Soundbars have always intrigued me–single source sound that can do some incredible things are a terrific idea, especially in places where space is at a premium.  And considering this soundbar is courtesy of Philips, a company that has long impressed me, it’s doubly exciting to be talking about the HSB2351/F7.

The Philips HSB2351/F7 is a hundred watt, five channel soundbar with an integrated subwoofer and DVD player with upconverting to make your regular DVDs show at nearly 1080p.  It also includes a variety of surround sound decoders (Dolby Digital, DTS and stereo), digital FM tuner, a variety of equalizer settings, JPEG viewer for digital photos, one USB port, MP3 line-in port, Easy Fit speaker connectors for (as the name implies) the easy addition of further speakers later, one component video output and one HDMI output.

I had to admit that I was amazed by the sound coming out of such a small system–sure, I’d heard better, but this was pretty good. And considering that Best Buy wants to sell this slim little package for two hundred and ten bucks online, well, I call that a pretty good setup, all things considered.

Sure, you can do better than the Philips HSB2351/F7, but for this amount of space at this price, you’ll be hard pressed to get a system with better efficiency and value.