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The Samsung HT-WS1R is a two piece audio system composed of a sound bar and a wireless subwoofer. This sound bar can be the perfect choice for your living room, but you should first find out exactly what it has to offer and what it lacks compared to other sounds bars which come at a similar price, only $350.
Design
When it comes to looks, the HT-WS1R can’t disappoint you. It will attract your eye even from the beginning and it is no surprise that Samsung tried their best to come up with a stylish system. You will see some discreet indicator lights and some touch sensitive buttons which look great, but most people won’t be attracted by the white light which comes out the button of the sound bar. This might look great in display cases, but once you put it in your room, it will become disturbing and the fact that you can’t make it dimmer or switch it off makes it even worse.
Setting up the HT-WS1R
The sound bar has to be paired with the subwoofer the first time you start it. The process is simple and it can be done with the help of your remote control. This remote will also work on various Samsung TVs, which is certainly a plus as long as you own one. If you don’t, you will just use it for a handful of commands, such as volume, sound mode and switching between inputs. When setting up the system, you will notice a fan at the back of the subwoofer, which translates into noise. This small ventilator will be quite loud, but you will forget about the sound as soon as you start watching a movie or listening to music.
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Sound quality
The HT-WS1R is perfect for small rooms and it performs well in medium sized rooms. While other sound bars will instantly forget about sound quality when you crank the volume up to maximum, this one will maintain a clear and clean sound throughout the volume range. This is a pleasing result and it basically means that you can get the best out of it without having to worry about distortion.
The subwoofer is not what you will expect. Sound bars usually come without a wireless subwoofer and the fact that you can get one for only $350 is great, but it will cause some problems. The sounds which come out of it seem unnatural and they will make you want to try to adjust the levels until you find the right solution. If you switch between modes, you will find that the News one can turn the bass down almost to 0, which might be the right decision in some circumstances. The Cinema mode will make the sound even worse and the music mode will show a mild improvement. In the end, the perfect solution is moving the subwoofer altogether. If you experiment with different locations of your room and the sound modes available, you will eventually find the perfect setting in which both movies and music play perfectly.
Surround sound is not present no matter what movie you are trying to watch, but you will get a small effect if you sit right in front of the system and find the prefect audio mode settings.
When listening to music, the Samsung HT-WS1R will perform great and the difference between this sound bar and your TV speakers will certainly be more than noticeable.
Pros and Cons
This sound bar is a great system if you look at the price tag of $350 and the fact that you receive a wireless subwoofer. It will take some tweaking, but the final result will satisfy you.
The main problem is the lack of surround sound, but it can be overlooked considering the low price. Another issue is the problems which might be caused by the loud fan, but it will at least shut down automatically if you don’t listen to anything for a while. The questionable sound quality offered by the subwoofer is disappointing at first, but you can make some changes and turn things around.
Conclusion
If what you’re looking for is a sound bar which comes at a modest price and can perform much better than the speakers of your TV, the HT-WS1R won’t let you down. The sound will be perfect when listening to music and it won’t lose clarity no matter what you do with the volume. There are only a few drawbacks which won’t be noticed if you take a look at the advantages of buying this audio system.
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I think Samsung still has a lot to learn about wireless. There’s no problem with the internet when connecting with a cable, but then it’s horrible with the wireless. In fact, it interferes so much that my notebook and PC’s internet connections failed when I have this Samsung turned on.
the subwoofer is stupid! It’s wireless and it’s not stable at all.
Agree totally on the sub woofer. It’s stupid and very irritating!
I didn’t want wires, so I picked the Samsung HT-WS1R sound bar. It’s okay, and it’s a 2.1 system. It’s got two speakers and one subwoofer. There are little problems with the setting up, but the optical cables have little rubber caps that need to be removed before plugging in. but then, agree that the sub output can’t be adjusted directly. It didn’t have a HDMI pass-through too, had to rely on my tv.
Have not had any of the issues with this product that I have heard from any other owners. Though the sub does not put out to strongly, it is still worth the cost.