All-in-one systems are attractive for many reasons, and their impressive feature set is definitely one of them: you get an amplifier, disc player, tuner and media player all in a single box. Just connect the power, speakers and video cable and you’re away.

LG’s new all-in-one, the HB954WA, is a nice example. A 5.1 system stuffed with technology and features, it is generally a really good unit.

First off, there is a Blu-ray player for the best picture quality. Then there is the iPod dock that allows full control over the contents of an iPod from the comfort of your couch. There is also a USB connector for playing music, video and pictures from any USB drive. And the HB954WA has a further clever trick in the form of wireless rear speakers. Overall, the LG has an impressive list of features that all work well.

Setup is very easy (although unpacking the huge box took about 15 minutes on its own). The joy of these sorts of systems is that you can plug in a device and it just works, and the LG scores highly here.

The very cool iPod dock in the middle of the unit slides out to accept an iPod and tucks away discreetly when not in use. Even the remote is well laid out, with common controls such as volume made extra-large and set in the middle of the unit.

One annoyance was that the LG refused to play a Region 2 DVD of The Matrix. In truth, nearly all Blu-ray players are afflicted with this condition, so people who wish to play ‘any region’ DVDs will also want to connect a standalone DVD player.

Switching to a Blu-ray disc itself revealed a very capable unit with great picture quality through the included HDMI cable. The sound quality was good on movies, and the included sub made up for the small speakers, although, as you would expect, it was a bit lacking compared to a dedicated amp and speaker setup.

As for music, the LG is unable to match a dedicated audio system. Then again, stereo playback is not really what it’s designed for, and considering the size of the speakers, it did an okay job. Voices came off best,  but very low and very high notes lost a lot of detail.

All in all, however, it’s a great unit with great technology.
Jack-In-The-Box

One-box home theatre systems such as LG’s HB954WA will necessarily lack the audio fidelity of more expensive systems packing dedicated components, but the clever feature-set of this LG is quite amazing. For instance, the HB954WA is one of the few units that has HDMI inputs that can be used as a hub/switcher for two other units. So you could plug an Xbox in and save your other inputs on the back of the TV for extra gear when you need a handy connection. It also recognises the versatility required by many users by including YouTube and DivX file playback, and the LG loads and plays pretty much whatever you throw at it quickly and efficiently.

Tim Anderson
Tech Specs
LG HB954WA
All-in-one Home Theatre
$1999

AUDIO FORMATS: 
Dolby Digital TrueHD, DTS, 
DTS-HD, Dolby ProLogic
POWER OUTPUT: 155W x5 (centre, surrounds), 225W (sub)
CONNECTIONS: USB2.0, iPod direct dock, Component x1, composite x1, HDMI 1.3 x3
(1 out, 2 in), RCA, Coaxial, Optical, Ethernet
DIMENSIONS: Amplifier – 430 x 76 x 379mm, front/rear speakers – 290 x 1150 x 290mm, centre speaker – 350 x 105 x 93mm, sub – 216 x 405 x 360mm (all W/H/D)

Pros

    * Full iPod Control
    * Blu-ray player
    * USB support
    * Free HDMI cable

Cons

    * Average speakers
    * iPod video playback requires composite cable

Verdict

Full of features and a great price, but sound is better for movies than dedicated music listening

Contact

nz.lge.com