LG HT805TH 5.1 DVD Home Cinema System with 1080p Upscaling & USB Direct Recording

 

 

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I purchased this item last week with the view to connecting this unit to my Xbox 360 and sky hd box. In the last week I have been very impressed with the design and performance of this system. I chose this system mainly due to the fact it came with optical input and comes with four tallboy speakers which is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

These tallboy speakers look very classy due to their premium looks and feel. More importantly this kit does not disappoint in the sound department. This system has 850 watts of power underneath its bonnet and when connected to my xbox via optical the system really starts to shine. If I were to turn the volume up to half of what this system is capable of I would end up with very disgruntled neighbours!.

I agree with previous reviews in so much as this system offers excellent value and betters many speakers that are double in price. The build quality is excellent and the system is easy to set up due to the colour coded inputs. If you are looking for high quality speakers on a modest budget these offer a very loud bang for your hard earned buck!

I recently purchased this system to use with my new LG TV, xbox etc. Ordering was simple, arrived on time. Initial setup was simple, just connected the speakers to the main dvd unit via the coloured leads and switched it all on! I tried a dvd first and the sound was great. However, switching back to normal tv (freeview) opened up a few problems. I knew that not all, if any freeview channels broadcast in 5.1 (directional sound) but i did expect atleast the same sound from all speakers. My setup initially was HDMI from TV to reciever, HDMI from xbox to second HDMI slot on TV. using this did give me 5.1 from my dvds, but only sound from the front two speakers when using the xbox or freeview. After 2 days of trawling the internet, and realising this system does not have a HDMI IN, only HDMI OUT (this means you cant connect your 360 to this unit directly), i finally figured it out. Basically the ideal setup goes as follows, HDMI from xbox to reciever IN (if it had one) then HDMI from reciever OUT to HDMI IN on tv. However for this system, my setup has to be Component HDAV (with optical connection) from Xbox to tv, with the optical going to a splitter which then goes to the reciever. This gives me 5.1 from the 360. Then HDMI from tv to reciever (for picture only, as HDMI wont allow me to use stereo sound from freeview) then another optical cable from the optical out on the tv to the second splitter connection. This gives me STEREO sound on all 5 speakers on freeview, 5.1 when using the xbox and 5.1 with supported dvds from the dvd reciever. So basically if your a novice with these kind of things (which i am) dont buy this system expecting to just unpack it and away you go. Although i hope this review will explain a few things and save you guys some time. Man that was long winded.

In short, for this system, I cannot see anything better at this price point and features.

First I should make a special mention of the excellent service that I received from the supplier Hughes Direct.
There was an incident, where the first delivery of my order was lost by the courier.
So I called their customer support line and was greeted by a polite friendly representative.
Gave them my order number and supplied the reference of the missing delivery reference.
After checking a few things, a 2nd unit was despatched immediately!
Totally hassle-free, and shows what true customer service should really be about!
Actually even the first order was despatched very quickly too, so it wasn't just luck.
Not only that, I explained that the price of the product had dropped since my order, and they'd even agreed to refund the difference.
It's no wonder they've been going for 85 years, and long may that continue!
I can recommend their service without hesitation at all.
Very impressive service...

...which brings me onto the product itself.
And I have to say that I am just as impressed with that too!
It comes in a decent size box, and weighs 25kgs. (Glad I go to the gym)
Everything was packed very well and was well protected with polystyrene.

You connect each of the 5 satellite speakers using standard 2-wire speaker cables.
The front ones are about 3m long, centre is about 2m and the rears are about 5m.
Strangely the subwoofer had a captive cable, i.e. you cannot detach the end that's stuck to it.
Each of the cables are handily colour coded at the ends and these are matched with the spring clips on the DVD / Amp unit.
This makes it very easy to separate what cable goes where.

The tall boys come in 2 parts, the long speaker bit, and a stand that it drops into, and you secure with 1 small screw.
These seem reliably made, and the front grilles are black cloth, which cannot be removed.
I felt around and from what I can gather, there are 2 similar size cones in each one.
But no separate tweeter, although that doesn't seem to hamper it's performance.

After all the speakers are connected, there is a FM aerial that is attached to received radio channels.
And then you need to hook up to the TV via SCART / HDMI, and plug in the power.

