Harman Kardon — you know, the folks who put the sound system in your boss’ luxury car — have a batch of new home theatre gear including a the pricey 5.1 channel BDS 770 system. Will it sound good enough for the price tag?
The BDS x70 series of home theatre systems includes both the BDS 770 system and the simpler, 2.1 channel BDS 370 system. The BDS 770 home theatre comes with the BDS 570 Blu-ray receiver with BD Live capabilities, “multiple” HDMI inputs and a USB input. For speakers the BDS 770 has four satellites, a centre channel and a subwoofer. It costs $US1100. The BDS 370 is a 2.1 channel system with two speakers, a subwoofer and and a BDS 270 Blu-ray receiver with your basic HDMI connectivity. It costs $US999.
Harman Kardon also has a brand new soundbar, the SB 30, which comes with a wireless subwoofer. It features two listening modes: One for traditional two channel sources and one capable of emulating 5.1 channel surround sound. It costs $US899.
All of this gear is pretty expensive and not especially feature rich. We’ll have to wait until CES this week to find out if it’s worth the price. [Harman Kardon]