick peek through the metal grille reveals a tweeter and dual-woofer configuration. Furthermore, the four towers have the advantage of a bass reflex port, though their assembly can be a tedious exercise involving a handful of screws and three independent sections. A relay system and redundant spring clips allow two different speaker hookup options, one on the main drivers section and the other on the extension stand near the base.
But what really differentiates this Samsung from the crowd is its sizeable active subwoofer. Measuring 270 x 420 x 489mm, it has the cabinet volume rivaling separate equivalents and the right ingredients for deep low-end delivery. For example, it has a relatively large side-firing driver and a narrow-but-wide bass reflex port. Unlike other passive solutions, this sub also houses the multichannel audio amplifier and an expansion slot. The latter supports cable-free surround sound via its optional SWA-3000 wireless transmitter card.
We were pretty at home with the versatile and ergonomic remote bundled with the TXQ120. Not only was it responsive, the buttons were also easy on the fingers with their tactile touch. To top if off, there are four dedicated keys for on-the-fly input switching and value-added multibrand TV control. The software menu also got our nods of approval for its comprehensive surround sound configurations, though it's far from perfect for its pathetic video-tweaking option--screen aspect ratio as the only one, as a matter of fact.
Features of the Samsung HT-TXQ120 home theater system
The onboard fan-cooled amplifier packs a combined 1,000W audio power, distributed by 167W per speaker and 165W for the subwoofer. Surround sound decoding-wise, the usual Dolby Pro Logic II (DPL2), Dolby Digital and DTS are available out-of-the-box, plus 10 proprietary digital signal processing (DSP) modes such as Super 5.1 and virtual headphones. While the DSP is a nice addition, it's the advanced DPL2 implementation that really counts with its three effects and 17-level adjustments.
Short of supporting the latest HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats (more on this later), the TXQ120 is the next closest universal player capable of playing back almost all known optical disc formats on shelves. Aside from CD, DVD and their +R/-R recordables, it will also readily accept multichannel Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. Last but not least, many popular multimedia files are playable on disc and via the receiver’s USB port. Their makes include MP3, WMA, JPEG, DivX and WMV.
Samsung has finally caught up with the other vendors and has integrated its version of an automatic audio-calibration system into the TXQ120. Dubbed simply as Auto Sound Calibration or ASC, it ensures optimal surround sound settings by automatically adjusting each speaker channel's equalization, tone and volume based on actual room acoustics. The whole exercise normally takes less than 2 minutes to complete and is idiot-proof with no user intervention whatsoever required.
The system’s beefed-up connectivity is another strong feature worth mentioning. A set of HDMI input and output not only allows direct Dolby/DTS decoding, it also relays up to 1080i video to compatible HDTV, perfect for its BD-P1000 Blu-ray players. DVD playback via HDMI, on the other hand, can go as high as 1080p, too. Ensuring backward compatibility for older TVs are component- and composite-video jacks, while a pair of digital optical and analog audio inputs facilitate a gaming console's sound interface.
Performance of the Samsung HT-TXQ120 home theater system
We got the Samsung up to speed after a smooth surround sound calibration using the built-in ASC function. On the whole, the results were satisfactory as evidenced in subsequent evaluations. That said, the calibrated results were not reflected onscreen due to a compatibility issue. These were still registered as factory default leaving us with no means to verify parameters such as speaker delay. Another known design issue was the DVD playback video resolution which reset to 480p whenever the input was toggled. Its representative claimed this was meant for non-HD-ready TVs but it's difficult to comprehend why such a situation arises at all.
Moving onto music reproduction, the height-optimized TQX-120 delivered excellent stereo imaging and a subtle forward-sounding soundstage. Most musical instruments here were favorably reproduced, while bass was well integrated and not overpowering. We put the system through a rigorous pace of jazz, vocal, rock, metal and classic materials and were generally impressed with its adaptability. Most notable was Sarah Mclachlan's Angel with her soulful vocals and strong yet nimble piano bass notes.
Up the performance ladder was the high-resolution SACD playback. This had a distinctive concert feel with its added multichannel effects. The same went for DVDs with their seamless sound panning and deep bass. These were effective in recreating the immersive gun battles in Master and Commanders: The Far Side of the World, particularly, the heart-pounding canon blasts and enveloping flying debris. This brilliant showing was, however, marred by above-average 1080p pictures which could have been better.
It took the full-HD M8 quite a while to lock onto a BD-P1000's 1080i signal pass-through via HDMI. Fortunately, the USB loading time fared much better, loading a 512MB thumbdrive at well below 4 seconds. The multimedia user interface was intutiative and options were available to filter the library in different genres. Playback quality of its MP3 and DivX was on par or better than most HTIBs we reviewed, but the same couldn't be said for JPEGs. These turned out generally soft much to our disappointment.
In terms of form factor, the S$1,999 (US$1,315.11) Samsung HT-TXQ120 is a cross between an HTIB and a separate component kit. It may be bulky, but given its big sound, stylish design and all-rounded feature set, we couldn't find a reason not to award it an Editors' Choice. Definitely a well-deserved win for Samsung and one of the first in a long time for this category.
Design of the Samsung HT-TXQ120 home theater system
The pinnacle of this all-black ensemble is a vertical DVD receiver. Standing tall at 1.32m and fashioned from top to bottom in mirror finish, the unit is tastefully crafted yet functional with an integrated cable management. User feedback here is handled by a retro-like LED array. This displays information in soothing blue which ranges from input sources to MP3 track name and elapse time. For additional wow, Samsung is throwing in a slot-in disc drive and quality brushed-metal buttons, all neatly tucked away on a recessed panel by the right.
