Samsung HW-C500

Samsung HW-C500 review

Samsung isn't known for its AV receivers, but that hasn't stopped the Korean behemoth having a stab with this affordable 5.1-channel effort. It doesn't have the reputation to rival audio luminaries like Onkyo, Yamaha and Denon, but the HW-C500 may attract owners of other Samsung kit who like their system's collars and cuffs to match. It looks as sleek as a panther, draped in glossy black and adorned with a couple of quirky touches on the front panel. Disappointingly, there are no sockets on the front panel for plugging in devices on the fly, while rear-panel connectivity is decent but hardly exhaustive. With Samsung pushing 3D hard it's pleasing that all the HDMI sockets (four in, one out) are specified as v1.4. That means it'll pass on full HD 3D pictures to a 3D-ready TV as well as extracting the necessary digital audio signal, which is particularly useful to owners of Samsung's BD-C6900 Blu-ray deck and its single HDMI output. There's a healthy number of other AV inputs and connections for the supplied iPod/iPhone dock, but Samsung abandons any audiophile ambitions with its springclip speaker terminals, making this feel more like a one-box system without the speakers than serious home cinema hardware.