Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The receiver looks sharp, and that's all it has going for it. I am returning mine. I wish Amazon had a "zero-star" rating because I would have chosen that for the "Design quality" and "Manual" categories.
My components (the first three came as a Samsung "package deal" with 3D glasses):
- Samsung UN55C8000 240hz 3D LED TV
- Samsung BD-C6900 Blu-ray disc player
- Samsung HW-C700 AV Receiver
- Motorola HD DVR (from Time Warner)
My configuration:
- An HDMI 1.4 cable connects the Blu-ray player to the receiver's BD/DVD HDMI input
- An HDMI 1.4 cable connects the HD DVR to the receiver's SAT HDMI input
- An HDMI 1.4 cable connects the receiver's HDMI output to the TV's HDMI2/ARC input
- An optical audio cable connects the TV's audio output to the "optical 3" input of the receiver (this has since been removed)
My issues:
- I originally had my HD/DVR connected to the "TV" HDMI input. The receiver continually "forgot" that I had configured this input for HDMI and kept reverting back to "Optical 3". I use the "live chat" feature on the support web site to get help. The technician literally said, verbatim, "I suggest you use optical then. Is there anything else I can assist you with?" I have since switched to the "SAT" input which seems to remember its configured input setting a little better.
- No matter how I was using the system, if I turned on the Blu-ray player, the receiver would switch to that and abandon everything else.
- There is no HDMI ARC (audio-return-channel) feature on the receiver, even though the Samsung LED TVs all have it. You have to use the optical audio cable to get audio from the TV to the receiver (this is necessary for playing movies downloaded from Netflix or Blockbuster to the TV, playing Internet radio on the TV, playing music from a USB-attched device, streaming music from a PC using "allshare," playing Internet radio on the TV, etc). However, EVEN THIS does not work (see below). (HDMI/ARC allows you to send vidio and audio from your receiver to your TV via HDMI as usual, and ALSO allows you return audio from your TV to your receiver without having to use a separate cable.)
- Playing music from a USB-attached device (feature of the TV) and streaming music from a PC with "allshare" (also a feature of the TV) does not work with this receiver. In fact, ANY kind of audio return from the TV to the receiver - even using old-school phono cables - causes the audio to cut in and out repeatedly - about 3-5 seconds of no sound followed by about 1 second of poor-quality sound, over and over again. The only way to avoid this is to PHYSICALLY disconnect the HDMI cable on the back of the TV. Then it works fine. I have tried every HDMI port on the TV and I have ruled out everything else by connecting JUST the TV and the receiver (and the speakers). Same issue. In other words, THERE IS NO WAY TO GET AUDIO FROM A SAMSUNG TV TO THIS SAMSUNG AV RECEIVER unless you disconnect the HDMI cable between the receiver and the TV. That means you can't use ANY of the coolest features on the Samsung TVs, like watching Netflix/Blockbuster movies, listening to Internet radio, listening to movies or music on a USB device, listening to music streamed from a PC via "allshare," etc.
- The manual is worthless. It doesn't explain anything. It just shows you the sequences of things you'll see on the display when you push various buttons.
- Support is worthless. I was never able to get past the busy signal on their support number, despite speed-dialing for almost 90 minutes, so I tried the live chat feature on their web site's support page. I can't even begin to explain how frustrating the web chat technicians are (read the first of my issues, above). Each time the woefully under-qualified technician couldn't help me (and none of them helped me), I'd get a "please wait" for about 5-7 minutes while I waited for a technician with a slightly higher (but still single-digit) IQ. They asked me inane questions, told me to push buttons that didn't exist (kept saying to push the "PCM II" button, or something like that), had me reset the receiver several times, etc. Each technician seemed to have only one shot at the problem before passing me on to the next fool, which was very frustrating given that I had to wait so long between each one. One technician didn't believe that there was no "PCM II" button and made me type out the labels on all the buttons I could see. Then asked me to double-check after I'd done that.
- As mentioned in another review, this is not a high-current receiver. It's as light as a feather... no heatsinks, etc. That worries me.
Bottom line: this is a terrible product without any redeeming qualities. Samsung obviously rushed this to market so they could push the "Samsung 3D Package" in stores. (I can almost envision a Samsung product development engineer saying, "But, but..." as the marketing guys rush into his lab and grab everything in sight.) Do not buy this receiver. Wait for something better to come along, even if it means putting "3D" on hold.
If this review isn't convincing enough and you have questions about this product (NOT technical support questions), write me at john24hour@gmail.com.
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7.1 Channel,(120Watt x 7),3D Surround,True HD Decoder,Active Subwoofer
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