This kit employs a two-way design throughout the speaker system. Details are scarce but a quick peek through the metal grille reveals a tweeter and dual-woofer configuration. Furthermore, the four towers have the advantage of a bass reflex port, though their assembly can be a tedious exercise involving a handful of screws and three independent sections. A relay system and redundant spring clips allow two different speaker hookup options, one on the main drivers section and the other on the extension stand near the base.
But what really differentiates this Samsung from the crowd is its sizeable active subwoofer. Measuring 270 x 420 x 489mm, it has the cabinet volume rivaling separate equivalents and the right ingredients for deep low-end delivery. For example, it has a relatively large side-firing driver and a narrow-but-wide bass reflex port. Unlike other passive solutions, this sub also houses the multichannel audio amplifier and an expansion slot. The latter supports cable-free surround sound via its optional SWA-3000 wireless transmitter card.
We were pretty at home with the versatile and ergonomic remote bundled with the TXQ120. Not only was it responsive, the buttons were also easy on the fingers with their tactile touch. To top if off, there are four dedicated keys for on-the-fly input switching and value-added multibrand TV control. The software menu also got our nods of approval for its comprehensive surround sound configurations, though it's far from perfect for its pathetic video-tweaking option--screen aspect ratio as the only one, as a matter of fact.
Features of the Samsung HT-TXQ120 home theater system
The onboard fan-cooled amplifier packs a combined 1,000W audio power, distributed by 167W per speaker and 165W for the subwoofer. Surround sound decoding-wise, the usual Dolby Pro Logic II (DPL2), Dolby Digital and DTS are available out-of-the-box, plus 10 proprietary digital signal processing (DSP) modes such as Super 5.1 and virtual headphones. While the DSP is a nice addition, it's the advanced DPL2 implementation that really counts with its three effects and 17-level adjustments.
Short of supporting the latest HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats (more on this later), the TXQ120 is the next closest universal player capable of playing back almost all known optical disc formats on shelves. Aside from CD, DVD and their +R/-R recordables, it will also readily accept multichannel Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. Last but not least, many popular multimedia files are playable on disc and via the receiver’s USB port. Their makes include MP3, WMA, JPEG, DivX and WMV.
Samsung has finally caught up with the other vendors and has integrated its version of an automatic audio-calibration system into the TXQ120. Dubbed simply as Auto Sound Calibration or ASC, it ensures optimal surround sound settings by automatically adjusting each speaker channel's equalization, tone and volume based on actual room acoustics. The whole exercise normally takes less than 2 minutes to complete and is idiot-proof with no user intervention whatsoever required.
The system’s beefed-up connectivity is another strong feature worth mentioning. A set of HDMI input and output not only allows direct Dolby/DTS decoding, it also relays up to 1080i video to compatible HDTV, perfect for its BD-P1000 Blu-ray players. DVD playback via HDMI, on the other hand, can go as high as 1080p, too. Ensuring backward compatibility for older TVs are component- and composite-video jacks, while a pair of digital optical and analog audio inputs facilitate a gaming console's sound interface.
Performance of the Samsung HT-TXQ120 home theater system
We got the Samsung up to speed after a smooth surround sound calibration using the built-in ASC function. On the whole, the results were satisfactory as evidenced in subsequent evaluations. That said, the calibrated results were not reflected onscreen due to a compatibility issue. These were still registered as factory default leaving us with no means to verify parameters such as speaker delay. Another known design issue was the DVD playback video resolution which reset to 480p whenever the input was toggled. Its representative claimed this was meant for non-HD-ready TVs but it's difficult to comprehend why such a situation arises at all.
Moving onto music reproduction, the height-optimized TQX-120 delivered excellent stereo imaging and a subtle forward-sounding soundstage. Most musical instruments here were favorably reproduced, while bass was well integrated and not overpowering. We put the system through a rigorous pace of jazz, vocal, rock, metal and classic materials and were generally impressed with its adaptability. Most notable was Sarah Mclachlan's Angel with her soulful vocals and strong yet nimble piano bass notes.
Up the performance ladder was the high-resolution SACD playback. This had a distinctive concert feel with its added multichannel effects. The same went for DVDs with their seamless sound panning and deep bass. These were effective in recreating the immersive gun battles in Master and Commanders: The Far Side of the World, particularly, the heart-pounding canon blasts and enveloping flying debris. This brilliant showing was, however, marred by above-average 1080p pictures which could have been better.
It took the full-HD M8 quite a while to lock onto a BD-P1000's 1080i signal pass-through via HDMI. Fortunately, the USB loading time fared much better, loading a 512MB thumbdrive at well below 4 seconds. The multimedia user interface was intutiative and options were available to filter the library in different genres. Playback quality of its MP3 and DivX was on par or better than most HTIBs we reviewed, but the same couldn't be said for JPEGs. These turned out generally soft much to our disappointment.
In terms of form factor, the S$1,999 (US$1,315.11) Samsung HT-TXQ120 is a cross between an HTIB and a separate component kit. It may be bulky, but given its big sound, stylish design and all-rounded feature set, we couldn't find a reason not to award it an Editors' Choice. Definitely a well-deserved win for Samsung and one of the first in a long time for this category.
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