Philips SoundStage HTL5130B test

The sound of the desolate TV speaker for only 300 euro spice up? This is tempting and should work with the Philips SoundStage HTL5130B from Gibson Brand – according to the official formulation of the manufacturer – also in turn. Whether Philips and Gibson Brand have to be mentioned in the product name can be argued, but the fact is that the umbrella brand Gibson with a sound stage does not immediately revolutionize the world. After all, it is only the tried and tested product category of the Sounddecks – compact loudspeakers, which the viewer can simply place his TV on. If the bass is often produced by an external subwoofer in an elongated soundbar, the Sounddeck has integrated the woofer. In most cases we use so-called “downfiring basses”. The speakers are on the underside of the deck and radiate the bass down.


The orchestra plays in time


And the SoundStage HTL5130B also works with this principle. In practice, he is responsible for precise and pleasant basses at the beginning of the opening scene of Gravity as well as at the live concert "Grande Finale" by Werner Schmidbauer, Pippo Pollina & Martin Kälberer. Less are the low tones then when playing music via Bluetooth.


Settings


Here the loudspeaker quickly reaches its limits and already makes the bass-accented parts clean and grumbling at Firestone from Kygo. Considerably better since the Praxistest of the Philips SoundStage HTL5130B the heights. Thanks to the wide dynamics, the individual instruments in the orchestra at "Samabdio" of "Grande Finale" come into their own. The vocal volume of the singers also satisfied the viewer. The spaciousness of the sound deck is less outstanding: when Sandra Bullock falls through the universe in Gravity and rotates several times around her own axis, the viewer is more impressed by the image than by the sound. This is what our testers have heard more vividly with other speakers.


The choice of connectors


Even if the Philips SoundStage HTL5130B is under the TV, the sound still comes from the TV screen itself. The additional loudspeaker disappears with time. Overall, the 7.5 cm high sounddeck weighs around 8.1 kg and is therefore one of the lighter decks in the market. Nevertheless, according to the manufacturer, it carries television up to a maximum of 55 inches. On the side of the sound deck are the most important short command buttons, in order to control the HTL5130B also without remote control. These are made of rubber and fit seamlessly into the surface of the sound stage.


For easy operation, the manufacturer provides the deck with a bright LED display, which is particularly helpful when navigating through the sound settings. Here, Philips presets ("sound" on the remote control) such as balance, warm or power. Bass and Treble have their own buttons on the remote control for a more personal sound. Best in the test of the "Power" mode for action blockbuster. At night, a night mode can be activated at the push of a button on the remote control. This is clearly reminiscent of the control units of popular Philips televisions, but is somewhat smaller.


The various inputs can also be selected at the push of a button. Philips has, among other things, an optical digital input as well as coaxial as well as AUX input on board. For the connection to the TV is on the back also an HDMI output. Other HDMI interfaces do not exist. Thanks to EasyLink, all HDMI CEC components (consumer electronics control) of the equipment park in the living room can be controlled with a remote control. All devices are connected via HDMI and remote controlled by means of CEC. In addition to Bluetooth-enabled devices, NFC-enabled smartphones can also be linked to the SoundStage to play wireless music.


The idea of ​​the sound deck is no longer new. However, with the HTL5130B Philips provides a solid deck, which upgrades the TV sound in few steps and for good money. Above all, cinema fans will be delighted about the good voice reproduction and the wide dynamic. Anyone who listens to more music should not necessarily rely on SoundStage. Here, she did not sound convincingly.


Conclusion