Adrian Justins auditions a smart-looking soundbar/subwoofer duo from Philips that offers HDMI switching, Bluetooth streaming and plenty of DSP options
Maybe Philips believes that the best things in life come in threes as its HTL5140 soundbar is supplied in a trio of sections that snap together like an over-sized Airfix kit. More likely, it’s simply found a clever way of reducing the volume of packaging required to accommodate a long, thin soundbar and a chunky subwoofer. Either way, the ingenious design works well and the main unit is a doddle to construct, plus it feels perfectly sturdy once assembled.
The HTL5140's soundbar is made from good-quality plastic and has a strong finemesh grille covering the drivers. Likewise, the subwoofer, with its 8in grille-covered sidefiring driver, feels like a substantial bit of kit.
As the likes of Q Acoustics has shown with its award-winning Media 4, good performance from a soundbar doesn’t necessarily require HDMI inputs and Dolby or DTS decoders. But it doesn’t hurt to have them, as with HDMI you don’t have to route all sources through your TV. Philips' HTL5140 offers both HDMI in and out, with the latter supporting the Audio Return Channel (ARC). So you could hookup a Blu-ray player via the HDMI input and use the ARC line to connect to your flatscreen, drawing down sound from broadcast TV, Sky, games consoles, etc.
If you’re feeling brave you can give HDMI CEC free rein over your devices, but at one point I found that after turning the TV off but not the soundbar the latter switched from Dolby Digital to PCM and started a headacheinducing buzz.
The OLED display on the 'bar is easily readable, and shows the selected input and any mode adjustments in progress. The remote control is excellent, with clearly labelled inputs for HDMI, HDMI ARC, optical, USB, Bluetooth and Aux (3.5mm analogue). There’s no subwoofer adjustment as such, just treble and bass, but there is a plethora of DSP modes and a so-called Surround mode. Philips invites you to play.
Waiting game
One gripe about the HTL5140 is that it's slow to power up from a standing start – I began thinking of popping off to make a cuppa. Another is that the Surround mode does nothing other than confirm my belief that such things are purely put there for marketing purposes. There’s such little difference between surround and non-surround with movies that you're hard-pressed to guess which is in use without checking using the display. Switch to music, however, and the surround mode has a more profound effect, improving the stereo imaging. However, with Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin’ Something the HTL5140 starts nothin’ worth shouting about. The bass is thuddy and lacks reach, while the higher frequencies feel cramped and lack clarity.
Movies do sound much better than music. The accompanying subwoofer provides plenty of nicely-controlled grunt; during the thunder storm and scene when the apes chase the deer in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Blu-ray) the meatiness of the low end is keenly felt. Caesar’s heavy contemplative breathing is nice and subtle, while the crackle of gun fire later is succinct in the mix. Dialogue is reasonably tight albeit with a hint of brightness. Yet the HTL5140 doesn’t like to be driven hard as loud volumes soon become tiring.
Yes, this is a step up from most built-in TV speakers, but the HTL5140 doesn’t have the finesse you’d hope for, even at this price.
Specifications
DRIVE UNITS: 2 x 1in tweeters; 4 x woofers
AMPLIFICATION: 100W
CONNECTIONS: 1 x optical audio input, 1 x HDMI output (ARC); 1 x HDMI input; 1 x 3.5mm audio input; 1 x USB
DOLBY TRUEHD/DTS-HD MA: No
SEPARATE SUB: Yes. 8in driver; 220W
REMOTE CONTROL: Yes
DIMENSIONS: 1,045(w) x 49(h) x 67(d)mm
WEIGHT: 1.7kg
FEATURES: Treble and bass control, DoubleBass; DTS Digital Surround; Dolby Digital; Bluetooth aptX and AAC; NFC; EasyLink (HDMI-CEC): automatic audio input mapping; Virtual Surround Sound; DSP modes (Warm, Bright, Auto, Personal, Powerful, Balanced, Clear); Night mode; lip-sync adjust; LED dimmer; wall-mountable