The “Pros” I can list for this system are:

Very good sound, especially base. You can adjust the level of base from the sub-woofer which is a very, very nice feature. (Couldn’t do that with the Cinemate 1 system.) I do not detect any problem with hearing the vocals coming from the front of the TV, even though the voices are coming out of the two main speaker cubes. It sounds like the voices are coming from the lips of the people speaking and not from the “side” of the TV where the two speakers are mounted. Volume is not problem. I never listen to it much over a lower volume setting anyway. When watching an action movie, you are right there with the impressive bases, etc. And the appearance of the system is great too. I have the speaker stands, in black, and they look great. Ease of setup and operation is especially simple. Literally, anyone can put this together and operate right away but reading the directions first is probably the best thing to do. (I did have a question on the extra plug jack that comes with the system but didn’t need it here in the U.S.) I like the very small remote with only four buttons because that’s really all you need to turn on, off and adjust sound levels. The optical connection to the system is really nice for added sound quality, over the RCA connectors. And using that frees up the RCA’s that I use for listening to music C.D.’s that I can run in my Bluray player. Oh, and I love the space-saving size of the two cube speakers!!

The “Cons” of the system are:

UPDATE—- If you read other comments in this thread you will see that I finally hooked up my system using the optical cables when listening to MUSIC. This made all the difference in the world, as per sound quality. Read on if interested. (P.S. Using the analog connections a poor decision unless you have no choice.) Thanks, Jerry

There is no control for the two small speakers. What comes out of those is what you get. A treble control would be very nice and I’ll bet in the future, Bose will add that if they come out with a Series 3 model. I find that when watching a movie, etc., when I have the volume set at a good level to hear the spoken word, when the action starts, it is often much louder than I would like. Now, I don’t know if that is because of the levels that were set by the director of the movie, and that’s probably so, but it can be annoying to the neighbors when living in a small studio apartment. I find myself adjusting for the volume control during the action scenes, just to make sure my next door neighbor is not offended. (Cheap apartment with no insulation, ugh.) Bose should supply longer optical wire with this system too! Just not long enough for setting up options. And the sound quality for listening to C.D.’s is not very good. I was disappointed when listening to my favorite music through my Bluray player but I think this system isn’t really made for that, it’s made for using with movies and it does a great job there. The music part of the C.D.’s isn’t bad but the vocals sound “tinny”. Disappointed there but could that be part of my Sony Bluray player or the RCA connectors? Don’t know. Oh, and in case you buy the speaker stands like I did, I found it not the easiest for “stuffing” the wire into the back of the long rod that leads to the speaker cubes but that’s not really a reflection on this system and only a buying option. I did buy an older set of speaker stands, used, so that may be part of the problem.

Overall, I gave this little system five stars. I’ve read other opinions about this system before buying and I tend to agree. For the price I think you not only get a quality built system but a small, easy to setup and use, high tech package. And I think the one year warranty is transferable, in case you buy it from a former owner. Love it!
Rating: 5 / 5

Anyway, I chose “WEP” because I believe that it is correct for my home network, I’m asked for the password which I enter and –despite the fact that my home is filled with devices that access the wireless with a single easily entered password–Samsung’s system will not recognize the password despite repeated attempts. So I dutifully call the Samsung 800 number and I’m quickly connected with a technical support person who, as the conversation goes along, clearly does not know anything about wireless Internet. She’s simply reading from a screen that walks her through a sequence of “If / Then.” She asks me to run the “Network Test” from the screen which I do. While the test is running she says, “if this call takes more than 3 minutes then I have to hang up.” “You’re kidding me, right?” “No,” she answers, “that’s Samsung’s policy. No call can last longer than 3 minutes.” She tells me to call my Internet service provider. “But with relatives visiting right now we have laptops, mobile phones and other devices easily connecting throughout the day to the Internet so I don’t think it’s my ISP’s problem.” “I’m sorry,” she says, “but I have to hang up this call now.” “Can I speak with your supervisor to ask her help?” “Let me check if I can get him on the line,” she answers. Exactly 30 seconds later the hold music ends and my phone says, “Call ended.”

This is Samsung. A Korean company who wants to dominate consumer electronics. I remember when it was like this to connect with SONY and I never bought another SONY product again. Samsung, welcome to the world of consumer-resentment.

Bottom line : If you are the kind of person who can deal with technical challenges, enjoys or can tolerate hours of sifting through solutions on your own, fine. If not, you’d be wise to avoid Samsung.
Rating: 1 / 5

I was surprised how similar this unit was to my old 2006 model Onkyo 5.1 reciever. This model is clearly a new generation of the same line, with many features and design choices being identical. What sets this unit apart from those of yesterday is the connectivity. 3 HDMI 1.4 inputs, full 3D compatibility for down the road, two optical inputs, composite inputs, and more.

What is not so hot are the “frills”. I say “frills” because they are not so frilly. The alternate listening modes are mostly useless- just like they were 5 years ago. The on unit display looks very, very dated, and the remote is even worse than before. In fact, the display and listening modes are identical to my old unit. After setup, dont expect to be pressing more than about 4 buttons on the full-sized remote unless you have other Onkyo components- this remote is NOT universal. This unit does support some “control via HDMI” functionality, so depending on your TV you may be able to sync them to some degree and use one remote for most casual functions on both devices. It also does not upconvert lesser video inputs to HDMI, which is nice to have, but nobody really does that very well until you get into the much higher price points anyway.

But who really buys one of these for a remote and boring sound effects? Not me. I bought this for one reason only: Onkyo quality sound. And this unit does not disappoint. Aside from just sounding great, the functional aspects of this unit are absolutely rock solid and do exactly what you would expect from Onkyo. For the money, I dont know how you could beat this unit. You get Onkyo’s top notch, no nonsense audio performance and everything that comes along with HDMI 1.4. Auto a/v sync is here as is deep color if your TV and other components support them. You will be ready if 3D really takes off, or if the reasonably priced HDTV’s keep getting much better within the next 3-5 years. This budget unit can grow with your home theater as the industry evolves over the next few years, and keep sounding great the whole time- which is big plus considering where we are in the technology cycle. Onkyo really got it right this year with this model at this price point.

I fully recommend this unit to anyone looking for solid 5.1 surround at this price point that they dont want to throw away in 2 years.
Rating: 4 / 5