Philips 3051 BV (1 Viewer)

I decided to get into the hobby not too long ago for some more understanding in this area. I ended up droping by Walmart and picked up a Philips 3051 BV. I did not want to spend TOO MUCH as I'm bound to do some bad decisions somewhere.
Come to think of it, my first lesson learned already is check the specs more on the HTS. I was surprised to find out that I had no optical port. I would have thought this had to be some sort of standard today, but instead I had to go and order an optical to coaxial converter. (still waiting for it to arrive).
I'm curious for those who know this system well, or similar ones from Philips what you think?
Here are the stats for anyone interested.
http://www.philips.ca/c/home-theater-systems/hts3051bv_f7/prd/en/;jsessionid=13948D295D49916549D6AED08957A5F7.app102-drp4
Bit by bit (when I have time) I try to do a little more experimentation, and studying up on HTS books from the local libraries around here.

I'm curious for those who know this system well, or similar ones from Philips what you think?

Click to expand...

I don't think you're going to like the answer. It's not so much a condition of the manufacturer Phillips, but rather of the type of product. A HTiB is convenient and cheap, that's their main selling point. But they are not capable of producing quality audio. Besides the limited connectivity you already experienced, the power and speaker sections are extremely limited. The sub is passive, so it's being powered by the receiver; which means less power available for the main speakers. The mains are 3" bass, which is very, very small. Since the small speakers can't drive much air volume, low end response is weak. And you can't replace the speakers with better one since the system is a non-standard low ohm base (usually 3 ohm, but in the Phillips' case 4 ohm).

I prefer an honest & straight up answer, so no worries Anderson.
I live in an older home, so there isn't even any grounding upstairs (except for kitchen), so if I want to start hooking up any more power, I'm going to have to do some re-wiring. I think I'm going to someday (maybe soon) check into getting new wiring circuits installed in the upstairs, as well as some more areas in my basement. Depends on how expensive I get the quotes. In the meantime, I'll do more experimenting with what I have so later on if I want to really hit it big I'll have a better understanding.
At that time, I can then move what I have now into another room. I'm also busy experimenting with airplay in my other rooms a bit at a time. Now, if only I could get Vudu to work....

Is it too late to return it? You'd be better off with a cheap receiver and 2 speakers. At least that you can add on to in the future.

It's ok, wasn't TOO expensive, and I mostly wanted to get all the speakers & woofer included. Yes, it may not be the best but an interesting hobby/learning experience. Right now I'm mostly waiting around for my extras from Monoprice to arrive. Until then, I won't be getting much use out of it. There's a few gimmicks with it, such as the built in radio... the blue-ray player, SD card reader, etc. But to be honest, I consider it just mostly that, gimmicks, because I have AppleTV hooked up and that is where 100% of my radio & Movies come in.

If there's any chance you can return it, this would be a much better system. At the very least, it's expandable. (And it'll better feed the leaning process by giving you more to play with.)
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5400-7-1-Channel-Theater-System/dp/B004O0TREC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1340592694&sr=8-3&keywords=onkyo+htib

A bit more pricy, but with the extra 2 channels I guess that's expected. I was thinking already my NEXT project may start with 7.1, however, we'll have to see what happens. The way things are going by that time 7.1 may be considered far behind the times.
At the moment I finished one book and am about to start reading "Home Theater Secrets". The problem, is trying to get enough time from work to focus on it. I barely even have enough time to simply do my laundry and sleep as it is.