Samsung HT-D5500 review

Samsung’s HT-D5000 all-in-one system is all about style. From the slot-loading disc tray, pulsing white activity LED and touch-sensitive buttons to the satellite speakers finished in glossy black plastic and brushed metal, there’s very little not to like about its design.

Unusually, the satellite speakers don’t include any speaker grilles. Keeping the driver cones on display certainly adds to the smart design but they will be more susceptible to damage. It might be a good idea to use the wall-mounting holes, as this will keep them out of the way of small children who are most likely to cause accidental damage.

The HT D5500 is also unusual in that it uses different sized speakers for the front and rear satellites. While the front pair use both mid-range drivers and high-frequency tweeters, the rear pair only have mid-range drivers. The centre speaker has two mid-range drivers, albeit slightly smaller than the satellites, and a single tweeter. This should make speech slightly clearer and easier to hear over background audio.

Although the main unit has proprietary speaker connections, the cables provided connect to each speaker using regular spring terminals, allowing for easy extensions. Besides, the 10m rear satellite cables should be long enough for most living rooms.

The main unit also has plenty of other ports, including two HDMI inputs, a component out and optical S/P-DIF input, as well as an FM radio antenna, Ethernet port, single USB port and a proprietary iPod connector for the included dock. All the HDMI ports support version 1.4, so you can connect a games console and play 3D content.