LG HB954PB review

Looking to spice up your home entertainment system but don’t want the fuss of shopping for separates and “leaving 10 percent of your budget for speaker cables?” Simple: buy a home cinema in a box, a one-shot solution offering an amp, Blu-ray player, surround sound speakers and all the cable you need – just like the LG HB954PB.

The LG HB954PB consists of a main unit, centre speaker, two floorstanding front speakers, two compact rear speakers and a subwoofer. Plus there’s a few yards of speaker wire thrown in, colour-coded to make setting up Big Brother contestant-friendly. Unlike rival Blu-ray systems from Panasonic and Sony, however, you’ll have to set the speaker levels and distances manually in the setup menu – there’s no auto-calibration option here.

The tidy main unit contains a Blu-ray drive and surround amp, plus all the connections for the speakers and any other kit you fancy hooking up. There’s an HDMI output for an HDTV, naturally. But there are also a couple of HDMI inputs, meaning you can swiftly connect external HD sources – a Sky HD box, say, or a PS3 – and have both video and audio running through the LG HB954PB. Bingo – a fuss-free way of getting surround sound out of your external kit.

The LG HB954PB’s main unit also has a few useful extras too. There’s an FM radio tuner and a slide-out iPod docking station at the front which integrates slickly with the system – it even lets you browse your iPod’s contents on your telly. There’s an Ethernet port which supports BD-Live, as well as enabling you entertain yourself by watching people falling off things on YouTube. The icing on this particular cake is a USB port for playback of DivX, WMA, MP3, JPEG and PNG files.

The curvy champagne flute-style speakers look daintier than a ballerina, but teamed up with the large passive subwoofer they do a surprisingly able job. Whether you’re watching The Dark Knight on Blu-ray or chucking cars across the city streets on the PS3’s inFamous, you’ll feel right in the midst of the action with the LG HB954PB, thanks to accurate surround effects, clear dialogue from the centre and deep, neighbour-riling bass during action scenes.

The HB954PB supports lossless audio formats like Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, but in all honesty you’re unlikely to notice much of a step up from basic Dolby Digital or DTS. In our opinion, a much pricier separates setup is required if you want the full impact of Blu-ray’s audio arsenal.

Picture quality with Blu-ray discs is truly excellent, with gloriously rich colours and crisp detail. DVDs are also upscaled to HD resolutions, adding a little extra sharpness and definition to edges.

The LG HB954PB is a solidly performing system that’s easy to use and packed with handy extras. It’s not cheap, but it will make those evenings plonked on the sofa much more enjoyable. And loud.