It takes about 20mins to assemble everything and start the unit up.
An interesting thing is that when the unit is in standby, there is no light.
Nothing.
But as soon as you press the power button on the remote, the nice blue VFD display lights up.
It is a dot matrix display and shows various information depending on the current function.
Everything is setup via an onscreen menu, which you bring up with a strange 'Home' key on the remote.

The first thing to do, is to enter the distance of the speakers are to you, at your sitting distance.
It then works out the correct speaker levels for you.
You can of course manually set each of the speaker levels, if it does not suite you.
There are also setting for time delay, speaker size etc.
Which I didn't mess around with...

Finally, you are ready to put your favourite discs in and see what it's about.
I have to say, that I was more than a little impressed with the sound the system produced.
Always a great reference disc to use, The Matrix and straight to the lobby scene.
Picture was solid and the upscaling ability of the unit, was very good.
Sound was immense, you really do hear bullets whizz around in the room, and at times you naturally want to duck!!
:)
I was initially a little concerned that the sub was of the passive variety. i.e. the amplification comes from the dvd / amp, rather than having it's own amplification electronics.
Most of the time, these subs feel a little weak and produces a muddy sort of sound.
But again, it exceeded my expectations.
It was capable of producing some very low frequencies and once you set the sub volume level to max, produces some amazing heart stopping punch. You know its good, when your heart dances to every thump and slam! :D
And it was amazing how the whole system sounds very dynamic and is capable of producing the highs and the lows with such fluidity.
I also played a few of my favourite CDs and these sounded vibrant and full of detail.

To be honest, I have heard quite a lot of systems in my time, Kefs, B&Ws, Tannoys, some systems in the 20/30ks...In fact some systems, where the interconnects alone would be worth several of these systems at time!
Now, I'm not saying that this system is better / close to those systems.
No because that would be an outright lie.
However, I do feel that it's the best 5.1 all-in-one package that I'd heard recently.
This includes systems from Samsung, Panasonic and Sony.
It certainly is a bargain at this price though and easily competes with systems that are 2 or 3 times this price.

As mentioned at the start of this review.
You simply cannot find a better system at this price and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Actually, 2 other friends have since put in an order after they've been round to hear this system.
And with the top notch service which I have received, I would have given it 6 stars if I could!

Buy it, you won't regret it!
(p.s. I haven't even mentioned, USB front port, divx, mp3, multi-region moddable...)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Nice one
This product is good as i can watch movies nicely with my lg plasma TV and it works alright with my Ps3. Read more

Published 3 months ago by The guy

5.0 out of 5 stars LG - Lovely.. Great!
This is the 3rd home cinema system I have owned and quite simply, it is the best so far, for the money! Read more

Published 5 months ago by Mr. Sb Hicks

4.0 out of 5 stars Good value for money
Product arrived on time, and upon inspection looks original. However, It hasn't been used since, and thus I can't comment on sound and output quality. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Emmanuel

5.0 out of 5 stars LG 5.1 DVD home cinema system
What an excellent and inexpensive piece of equipment! Easy to set up and easy to operate
The item was delivered the very next day and an hour later was up and running... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Mr. Christopher Hindle

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Value for money, Impressed with the performance.
I've been searching for a good 5.1 surround system for a long time. I didn't want to spend a fortune though. Lately I came across LG HT805TH 5. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Jay Menon

5.0 out of 5 stars Great buy
I was looking for a while for a cheap home cinema surround system but a good quality one.And I have to say found sound is great four tall speakers just what I wanted and delivery... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Ge

5.0 out of 5 stars it does exactly what it says on the box
This system is ideal for anyone on a budget.It has a great sound from the 4x tallboy speakers, that I wanted,the centre speaker is unobtrusive and fits nicely below the t.v. Read more

Published 9 months ago by rebel

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every penny!
I bought this home cinema system a few months ago mainly for the surround sound, rather than the DVD playing, or 1080p up-scaling. Read more

Published 10 months ago by superphilman

5.0 out of 5 stars LG speakers
Excellent value for money. Better if you have your own amp as the DVD player is only region 1 and controls the sound system.

Published 10 months ago by R. L. D. Plager

5.0 out of 5 stars LG Surround System
Ordered this item and it arrived when advised, very easy to set up, very easy to use and sounds great, just a note, if you want sound from your sky + use an optical cable, then... Read more

Published 10 months ago by cbabe

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